Abiding...

Simply healthy

At times I feel as if I've been on a life long quest to be healthy. Actually, that's not true. For many years I was on a quest to be thin. I'm fairly confident that I've tried just about every diet out there. I always had an image in my mind of how I needed to look. That was all I focused on. The thought of actually being healthy never entered my mind. And then four years ago I turned 40...

On the day of my 40th birthday all I could say was, "My life is half over, if I'm lucky." All of a sudden being thin didn't seem to matter as much. I began to think a little bit about the concept of being healthy. There was a problem though; I was consuming copious amounts of alcohol on a daily basis. Allow me to translate; copious amounts = a bottle of rum a day. I'm not talking about little, tiny airplane bottles. I'm talking a big bottle. Of Rum. Everyday. Then of course there were shots of this and shots of that whenever I went out. Blech...what wretched memories. As we all know a stint in rehab and several months of misery finally took care of that problem. Thank God.

So back to being healthy. Two years ago, after I finally got my life on track, I seriously began thinking about what it meant to be healthy. I began reading books and magazines, researching things online, and talking to other people. I wanted to find the "answer". As with so many other things in my life I had complicated the hell out of it. I was sure there was some magical formula out there that I needed to discover. Guess what I finally figured out? Being healthy is really pretty simple. For me it's come down to doing these things:

• Eat better and less
  
• Exercise on a daily basis
• Sleep at least seven hours every night (preferably eight)
• Laugh
• Don't consume alcohol
• Pray
  
• Spend time with people who replenish my energy versus those who zap me of it
• Don't dwell on negative, self-defeating thoughts
  
• Be thankful

Simple, huh? Simple but not always easy. New habits are hard to develop. Just ask any alcoholic who has gotten sober! But you know what? It IS possible. I began making little changes here and there and before I knew it, I felt good. Really good. I was no longer experiencing headaches and struggling to sleep at night. I had a lot of energy. Some of my flab began to disappear. I developed muscles. Real honest to goodness muscles. And, I lost weight.

By no means have I arrived on the doorstep of complete health but I am making progress on the journey. I'll be 45 in March and I'm not wasting my time thinking about the fact that I'll then be half-way to 90. Instead I'm simply picturing my 90-year-old self on a bike, kick-in' butt.

Things that go bump in my mouth

I've been on pins and needles over the past couple of weeks. Pins and needles are kind of what started the whole thing. A couple of months ago I noticed this bump, lump, growth (it's been called a number of things) on my tongue that wouldn't go away. I didn't think much of it until one day I decided to do a little research online. After ten minutes of internet surfing I was terrified. I called the doctor immediately and made an appointment for the next day. I was convinced he was going to look in my mouth and say, "What...that? That ugly little thing? That's nothing. Get out of here and stop wasting my time!" That's not exactly how it went. Not even close. Instead  he looked in my mouth and said, "Ohhh. Hmmm. That's very suspicious looking.  You need to see a surgeon right away."

That was a Monday. On Tuesday I saw the surgeon who also said, "Ohhh. Hmmm. That looks suspicious". I hate that "suspicious" word. Instead of doing a biopsy the surgeon wanted to remove it that day. In the office. While I was awake. Everyone say, "OUCH". Once my tongue was numb it wasn't too bad except for the stitching . The doctor used what looked like the same hook and line one would use to catch fish. I now feel very connected to the fish of the world.

Once a huge piece of flesh was carved out of my tongue the procedure was over the tissue was sent away to the pathology department at Temple University. That was on January  15th. I was told the results would take a couple of weeks. The past two weeks have been very, very long weeks. Oral cancer is  a particularly horrible cancer. It spreads quickly to the lymph nodes, throat and lungs. The 5 year survival rate is dismal. Not fun stuff to think about so, I tried not to think about it. I was moderately successful. Except in the middle of the night, when everything that goes "bump" is much worse.

I received the results yesterday. I have "Leukokeratosis, Hereditary Mucosal Disease." It's a genetic disorder that according to the National Institute of Health is very rare (less than 200,000 cases nationwide) I've always had a problem developing keloids (an overgrowth of tissue whenever I'm cut in any way). Apparently I have some mutation in the gene for Keratin 4. Sounds interesting but it's really not. And, it's no big deal. I'm perfectly fine. I may end up needing to have future growths removed but I'll take that any day over cancer.

So it looks like I'll be abiding a bit longer. Whew...

Some advice I'm qualified to give

I don't usually spend a lot of time giving advice. I'm much better qualified to listen to advice than to give it. However, there's one piece of advice I feel comfortable sharing. This may indicate that I'm getting old but I'd rather think it simply means I'm getting wiser. As ridiculous as this may sound, believe me it will change your life. Are you ready? Here we go...

Spend the money to buy good bedding. You spend roughly one-third of your life in bed so make sure it's a comfortable place to be.

We've always purchased good mattresses but this weekend we found something that makes a good mattress even better. You really need to get one of these:

This is a 3-inch memory foam mattress topper and trust me, it is WONDERFUL. That combined with some new 600 Thread Count Egyptian Cotton Sheets and well, believe me getting out of bed and coming to work this morning was the last thing I felt like doing.

Falling apart

Life continues to move along and I continue to remain sober. Monday will be my 30 day mark. I know I'm supposed to live life "one day at a time" but, I'm looking forward to Monday.

Over the past couple of months it seems as if my body is falling apart. I just got back from picking up my new glasses. For some reason my arms have shrunk. I can't hold things far enough away any more to see them.

This afternoon I begin physical therapy for (are you ready for this?) Spinal Stenosis with Neurogenic Claudication. This is degenerative disease of the spine that normally effects people over the age of 65. Good grief! I'm beginning to have visions of myself sitting in a rocking chair, knitting socks.

   

If you have ever been around me you know that sitting still is not something I do well. I am constantly in motion. Running in the early morning is something I have really enjoyed. I've written about that several times. The thought of not being able to run anymore is, well...painful.

I've spent a lot of time joking about this problem with my back but truth be told I'm sad and a little angry. Surgery is definitely in my future. I've been told that due to my age and the condition of my back I'll need a laminectomy, a spinal fusion and most likely one of these spiffy things (if you have a weak stomach you may want to skip the picture),

Join me in saying, "YUCK. Yuck, yuck, yuck!"

I guess the bottom line is as long as I don't take a drink, things will work out. Here's your AA saying for the day,

"There's nothing so bad that a drink won't make it worse."

There, I've done my whining. Thanks for listening. Now excuse me while I go buy some knitting needles and yarn.