I Feel Good. So good, so good . . . .



James Brown, 2003. Wikipedia

           

            James Brown sang it: “I feel good.  So good, so good. . . .”

            I feel good, too.  I really do.

            Until I go to the doctor’s office.

            It’s like this: I go to the doctor for a regular check-up or a follow-up, and I’m feeling somewhere between pretty good and great.  Then, I’m handed one of those lengthy forms to fill out.

            The basic question starts with something like this: “Do you now have or have you ever had or suffered with symptoms of . . . .?”

            Following that opening line is a list of every possible disease, illness and ailment known to mankind – and/or womankind, since some of ‘em are known to women only or to men only.

            And, see, the thing is that by this age – 63 this month – there’s a doggone long list of ailments I’ve had or at least experienced symptoms of by now. 

            Dry cough?  Yep.  I had a dry cough for a few months a couple of decades ago.

            Shortness of breath?  Sure.  Haven’t we all experienced a little shortness of breath at some point in the past?   

            Ever had ringing in the ears?  No, I don’t think so, but, now that’s it mentioned, there really is or might be some sort of ringing in my ears that I’d never noticed before. Maybe.  Ah, the power of suggestion.

            Vision problems?  Of course.  Anyone would be squinting trying to read all of this little tiny print on these several pages of questions. 

            Any numbness?  Well, yeah, sitting here in this chair, gripping the pencil, my bottom and my fingers are feeling a little numb indeed.  

            By this time, I’m pretty much hurting all over.

            But I felt good, so good, until I got to the doctor’s office.

The Solution to the Country's Budget Crisis

Want to solve the country's budget crisis? 

There's a relatively simple solution

that won't adversely effect the farmer and agriculture

and grocery prices

without increasing prices in stores, at the gas pumps & elsewhere

without jeopardizing health care

without sacrificing our military's pay & benefits

without cutting benefits to senior citizens

without making it more costly to die, i.e. estate taxes & such?



The solution????

Furlough Congress!

Two months?  Six months?

Whatever it takes!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I'm Shrinking!

I’m shrinking!


Now that sounds like something I ought to be excited about, doesn’t it?

Well, it might sound that way but, the truth is, I am NOT ecstatic.

This shrinking has nothing to do with weight. After all, over my lifetime, I’ve probably lost a hundred pounds or so. You know: gain a bunch, lose a few, gain some more, lose a few, gain a lot more, lose a few – and so it goes.

My weight isn’t exactly right on my driver’s license. Perhaps I’ve fudged a little on the weight. No, that’s not exactly right. There’s no “perhaps” about it; I’ve definitely fudged – more than a little. But I have never fudged on my height.

Of course I’ve known for a long time that I’m not tall enough for my weight.

Which brings me back to shrinking.

I was at the doctor’s office last week and, as is typical, I was weighed. Then the nurse asked me for my height. I responded, as I usually do, that I wasn’t tall enough for all of those pounds but that I was probably 5’4” or maybe only 5’3 ½”.

So she said, “Well, let’s find out, okay?”

And so we did.

You just can’t fathom how shocked I was when she smilingly announced that I am only 5’1 ½” tall. Where did those other two or two-and-a-half inches go?

I’m thinking that I’m shrinking

That means I’m not getting taller

I’m thinking if you’re blinking

You might miss me: I’m smaller.

~    ~    ~    ~    

WW: "It's Me Again, Jesus"

These are rather strange pictures to post for the weekly Wordless Wednesday & Wordful Wednesday submissions.  This post will be way more wordful than those of previous Wednesdays -- and most of the words won't be my own.
The pictures above are of my brother Rod, who is four years younger than I am, which is one reason he always refers to me as his "eldest" sister.  
Besides being a very successful political consultant, he is the publisher of six weekly newspapers, for which he always has his own funny column. 
Today, I want to share what he wrote last week:

It’s Me Again, Jesus!

Last week, careful readers will have noticed, Yours Truly skipped his weekly assignment of penning this little column, which is something I try to accomplish each Monday morning. (Careless readers may not have noticed, because the usual space was filled in with a “re-run” from months gone by… just like the TV networks do!)

It was the first time I missed my deadline in over three years. I do not have a good excuse.

I guess, if I was a “dream-up-excuses” sort of guy, I could come up [with] one. I was, after all, strapped down to an operating table, undergoing a bit of brain surgery.

But that’s really no excuse. I’ve undergone similar surgeries two other times in the last couple of years, and I managed to meet the deadline for my column both of those times!

So no excuses. I’ll try to do better in the future, although there admittedly may be some new challenges ahead.

Back in August of 2008, when I first underwent surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor, I promised to keep you posted of my progress, much as my friend Jerry Fowler had done during his illness a couple of years earlier. He shared his personal battle with cancer each week, and helped a lot of people along the way.

I guess I’m just not as disciplined as Jerry was, because, try as I might, I can’t seem to work my health picture into my column but once or twice a year. There have, however, been some recent developments, and I thought I’d share them with you.

I won’t try to give you all the background on the melanoma that I was first diagnosed with in 1983, or the recurrence in the summer of 2008 that briefly impacted my communication skills. I will instead refer you to this column, which is now posted online as a blog at www.rodshealy.com. (Just go back to August, 2008, and you can read all about it.)

When we last updated my condition here (last November), I mentioned that I had chosen the treatment route of “clinical trials”… still-experimental treatments which have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Although the my first round of trials -- an experimental vaccine designed to boost my immune system -- officially showed no response, there is some evidence that a partial response was achieved. In other words, some success, perhaps.

While searching for the next clinical trial, however, I was delayed by what appears to be multiple new recurrences of the melanoma in various areas: several spots in the lungs, where we already knew there was at least one large tumor; nine lesions in the brain, which were treated by gamma-knife last Monday at MUSC; and a number of brand new melanoma tumors in areas which do not appear to threaten any organs.

A biopsy of the large tumor in the lung, however, which had tested positive for cancer last June, suddenly came back negative, just a couple weeks ago. Hence, the possible partial success, perhaps.
As of now, I am scheduled to begin a new round of clinical trials next week. I’ll try to keep you posted better than I have been doing.
In the meantime, I am blessed to have no real side effects or disabilities, and am able to continue to work my normal schedule… with the obvious exception of last Monday, when I missed my deadline.
It’s also a good time for me to reflect a bit.
Given my several brushes with cancer, my odds of still being here are not good. In 1983, I was given a 35% chance of surviving five years. In 2008, my odds of making it through were described as maybe one in a thousand. And the couple of recurrences since then have been…well, let’s just say alarming to the technicians reading my scans. (You can always see it in their eyes!)
Still, here I am, starting on my next streak of writing a column every week for three years without missing a single one. I hope.
There are a few things I’ve learned through these experiences of the last two years.

First, none of the medical professionals and researchers can tell us what makes these cures and treatments work sometimes and not work other times. They’re striving to find out, but they just don’t know.

Secondly, a lot of really smart people – doctors, scientists, researchers – seem to think the “power of prayer” has a lot to do with it. I’m glad, because I think it has everything to do with it. When word of my diagnosis was revealed two years ago,

I was humbled by the number of prayer groups who helped me – friends and acquaintances, and total strangers alike. They prayed for me, and I assume that’s why I’m still here.

Although I’ve personally never stopped talking to Jesus about it, I do notice that our chats become a little more fervent and frequent each time I get a diagnosis with a new set of challenges. I’m praying as hard as I can, but I sure do appreciate those extra prayer-words from others (because yours might be the one that works!)

Thirdly, whatever my future holds is okay with me. It’s a great life, and I love this life, but I’ve certainly had my fair share of it -- probably more than my share -- so when my time comes, it comes. In my prayers, incidentally, I always address that exact point: I simply ask Jesus to use me as is His will. If that means going to Heaven sooner rather than later, then that’s what I’m ready for. After all, it’s not this life that really counts… it’s the next one. I believe. I am saved. And I am ready.

If I’m sounding a little more prayerful than usual in my column this week, I hope you’ll understand. Skipping my column last week gave me extra time to reflect on this week’s message… and I decided to talk to a larger audience this week.





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Other Wordless Wednesday participants are here.  Other Wordful Wednesday participants are here.

How To Avoid Dying

I’ve often said that how things are worded can make a big difference.

Just a few days ago, I read something that I think wasn’t what the writer intended. It was in Parade Magazine, the Sunday supplement in many papers across the country.

Dr. Ranit Mishori wrote an article titled “How Spirituality Keeps You Well”; it was about a study called "Annals of Epidemiology."

Here’s the sentence that really grabbed my attention: More specifically, weekly churchgoers have a lower risk of death than those who never set foot inside a place of worship.


How’s that again? People who go to church weekly have a lower risk of dying than do other folks? I don’t think so!

If that were the case, churches would be full every week. They would be absolutely packed, maybe even on weekdays. Push aside the medicines and miracle anti-aging cures; just go to church to lower chances of dying!

I’m certainly not downplaying the seriousness of the study or of Dr. Mishori’s article. There are some important findings following the research into the link between health and spirituality. Mishori points out the reasons for improved physical, emotional and mental health, based on the research. Nor am I engaging in a theological discussion because this article didn’t have to do with eternal life.

Nor am I going to write anymore; I don’t have time. I’ve got to get in a few church services today!
 
                                    ~                       ~                        ~

(This is a repost but appropriate for a Sunday posting.)

Where Do You Earn THAT Degree?

Every once in a while I get e-mails about job openings from various sources. Last week, there was one that really interested me. Good job, good benefits, good pay and really interesting work.

And it seemed that I met all of the requirements and had the right qualifications. Then I saw a section about “preferred qualifications” – above and beyond those required. One preference was for an advanced degree, which I have in law, but several possibilities were listed. One of those concerned me and made me really wonder about that job.

Listed at two different places was this advanced degree: Masters in Pubic Health.

What school offers THAT degree? What all do you study to earn such a degree? Perhaps there’s a course in anatomy, maybe one involving human behavior or social behavior. I actually took a course called Human Sexuality in college but not because I was working toward a degree in Pubic Health. 


(I hate to admit it but I almost failed Human Sexuality. Which, of course, is crazy because, by exam time, my husband and I were expecting our second child. I told the professor I knew what to do but just didn’t know what to call it!)

In earning a Masters in Pubic Health, does a student have lab work? Does it involve independent study?

Forget those job listings. I think I’ll go back to school to get a Masters in Pubic Health. Since I’ve given birth to three children and been married more than once, maybe I can start off ahead of the game with credits for life experiences. I ought to be able to get this advanced degree in almost no time at all!