Yeah, yeah. I know. I missed my deadline yesterday. I own the website. I am allowed to do that. Unless Craig gets really mad. Then I better get writing. But, honestly, I missed my deadline because I have been battling one of the worst upper-respiratory infections I think I have ever had. When you are as acutely in-tune with your body as I have become, 103.5 degree fevers become worrisome. You start to protect things by drinking lots of fluids and trying to rest. But as your bank account ebbs away because you haven't been working, then you start to think that maybe it is time to get out of bed. Poor health sucks.
I didn't set out to have poor health like this. I always expected my doctor (the immortal Dr. J. - yes, in Lockport, THAT Dr. J.) to one day tell me that I was borderline diabetic. I am not very smart, so I figured I could just live la vida loca until that day came and deal with it then. When the day came, I immediately lost 50 pounds and am no longer even borderline diabetic. I was so happy with the results and proud of myself that I started to set weight loss goals that would put me back at my college weight. Then my body had other ideas.
Since December 2015, my personal health has not really improved a whole lot. I am down a kidney that I probably never needed and won't get back anyways, and I have seen the inside of emergency rooms and ambulances more in the last 9 months than I have in my entire life. And, if its ok with everyone, I would like it to stop. But it won't. This last week, and as I write this, I am still trying to get some sort of infection to let go of my lungs so I can breathe. The fever is gone, the cough is not nearly as bad, but breathing is a challenge. I like to breathe. I would like to be able to breathe again soon.
So, once again, it is off to the Office of Dr. J. where I will hopefully get to take even more pills that will help solve this problem. I used to spend more time than I wanted to at my mechanic's shop trying to keep an old van going that had no right being on the road. Luckily for me, I have the best mechanic anywhere and he kept that van going until we all had to give up on it. I am hoping that the best doctor anywhere can have the same success with my body that my mechanic had with my van.
I have two things working in my favor. The first thing is that my body loves torturing me and refuses to just give up and die. The other factor in my favor is that my wife apparently likes having me around and she refuses to also give up. My wife is absolutely amazing. She has been running our household forever with me down constantly, and she keeps on taking on new responsibilities as I have wonderful new things happen to me. She has become an expert at medical research, and I don't even talk to the doctors anymore because she is able to speak to them in a language I honestly don't understand.
Please take care of yourself. If you are overweight and in your late 20s or 30s, then I am talking directly to you. I was there. I thought life was grand. "Ah, I'll worry about it when it really becomes a problem." But what you don't realize, or want to believe, is that it is a problem right now. Your body is not able to handle the excess weight and when you reach your late 40s and into your 50s, you will pay for it. And the price will be persistent, painful, and unrelenting.
Not only are you hurting yourself, but you are killing those around you. Every day my grandson puts his little hand on my arm and asks "You okay today, Bapa?" That is painful because it doesn't have to be this way. But my bad decisions have made it this way, and I am asking anyone reading this to please think of everyone along with yourself.
If you smoke, then quit. If you don't exercise, then get out and walk every day. As soon as I can breathe again, I am going to start this Piyo thing Craig loaned me. Maybe then I will find out what he was giggling about when he handed me the disk.
If you regularly eat garbage food, then start eating better. If you are constantly stressed about money, then go get a part-time job and lift that burden from your mind and your body.
Yes, I got advice just like this when I was younger and yes I ignored it. Now I am paying for it. I am telling everyone right now, don't think that your middle age years are that far away. They are sooner than you think, and they can be a living hell if you are not smart when you are younger.
George N Root III is a Lockport resident not real in love with getting older right now. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3, or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com.
