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Tuesday, October 06, 2015

The end of the road

Crazy day.....I was leaving for work and walking out of the house.  Luckily there is hardwood floors.  That is how I noticed that my left foot was making a weird noise.  It was clicking....the soft rubber soles of my shoes shouldn't be clicking.   I looked down and immediately started to laugh.....I was wearing two different shoes.  Similar at least....but different.   OOOPS



I didn't do exactly good with my eating yesterday.   GRRRRR   I had vowed to run today....but I ended up sleeping for 10 hours....and even when I woke up just going up and down the stairs is painful with my knees.   Meanwhile, I have the money I need a new pair of running shoes!

Last week I got some bad news.   One of my favorite customers where I work had had a stroke. He usually comes in and shoots the breeze with us on Saturday mornings. (He had been to see me the preceding Saturday.) He usually hangs out for a bit (unless the EMS squad is busy....he is the chief)   He is a great guy.  Over the last few months I have watched him and there have been more than one situation where I have flat out asked "Are you ok."   Life was stressing him out and it was obvious to everyone that knew him.  He remained upbeat and moved forward.   The news after the stroke was grim.   Very grim.  He had slipped into a coma and the damage was irreversible and furthermore there was nothing they could do to halt the degeneration of the damage.  We knew it was only a matter of time.   This morning the EMS Chief for this small town passed away.   He was 45 years old. 

I knew it was going to happen.  The reports were bad.   But it still hit really hard.  He was only 45 years old.  That is too young to die!     But as I thought about it, I knew that he had signs...he apparently had high blood pressure.  He was overweight.  He had stress.    But still...he was only 45 years old!  Yes, the signs were there, but at 45 do you take them seriously or are you still in the 'invincible' stage/age?

I am only 2 years and a few months behind him.  I am not invincible.   I have signs.   I am overweight.  I have high cholesterol.  My knees are riddled with arthritis.  My blood pressure has been known to spike (I'm still thinking it's the white coat syndrome......I just panic at the doctors office.....but who knows).   I have been lucky thus far that  my issues are 'quiet'.  But when are they going to rear their ugly heads and cause me a problem.   I'm not invincible.   It's time to start living my life in a manner that takes care of my health.  Which means that little 'oops' like my eating yesterday have got to stop!