Catch-Up and health

So, now we're getting used to the new normal - sort of. Medical scares and problems have a way of doing that.

M. had an appointment with a cardiologist. A cardiologist! Unfortunately, one bus was running a few minutes late, while the next one left a little early...He's had to reschedule, as well as set an appointment with our primary care doctor. Then there's the whole diet thing. Pizza delivery has been curtailed (and we were within a point or two of getting a free pizza; with all that grease, though...).

Then, there's my son-in-law, B, who is on a whole new regime of meds that may or may not make a huge difference. But at least he's home, after two trips to the hospital. (The second trip came less than 24 hours after he got home from the first one.) If one good thing came out of his hospitalization, it's the fact that B. and M.H. now have a car. M.H. hadn't been able to bring their daughter, my granddaughter, to see her dad in the hospital; this will make their life somewhat easier.

Note: Unless you happen to live in New York City or any place where public transportation is abundant and parking is at a premium, getting around without a car makes life interesting, at best. If you have access to a car 24/7, try parking it for a week. Grocery shopping, going to work, job hunting, going to the doctor's, everything becomes a matter of logistics: When do I have to leave to catch the bus to...? Can I afford another cab ride?

My friend Cookie's husband has been transferred to another facility; he hasn't been home for three weeks now. They're not sure when he'll be home. My friend Kevin's dad is not doing well, either. I don't envy any of them.

On top of this, my daughter M.H. told me that her friend Sam's sister died near the end of the week when M. and B. were in the hospital. Her sister was 30, and died of a blood clot.

Life expectancies have slowly gotten longer over the years; most of us are sure we'll live longer than our parents did. And while my friend Kevin's dad may be in his late-80s, the others in my circle who've recently been hospitalized - 30 to 56 years of age - show that we can never take our health for granted. We all need to do what we can, what is within our power to change, to ensure our health. Granted, some things can't be changed; genetics figure into our health. But most of us do need to do what we can to change.

One last thing: I know one person who has done that. When I first met J., an intelligent guy with a great sense of humor, he was way overweight. Many of his friends worried about him, because of his weight. I didn't see him for a while; when I did, he'd dropped quite a lot of weight. He's finally at his ideal weight, having lost the equivalent of two medium-weight people. Two! How did he do it? No surgery, no weird, magical thinking. He went through Weight Watchers, stuck to the plan, even when eating out, and went to the gym almost every day. He's an inspiration to all who've watched this transformation. And while this might not change all the medical things he'll go through in life - age and genetics fit in, too - he has done what many of us need to do to ensure a healthy life.

Punchline is this: if we're doing something detrimental to our health, we have a choice: Change it for a chance at life, or don't. I'm including myself here. We deserve giving health a fighting chance; so do our families.