Stand up to cancer, amen.

Stand up to cancer, amen. If you have read my blog for any time you know we fight three diseases that can take our life: heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. I believe if we adapt life style changes that help our heart we also are on the right track to fight cancer and diabetes. We are like a baseball team going with the percentages. If you win 6 out of 10 games this year you are on top. Most league leaders are 500+ When it comes to health we want better numbers than that. I am a Cub fan and this year we improved to 457%. 

I know this that if we walk, strength train and stretch our immune system and health improves. If we eat 5 to 9 servings of fruits and veggies it improves our ability to be healthy. If we get to a healthy weight again our chances improve. Moderation is vital for a big guy like me. When it comes to cancer I believe these things can help

There are problems. Getting healthy or staying healthy always is like a pitcher who pitched a good pitch and the batter hits it out of the park anyway. Yogi Berra made a career of hitting pitches you shouldn’t hit. Loosing weight ain’t easy, we get injured, there are thousands of bad habits we could have. We get sick despite our good efforts. Well, that is what walking with the fat man is all about. Health doesn’t always go the way we planned. Amen to medical and spiritual help.

When I was 20 I never thought I would be fat like my older relatives. I had really no idea what it would be like at 60+. I was watching The Knick and they had a surgery to remove a part of a bowel like I had. In 1900 I don’t know how they survived but they had to start somewhere. There are cancers people survive today that 100 years ago or even 50 years ago they didn’t. If you start soon enough you may prevent a sudden death of heart disease. When I was in the hospital I saw courage in a different way as people battled for their lives. The fear in the eyes, and the encouragement given that helps pull them through. It was hard but I also knew people who fought for life and didn’t make it. It is a real as we get. I still remember a friend who came to visit me and was shocked at all the tubes coming and going in my body. At that time I had gone through the worse of it and knew I was getting better despite how I looked. 

I day or so earlier I knew I had to change the way I ate, I knew I had to get walking again. What  I didn’t know at that time was the insomnia that would follow. I didn’t know about the anxiety attacks that would become a daily problem at night. I certainly did not foresee the depression that would color my life. The walking and diet changes would help me face these other problems. 

One thing I think I have done is not hide any of the stuff. But I have been blessed with recovery and care. These battles become self absorbing. After a while our support people want to move on. As a blogger I too have to move on. I only write this to remind myself our health battles often can have a good outcome, but it is far from easy. 

Each day, every person in my family, and friends (so many I worked with) become more precious too me. I was looking at the love of my life tonight and thinking how did I deserve her love. My church family who for me always the souls at Fellowship who have all the quirks of Mayberry. These things give me a love for life. God for me is right in the middle of it. So come walk with the fat man. Keep walking