my health

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How Being Sick Hijacks Your Whole Life

This week I got sick. Ya, ya, I know, I just wrote about how to keep from getting sick (“Four things you need to divert a cold”). But before you get ready to sue me for bad medical advice, you need to know that this sickness was different. I got food poisoning.

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My wife, Lily, thinks I got the flu but I know what I had and it was food poisoning. I think she wants it to be the flu so I can’t blame her for feeding me that leftover chicken last Monday.

It’s not like the chicken had been left on the counter and the flies had been circling for a few days, but it had been in the fridge past my internal best before date. It’s just a sixth sense I have.

I didn’t even see it coming, though the evening before my stomach was rumbling. I didn’t feel bad and just imagined that by morning everything would be normal. Well, about 5 am on Tuesday things were NOT normal.

I spent the next three hours in and out of the bathroom … enough said.

I was achy all over and that lasted the rest of the day. I was so wiped that I slept several times during the day to the point that I was completely disoriented.

The day seemed to last forever. I turned on the TV at one point, thinking it must be late afternoon, only to realize that it was only 1 pm. I had no energy and I felt so weak, much like a kid in the grocery store who’s had a meltdown, sprawled on the floor near the sugar cereal aisle.

There was nothing that could appease me. I didn’t dare eat anything – the memory of the early morning dash made all food totally unappealing. Sipping water at first was huge, like a child taking his first ever steps across the room.

I held my breath to see what would happen or which way it would go. I could hear it travelling through my system, at times like a gurgling brook, then like some light rapids, and finally dropping quite low in my system like a waterfall.

At least it was some entertainment. I was pretty bored all day, not that I didn’t have anything to do. There were things for me to work on, things I really needed to be working on, but I only had the energy to listen to my stomach get a workout while sipping water.

I fell asleep on the couch at about eight in the evening and, when I came to just before 10, I noticed that the achy-ness had gone. I breathed a sigh, and knew it was over and I’d be alright the next morning.

I called it a day and went to bed.

Here’s the thing: Bad food can impact everything about you, all your body parts, and even your thoughts and emotions. Not dealing with sin does the same thing. Not only will it affect your thoughts, emotions and action, but in some cases it can affect your health as well. Make speedy confession part of your internal best before date.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you experienced that took control of your body? Leave your comment below.

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Four Things You Need To Divert A Cold

This week I felt a cold coming on. I had the chills, was sneezing frequently, and I just didn’t feel good.

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I could have got it through shaking hands on Sunday morning. Or, maybe I got it by being around my son – he is a carrier for colds you know. When he was young, he would start to get a cold, pass it on to the family and then never really get as sick as everyone else.

However, there were times when he had a stuffed nose and repeatedly wanted his mother to cut his nose off. Man, kids are creative!

I started to feel it early in the week, so I jumped into action with my sure-fire formula for warding off fledgling cold symptoms. It works some times, not all the time, but a good portion of the time. Basically it works enough for me to call it a sure-fire remedy.

The first thing I do is start drinking water … lots of it.  My theory is that the more you drink, the more you flush your system of all kinds of bad things, like viruses.

These foreign invaders of the body like to set up shop. I figure if I can keep downing water, they might slip into the stream and slide right out before they can settle in.

Next, you want to get into some sweats. I’ll even wear sweats to bed under extreme conditions. The purpose of sweats is not only to keep warm but to sweat those little viruses out your pores. It’s just another avenue for a virus to get pushed out of the body.

I’m even a firm believer in putting on a few extra layers under my hockey equipment and playing hockey. I have avoided many colds that way.

The third thing I do is stop eating sugar. Things like pop, candy, and ice cream, when you are trying to stop a cold, it’s especially important to stay away from these items. (This was not easy this time since we had loads of candy left over from halloween.)

Candy looks tempting, and you think a little sugar might cheer you up, but it’s not going to help you beat that cold down. I’m not sure why, it seems to weaken your fighting power.

The fourth thing I do is get more sleep than normal. Whatever time you go to bed, when you are battling a cold, hit the hay a little earlier. I’m a bit of a night hawk, so this can be tough for me, but sleep is a key ingredient to my heading off cold at the pass fighting technique.

Here are a couple more tips that I sometimes throw into my cold-fighting formula:

Pump vitamin C into you; it can’t hurt.

And get yourself a “gramma blanket” to help with that sweating action. My gramma made a blanket for me when I was a born. Now that it’s 57 years old, I can only bring it out when I am extremely sick. Soon it will need to be kept behind protective glass to preserve it. I’ll only break the glass in an emergency!

Here’s the thing: Like you need a plan or a system to defeat an oncoming cold from taking root, you need a system to deal with a persistent temptation. When you start to feel the temptation, jump into action with your system and cut off that temptation before it can set up shop and cause you to sin.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What system do you use for battling a cold or temptation? Leave your comment below.

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Who, Me? A Calorie Counter?

Three times in one day I heard the same message and, no, it wasn’t from my wife. I heard it on TV, on the radio and at the movies. The message was, “If you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight.”

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The next morning I decided to check it out. For me, everything is better if there is an app for it … and you better believe there are apps for calorie counting! As I started checking it out, both Lily and my daughter, Karlie, got into it as well.

Karlie had used one before, it was free, and seemed like a good one. I downloaded it onto my phone and couldn’t wait to start eating for the day. The great thing about the app is that it gives you a sense of how much you should be eating in a day so you have some kind of a gauge.

What I don’t like is having to enter all the food I eat and, worse, the amounts I eat (like I can tell what 4 oz of meat looks like on a plate?!) … I started to vaguely remember a nutrition seminar from my cardiac rehab clinic.

I remember the nutritionist had everyone grab some food labels and read the nutrition information on them. As she explained what the information meant, I was looking at the pictures on the labels and thinking I’d like to eat those items right then.

Needless to say, I didn’t get much from the seminar. But now I need that information. Thankfully, my app can scan bar codes, adding the nutritional info right into the app for me.

I’m getting the hang of it. It’s like playing monopoly every day. You start with a bunch of cash (calories), and as you eat, it costs you, like landing on a chance square or that dreaded income tax spot. But, like in monopoly when you pass “Go” and get more cash, in the nutrition game, you get more calories to use up when you exercise.

Now this is where it gets a little fun: I had a breakfast that cost me 391 calories, but then I went on a bike ride that bought me 432 calories. So before lunch, I had more calories to spend than I started the day with. It was great!

It bugged the girls though. They couldn’t get over the fact that I got to eat so much and could buy calories so easily.

After we figured out what dinner cost us, I decided to go for a bike tour around the area. Oh, and I purchased a $2 app that calculates my calories when biking or walking and syncs with my calorie counter.

That little trip bought me another 380 calories. By 8:30 pm I still had over 1100 calories to spend! I decided to have just a few chips, and some licorice, because just like in monopoly, I felt like I had some calories stashed under the board for when times get tough.

Here’s the thing: When you have worked at saving calories during the day, you somehow gain strength to fight the temptation of eating all kinds of junk food. You have a desire to keep what you fought for. When you fight against sin, a similar thing happens that gives you strength to stand up to temptation the next time.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What success have you had that has given you more power over temptation? Leave your comment below.

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Guaranteed to Cure the Common Cold

If you want to know how to get over a cold really quickly, I have the secret remedy. You may have to buy hundreds of dollars worth of hockey equipment to do it, but I swear by this method. I’ve been doing this for years and the results speak for themselves.

Johnson And Johnson Recalls Children's Cold Medicines

The other day I woke up with not the beginnings of a cold, or even the sniffles. I woke up with a full-blown, about a 2 days in cold, without any prior symptoms. I have no explanation for it other than it’s my wife’s fault. She must have given it to me.

There is a slight possibility that my late nights this past week have weakened my immune system, but I really think it was Lily who gave me this cold. She may not have had any symptoms herself, but I think she’s sometimes a carrier for these types of germs.

So there I was, sneezing every fifteen minutes, blowing my nose every ten minutes and coughing in between. My body was a little achy but I was more chilled than anything. I even hauled out my Grandma afghan, and when I do that, I’m sick!

I tried to get a good night’s sleep but I tossed and turned all night. I woke up the next morning not feeling any better. Mind you, my alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. and NO ONE feels at the top of their game at that hour!

I had a decision to make: roll over and go back to sleep, or drag my achy, chilled, sorry-looking body out of bed for hockey. It was a quick decision I made – I had to! If I thought about it for even a few seconds, I would have pulled the covers up over my head.

I had gotten out my hockey equipment the night before, just in case. But if I was going to play, I needed something else: the secret remedy/weapon to blasting a cold out of your system. I needed a sweatshirt, the thicker the better.

This remedy involves all my regular hockey equipment, but I wear a t-shirt AND a sweatshirt under my hockey sweater. This allows me to – how can I put this delicately? – sweat like a pig. Oh, I sweat when I play hockey, but with the extra layers, I get to the point of overheating and that’s the condition you need to be in to gain the desired results.

Just to make sure my method was going to work, the group that was coming on the ice after us needed a few extra bodies. I decided to stick around and keep the perspiration flowing.

When I was all done, I was pretty tired. By the time I changed and showered, I was feeling achy and chilly again. So I came home and jumped into bed for a couple of hours. When I got up, voila! I was better! – aches gone, chills gone, the need to blow my nose … well, I’m still going through Kleenex at a rapid rate, but I feel better.

Here’s the thing: For many of the requests we have of God, we just pray. It might be a nice, calm, logical prayer of what we want or need from God. But there are some things that require us to sweat it out with God, to get on our knees and pour out our hearts and souls to Him. That’s the tough work of prayer. You shouldn’t neglect that kind of prayer.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Have you found yourself in need of sweating out your prayer with God?  Leave your comment below.

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I’d Rather Take The Stairs

Does anybody like to climb stairs anymore? Has anybody ever liked to climb stairs? I’m just wondering because it seems like people try to avoid them if they can.

The other day, I was doing a hospital visit and my wife Lily was with me. As we got close to the elevator, she said, “We are not taking the stairs, are we?” I looked at her and replied, “You take the elevator and I’ll meet you on the 6th floor.”

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She answered that she didn’t want to climb the stairs because she was in high heels and a heavy coat. I’ve never climbed stairs in high heels before, but as I recall, my heels don’t normally hit the ground when I climb, so it should be a moot point.

Lil isn’t a wuss so she took the stairs with me, but she was lagging behind a little. I would chock it up to those darn high heels but her huffing and puffing gave away that she was really just out of stair climbing shape.

For the last year or so I’ve been taking the stairs more often. It’s not because I like climbing stairs; it’s because it helps me get closer to my daily walking goal. And I’ve learned a few things in taking the stairs over the elevator:

One thing I’ve learned is if you dislike crowds and being in close quarters with people, take the stairs – you’ll have the place to yourself! When I take the stairs at the hospital, 90% of the time I never encounter anyone else. The other 10% I just see hospital staff.

If you want to sing or whistle while you get to your destination, take the stairs. Not only will no one hear you, the acoustics in the stairwell really make for a rich, full sound!

If you need some quiet to think, take the stairs. The only sound you will hear is your own heavy breathing as you round the 5th floor.

I’m not petitioning for more people to take the stairs – I like to whistle undisturbed when I climb. I’m just saying there’s more to taking the stairs than giving you a heart attack.

There are some people who like to climb stairs. In Toronto, at the CN Tower, they’ve been running a fundraiser stair climb for 23 years. They get about 6,400 people walking up the 1,776 steps (that’s 144 flights!) every year. I know a guy who’s done it.

For the most part though, multi-floor buildings promote the use of elevators and escalators. The stairwells are usually in out-of-the-way places reserved for emergencies … and then good luck finding them!

Of course, the older we get, the more we start looking for those elevators. I’ve heard that 70 year olds can spot an elevator at 60 paces, but still not be able to read what button to push without their glasses!

I figure I’m not there yet, so I better keep using the stairs.

Here’s the thing: We gravitate to what’s fast and easy until that is all we can do. Becoming more like Christ takes time and work. If we’re always looking for the fast and easy, we may never look much like Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do the hard way just to not give in to the easy? Leave your comment below.

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She Made Me Sick

It almost never happens. In fact, I can’t ever remember a time when it’s happened before. But it happened this weekend: my wife, Lily and I got sick at the same time. Usually, one of us is there for the other one. Well, maybe her more than me.

Normally if Lily is sick, I stay clear to protect myself; I don’t want to get too close.  And it works most of the time. Sometimes however, as she is getting better, that’s when I’ll come down with it.

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Saturday we were both in bed, pretty much all day. We had extra blankets and layers of clothing on. I’m not sure what to call our sickness. There was a time way back, when I would offer a name for it.  Back then, if you were achy, coughing, hot and cold at the same time, we called that a cold. If you felt like you were going to throw up, it was the flu.

Now, it seems we call everything the flu. That’s not very descriptive, if you ask me. I remember when, if someone told you they had the flu, you got a mental image of them with a bucket close by.

Now, however, we are just plain confused when someone says, “I had the flu.” You ask, “What kind of flu? – the kind that you feel like throwing up, or the blowing-your-noise-and-have-a-temperature kind?” Come on, just give them two different names; one’s the flu and the other is a cold. Lily and I had the cold variety, got the picture?

As the day progressed, I started thinking that our kids should be here to look after us.  After all, we certainly did that for them for many years. Sadly, Karlie lives two time zones away and Mike, well, he’d stayed over at a friend’s the night before.

We were sick and on our own. So Lily had to make lunch for us. Now, just so you don’t get the idea I did nothing all day, I made my own dinner. It was a frozen pizza, but I had to go downstairs twice, the second time for the instructions. That used way too much energy for me that day!

All day I couldn’t shake this thought that our kids should be here for us. Karlie even phoned us while she was out shopping, wanting advice on choosing a soup stock to buy. It was like she was taunting us with visions of chicken vegetable soup. But there was no way she could beam it over to us.

I looked outside and it was snowing. There was no way we could shovel the snow, but Mike could do it . . . if he was home!

At that point, we both felt kind of sad and lonely, Lily more that me, ‘cause I had hockey to watch all afternoon and evening. Where were those kids when you needed them?

Here’s the thing: Just like our kids were not close by when we were both sick, if we have allowed or caused some distance in our relationship with God to exist, we certainly won’t feel like He is close by when we need Him. I need to make sure I stay close to God when I’m doing well, so that when I’m not, I know He is there to help.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What kinds of things can cause distance in your relationship with God? Leave your comment below.

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I Can’t Believe That Stressed Me Out

This week I graduated from the cardiac rehab clinic. Part of the requirements were to attend seminars designed to help me make positive changes to my life. The topics covered were fitness, stress, nutrition, the heart, and medication – eleven sessions in all. Each session was 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 hours long. I can only think of two words to describe these sessions: “brutally boring”.

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I have watched them on DVD; most people were held captive in the lecture hall for the whole time.  I don’t think I would have survived if I had to go to them. I’d probably have had another heart attack! It was bad enough having to watch the sessions at home, at my own pace.

One of the sessions – on stress – was three DVDs long. The problem with watching the DVDs was that they were creating more stress in my life. I felt my blood pressure rise slightly when the instructor began her talk by relating a story of her mother moving from Vancouver to Kingston, including what airline she was taking to get there.  Just start talking about stress!

She also stopped talking to welcome and assist everyone who came in late. It was nice that she made them feel comfortable, but they were late! Let them sneak in with their head down in embarrassment; they might show up on time for the next lecture.

The camera man must have been a 12 year old. He kept zooming the camera in and out with jerky motions, without care of what he was focussing on. Lighting for this big budget film was also pretty poor.  The instructor looked like she was wearing a turtleneck sweater, with shadows from her neck down.

I was just about ready to get hostile when my wife called me for dinner. That’s what probably saved my lap top from some damage. I closed it and went to the table. It was the break I needed.  I vented to Lily for a few minutes, and was able to bring my blood pressure down by filling my face with her chicken casserole.

It was only a short-lived reprieve, however. I had to finish the last half of the DVD after dinner. I think I dosed off a bit because the second half seemed to go a little faster. I came to while the instructor was demonstrating how to breath.

It was riveting. I mean, I have been breathing for well over 50 years now. Who’d have thought I’ve been doing it all wrong all this time? I’ve got it down now though, so I should be able to keep breathing for the rest of my life.

I have one more DVD on stress to go and, if I can survive it, I think my stress level will go down. Normally, when I watch a DVD, it’s to relax and chill out, to be entertained. These movies have tested my patience, and got me so riled up, I’ve started to yell at my computer screen.

I don’t think that’s healthy, especially for a guy who’s had a heart attack. They gave me medication to reduce my blood pressure and slow my heart rate, but then, I’ve allowed their DVDs to undo any good the medication was supposed to do.

Here’s the thing: I can do a lot of things right spiritually, like taking time to be with God, serving in the church, being in community with other believers. But, if I harbour sin in my life, it will negatively impact my spiritual vitality.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Despite all the good in your life, what are some negative things that could undo you?

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Beware of Dangerous Fruit

You’ll notice the name and header of my blog have changed. When I created the blog ten months ago, I really had no idea what to call it so I just went with the church name.  I made this name change because it better reflects the content of my blog. Let me know what you think of it. (I also simplified the website address to psthatslife.com)

One night this week, I came home from work, and instead of smelling that sweet aroma of food being prepared, my wife Lily was engrossed in research.

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Now when I get home from work, I make a beeline for the pantry.  Nothing gets in my way of that. If Lily is in the path, I greet her with a kiss and a hug, but not a long hug because, she is in the path to the pantry.

You see, I get hypoglycemic which means I have to eat something right away.  It could be anything, but a kiss will not cut it and a hug will only keep me from falling down, and even then, I could take her down with me.  I need food when I get home and I need it fast!

So, as I was filling my face with chips (oh, did I write that?) Lily was calling me to come see what she had found on the internet.  After scarfing two more handfuls of chips, I made my way to her office where she told me about some research on grapefruit.

Apparently, grapefruit reacts to some medications, creating an overdose effect, a massive overdose in some cases.  (When she mentioned grapefruit, I immediately thought that would be a good chaser to the chips I had just eaten.)

But she was suggesting I shouldn’t eat grapefruit anymore. The whole reason I take “Crestor” instead of “Lipitor” is because I like a little grapefruit for breakfast. Now she was telling me studies show that another pill I take (Plavix) reacts to grapefruit.

I kind of laughed at that point because I have been eating grapefruit everyday for the ten months I have been on this pill. Then I checked and said, “Yup, my heart’s still beating. Hey, I’m alive.”  Lily just rolled her eyes and told me to watch the news report on the internet.

The video was from ABC news. They had their medical expert speaking as if it was a life or death matter. At the close of the interview he said, “Whatever you do, call your doctor and stop taking those drugs.”

I laughed, then asked Lily to play it back. I was right! The expert doctor said “stop taking the drug”. My doctor told me to never to miss taking “Plavix”; it’s keeping my stent open.  But this guy said stop the drug, but keep on eating grapefruit!

So the next morning, I had grapefruit for breakfast.  Later I viewed the video again and they had corrected it. Lil was still worried so she called the pharmacist and he suggest that I stop eating grapefruit.

They’re ganging up on me!

Here’s the thing: Even though it was a possible danger for me to keep eating grapefruit, I ate it the next day anyway.  When confronted by our sin, our natural tendency is to keep on sinning. The key isn’t to dismiss the danger just because nothing bad has happened yet. Rather, dwell deeply on the harm sin in your life can bring and make the change.

That’s Life,

Paul

Question: How do you react to sin in your life? Leave your comment below.

 

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It All Changed in an Instant

They say things can happen in a spilt second.  One moment everything is fine, and the next everything has changed.  That happened to me this week when I put my back out.  I was feeling good, keeping up with my aerobics and weights, and looking forward to playing hockey later in the day.  Then in one moment, aerobics, weights and hockey were all put on hold.

Sometimes things don’t happen quite so fast.  I remember a time shortly after getting my driver’s license, when I was returning home with my brother after a late night hockey practice.  It had lightly snowed while we had been practicing and there was a fresh, thin blanket of snow on the road.  Everything looked so peaceful.

As we left the arena, we turned onto an access road that took us to the main street.  It was a short, two lane strip of road, with no one in sight, and not one tire mark in the snow.  I thought I would show my little brother how to fishtail the car down a street.

We were driving my dad’s ’74 Buick LeSabre, with a 350hp engine, and rear wheel drive.  Looking back, it was a Sherman Tank without the caterpillar tracks!  As I started down the road, I began fishtailing the car back and forth.  Then . . . I gave it a little too much gas, and the car started to fishtail too far.  I panicked and jammed on the brakes with complete inexperience.

The fishtailing stopped but we started sliding, heading straight for a fire hydrant.  It was like slow motion.  There was no way to deviate from the course.  My life flashed before my eyes – not because we would die in the crash – because I knew my dad would kill me when I wrecked his car.  It seemed like an eternity, as we just kept sliding closer to the fire hydrant.

And then a miracle . . . the front tires hit the curb just before the hydrant and the car bounced back.  That was a long time to experience very little change.  I told my brother not to say anything to Dad and that was that.

The other day, however, feeling fine, I bent down to pick up a knife I had dropped.  In a split second I knew the next few days would be uncomfortable.  I got this sharp and stabbing pain in the base of my spine.  It was like that knife had been dropped into my lower back.

Immediately I realized my error.  I had bent with my back and not with my knees.  I’ve heard of people putting their back out by bending over to pick up a sock or something that weighs next to nothing.  I’ve seen Lily put her back out, without picking up anything.  I always thought that was weird.

Now I know what it’s like.  It sounds funny, “I put my back out by picking up a knife”.  But it wasn’t funny to me and it changed my life for the next few days.

Here’s the thing:  Sometimes we can see outcomes unfold from the decisions we make, and sometimes they happen so quickly we can’t anticipate the outcome.  If I am in a regular habit of bringing my decisions to God, and then following His direction, it will cut down on those times I find myself edging towards a big disaster, or suddenly appearing in the midst of trouble.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  What’s your plan for ensuring your decision-making doesn’t lead to trouble?  Leave your comment below.

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Ya, It’s Nice to be Back!

Recently I went back to playing hockey.  I felt good enough to play, but since I did have a heart attack after the last time I played hockey, I also felt a little weird about it.

Since I left the hospital back in March, I have had to carry a nitroglycerin spray … just in case.  I haven’t had to use it, but when we got to the bench, I told my son Mike where it was in the dressing room, in the event I might need a little shot.  I just felt it would be good for someone to know where it was.

When I got onto the ice, I found that my skates didn’t fit right.  I don’t understand how a heart attack could affect my feet, but my skates which have fit perfect for the last 18 years put my feet into agonizing pain.  It didn’t matter whether I was on the ice or on the bench, my feet just hurt.  That lasted about 45 minutes before the pain went away.

I’ve never experienced that before, nor have I experienced aching muscles around my hips when I skated before.  But that, too, seemed to be a relatively new change for me.  I feel I have aged over the last seven months.

And then there were all the “mothers” that showed up to play.  It was a little embarrassing.  Every time I came to the bench, someone would ask me how I was feeling.  If I looked out of breath or in a little pain, if I slipped or got bumped by someone, these big guys dressed in full hockey gear got all tender on me and asked, “Are you okay?”  One time I answered back, “Yes, dear” and I don’t think he asked me again.

I also had to get used to a new routine.  Apparently, hockey is kind of hard on one’s heart.  That’s why they have installed defibrillators in all the arenas in the city.  It’s not that hockey isn’t a good way to exercise, but when you go from racing up and down the ice to sitting on the bench, your heart rate rises and drops rapidly.  Well, that’s not ideal.

So, now I have to coast at the end of my shift, or walk a few laps around the bench before I sit down.  Let me tell you, that gets a few looks and comments from the other guys.

But in the end, I felt good that I got that first game under my belt.  It was great to be on the ice again.  Hockey has been the last thing I’ve returned to after my heart attack.  Now I’m back participating in everything I used to do.  I just do it at a slower pace, I think.  But maybe that will get better too.

Here’s the thing:  When we get off track with God in some way – whether it is sin in our life, or just a drifting away from Him – coming back to God may seem a little awkward, not as natural as it did before.  It may mean trying something different or new, or changing something in you life.  But coming back to God, seeking His forgiveness, knowing you are right with Him, feels good.

It gives you a peace, a comfort, a knowing you’re in the right spot, that you’re in a good place … you feel like you’re back where you should be.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  What has caused you to feel distant from God?  What keeps you from moving closer to Him?  Leave your comment below.