Ode to Dr. Barrett

I doubt that he would have remembered me a week after my semester in his class was over.  I should have but never got around to thanking him.  But he changed my life forever.  

Dr. Richard Barrett was an English teacher at the University of Tennessee and I had enrolled in his English Literature class to complete the requirements of my curriculum after two years of college.  Truth be known, I really wasn't that interested in the class, I just knew that I needed it to graduate.

Let me go back a bit.   I started college majoring in Wildlife Management.  I thought that I could find a way to hunt and fish for a living.   Along the way, knee surgery and an encounter with a physical therapist (you may have heard this story before) prompted a change in majors to Physics/Physical Education with the intention of going on to physical therapy school.

The only problem was that I had spent two years "enjoying" college, not really applying myself.  My Grade Point Average was somewhere well south of average and physical therapy was really hard to get into. 

OK, so go back one more step.  My only academic distinction in high school was that I was the football player with the best grades.  I even got a trophy to affirm it (The Paul & Naomi Arp Academic Award).  My high school guidance counselor wanted me to go to trade school.

And English!?!  Well, let's just say that I was not any high school English teacher's favorite student.   I thought (still do) that diagramming sentences was a complete waste of time and that's what I remember most from high school English. 

I've said it here before a couple of times, but I was never NOT going to college.  It just wasn't an option.  I've never understood how my parents taught that lesson so well but they did.

Now back to Dr. Barrett's class.  I show up with a shallow academic history, no real study habits, and a career of underachievement in the classroom.   Athletically, I was OK--I have my high school football coach to thank for that (another story, many times told)--but academics...that was another story altogether.

I don't remember the assignment but I do remember the fear when he asked me to stay after class one day.  He had looked up my transcript and wanted answers to why my work and my grades were so far below my abilities.  He told me I was a huge academic underachiever.   In a nutshell, he challenged me to do better work. 

At that point, no one had ever expressed any confidence in my academic ability.   Nobody had ever really believed in me.

Oh, my mom always told me how smart I was but she also told me to always tell the girls at school that I was the most handsome boy in the school and, well, I knew that wasn't the truth.

And then there was my Junior High principal, Mr. Rothwell who had high hopes for me but I'm pretty sure it was because he was a family friend. 

But this was different.  Somebody, a college professor no less, had seen something in me that I hadn't even seen in myself.   It was a moment..an epiphany...that changed me forever.

I'm pretty sure that I ended up with a B in his class but that may have been my last B in college.   I turned it around academically and, as they say, the rest is history. 

Sometimes all it takes is somebody that believes in you.

Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy

Today I’m going to do what pretty much every socially responsible columnist has done all week:  write about the tragedies at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  If you expect great insight or a list of solutions from me, you might be disappointed.  

As a parent, burying my own kids was (and is) my worst nightmare.   I lived in dread of that call in the middle of the night that there had been a wreck and that, well, you know what can follow after that.

I've got 5 grandchildren and 1 on the way.  The oldest is a 6 year old first graders.  Just like those kids at Sandy Hook.  Something happening to one of them is unfathomable.  It simply cannot happen.  God, please take me instead.

Those teachers and that principal that rushed to help?  HEROES.  So are the law enforcement officers, the EMT’s, and the firemen who rushed in.   The horrors that will inhabit their dreams for the rest of their lives are indescribable. 

I’m really glad today that I don’t have to drop a child off at school tomorrow and the tomorrows after that.  I’m not sure I’m strong enough.  I would want to barricade them at home and keep them there safe forever. 

Columbine. Virginia Tech. Aurora, Colorado.  For the next few months, a lot of people will try and figure out what to do about all these horrible episodes.  I think we all have to expect some changes in our lives.

Could more School Resource Officers (SRO’s) help?  I would think so.  I know I feel safer when they’re on duty.

Greater security in the schools?   My wife worked in a local elementary school for several years and she said that her school was quite secure but if someone wanted in bad enough (as in bad enough to shoot off the locks), they could get in.

More gun control?  I don’t know.   I don’t understand the need for the general public to own assault weapons but it does seem common sense that if you make guns illegal that only criminals will own guns.   I also know that this boy’s mother should never have had enough of an arsenal to take on a small army.  In her home.  Accessible to her mentally ill son.   And her son was most certainly mentally ill.

Improved care for the mentally ill?  Most assuredly.   We have a huge and largely unmet need for mental health services.  Most of our homeless are also mentally ill so we can help two problems at once.

Some have called for quicker and broader institutionalization of the mentally ill.   We currently incarcerate 25% of the world’s population.  Let me put that another way:  In America, we have 5% of the world's population but 25% of those behind locked doors.  I don’t think bars are the answer.

Should our families be more responsible, more accountable?  There is little doubt that this was a dysfunctional family.  Dad was apparently out of the picture and Lanza's brother hadn’t seen him in over 2 years.  

Less violence in our everyday world?  Surely.   What used to be tasteless has become commonplace.   Things that are morbid and downright horrific have become a normal part of culture. Profanity in public has become acceptable.  Too many of us seem to seek the darkness instead of the light.  

What we need are people ready to make tough decisions.  From parents that say no to leaders that leave partisanship at the door.  From people willing to give up individual freedoms to better protect those most vulnerable to reasonable, rational, practical thinking by all of us.

Zeke Koko

If you read the Sports Pages, you probably know the name.   You know that he was an outstanding player for the Alcoa High School football team this year.

 You might recall that his Junior season was ended before it even got started when he tore his ACL in a scrimmage game the week before the 2011 MOC Football Jamboree.

But you probably don’t know much more about Zeke Koko.  I think it’s time to fix that.

 First let me tell you about who he is today.   A tireless worker and an undeniable leader for the AHS football team, Zeke demonstrates heart and desire and all those things that coaches preach and fans expect.

 I can tell you that in the months after surgery last year to repair his damaged ACL, Zeke did everything possible to make sure that his knee was as healthy as possible.  Rehab is never easy and sometimes painful but he never flinched.

Anything and everything that Alcoa Head Athletic Trainer Peggy Bratt and I threw at Zeke, he did with determination rarely seen in any high school athlete.  We demanded a lot of him and he did it all and then asked for more.

So finally his Senior season arrives and Zeke is finally healthy.   Then in week 4, in a game against Greenville High, Zeke tore a ligament in his right thumb.  That forced him to play in a cast until the Monday before the Tornadoes’ quarterfinal playoff game against CAK.

 Do I need to tell you that Zeke hardly missed a beat during all that?  

 If you have the good fortune to meet Zeke today, you will discover a young man that is mature beyond his years with a smile as big as the Montana sky that lights up a room when he walks in.

 A young man that will look you in the eye and give you the firm handshake that too many of his generation seem to lack.    I’ve actually never met his parents but this young man has got to be a testimony to their character and parenting skills.  

 Zeke moved to America from Sudan with his parents at age 2.   In the ensuing years, the family grew to include four younger brothers to Zeke who don’t even have to go past the front door to find a solid role model of their own.  

Good coaches ask their players “what’s next” with the admonition “don’t let this be the best thing you ever do.”  I’m not sure what’s next for Zeke.  He wants to play college football and he deserves that opportunity.    But what I really look forward to seeing is what he does with his life after football.  It’s going to be something special.

Take whatever you have, and give it away...

A buddy of mine tells the story of going fishing with his grandfather when he was young.  They all lived near Mobile Bay and fishing was almost a way of life.

This was my friend's first trip out into the ocean.  At their first stop,  they caught maybe a dozen fish, and then my friend watched in horror as his grandfather chopped up his prize catch into chum.

Grandad had something bigger in mind, bigger fish, that the chum would bring in.  But first, he had to give up something (the small fish), acting on faith that he would be able to catch bigger fish. 

Would it have been better to go on home with the small fish and maybe feed your family or try and catch the big fish and feed your neighbor's family too?

Life is a lot like that.

Do we settle for a decent job because it is a steady income and the benefits are decent or do we work to get the job that truly makes us happy?

Do we settle for a certain relationship because, well, it's the best thing that has come along yet and I'm not getting any younger, or do we wait for that perfect somebody? 

I remember counseling a young employee that was struggling with relationships.    To be honest about it, she had dated a string of what I will call "losers."   I asked her if she wanted to wait on "Mr. Right" or settle for "Mr. Almost-Good-Enough."   She waited and found her dream guy.

Do we settle for "good enough" or do we go for the best?  It's all a risk but if you think back on it, haven't a lot of the good things that have happened to you in your life involved some risk?

You risked asking that cute girl out on a date and now 38 years later, you're still married.   You weren't sure that you could make it through graduate school and you were quite sure you couldn't move half way across the country but you did and you could.

I'm a firm believer that we have to take some risks.

 I am just as firm a believer that you have to give in order to get.

 I didn't always think that way.   I can remember when I was little and it was Christmas and everybody said it was better to give than to receive and I just didn't understand that at all.

Giving of ourselves is the key to both our success and our happiness.   When you get to the point in a relationship when it seems better for you to do something for your significant other than it is for them to do something for you, it is magic. 

Try this:   Do something nice for somebody else in a way that they don't know who did it.  And then resist the urge to tell them.   Now think of it from their perspective:  Someone thought enough of me to do something nice but didn't want the credit.  How special is that?

There is a gospel song that I really like that includes the line "if you want more lovin' than your heart can hold, if you want to stand taller if the truth were told,  take whatever your have and give it away."

I like that.

 

All's Well that Ends Well?

I'm going to tell you a story today.  This is a true story.  No exaggeration...no embellishment.  

Not too long ago, my wife and I were riding bicycles on a gorgeous fall afternoon.  She's new to the game but seems to really be enjoying the bicycle.  Sunday afternoon seems to be our time to do this together.

Although most of my riding is still going to be with a decidedly faster crowd, I have enjoyed these nice little rides, (although that's not really what my wife thinks of them:  30 miles to her is half-way across the country).

On this particular day, we were slowly climbing up a long not-too-steep hill near where we live, when along came a motorized vehicle whose driver really didn't think we should be riding bikes on that particular stretch of road (or any road, for that matter).

To say that he violated the Jeff Roth 3 foot law (an excellent piece of legislation passed by Senator Doug Overbey that requires drivers of motorized vehicles to give bicycles at least 3 feet in clearance as they pass) is an understatement.  

I motioned for him to come back, not for a fight but to show him that I am a human being whose life he had just put in jeopardy.  

I got my wish.   Let's just say that the rest of this encounter was rather ugly.  I stayed calm because I feared for my safety and that of my wife.  In an attempt to personalize the encounter, I told him my name (big mistake), but he knew who I was anyway.  

When he sped off, I wrote down his license tag number.   By the next morning, I knew who he was.  

For the next couple of days, I agonized over what to do.   Press charges?  Have law enforcement officers pay him a visit?  My biking buddies wanted to form a posse and pay him a visit.  None of that appealed to my wife.

All I could think of was retaliation.  But fear and anxiety compelled me to do nothing.  I was angry, frustrated...in a word-victimized.

Then on the third day, I came to realize that retaliation was not the way to go.  That I didn't need revenge but that I needed to reach out to this guy with kindness.  Answered prayer?  Probably, but I didn't think of it in those terms at that moment.

Still, I had reason to believe, based on our only encounter, that I might not be received well at his house.  So I did nothing.

So the next day, I'm at work and our receptionist came to me and told me that there was a guy on the phone that really wanted to talk to me.   She gave his first name and I remember thinking,  could it be the same guy?  So I took the call.

It turns out it was him.   He had called to apologize.   He was genuinely remorseful.   He asked for forgiveness and I gave it to him. 

The absolute best case scenario for this whole event was for this fellow to realize that he made a mistake, apologize, and then change the way he treats bicycle riders.  I think that's what has happened.

Despite the fact that our initial encounter was really, really bad, I truly believe that this guy is deep down a good guy.   I also believe that the roads are safer because of this episode.

And maybe both he and I are better people because of it. 

Childhood Obesity Rates Improve!

OK, so maybe we've turned the corner.  Maybe the epidemic is over and better days are ahead.

I picked up USA Today while on a trip recently and one of the inside headlines read "School Meals Combat Obesity."  This is a topic that I've had some rather heated discussions about recently. 

You probably know that I spend a pretty good amount of time these days around high school athletes and their coaches.  Along about the start of the school year, new cafeteria restrictions were being blamed for hungry football players.

It seems the portions were perceived as being inadequate to supply the nutritional needs of young men most of whom were trying to get bigger for their sport.

Let me take you back a lot of years.  During my early school days, my mom worked part-time in the high school cafeteria.   Before I got to the high school, she had taken a full-time job at the local grammar school.

But she left a lot of friends in that high school cafeteria.  Friends who knew well who Jretta Black's son was.  And they took real good care of Jretta's boy.

You want a little more chicken?  How about an extra roll?  Want more dessert?  At one time, they even kept a pack of hot dogs in the refrigerator for me.

You see, I was a 185 pound offensive lineman/linebacker who couldn't gain weight no matter how much I ate.  It probably didn't help that I was always doing something outside of school and football.  Bagging groceries at the White Store (#32, by the way, for those of you remember that venerable local chain), "hauling" hay, mowing yards.  

That I was treated differently by my mother's friends is undeniable.  That it might have been unfair to other kids who needed extra food because they were hungry is likely.  

I can appreciate what football players are going through who are subjected to healthy eating initiatives that were put into place to help curb our obesity epidemic.  Let me state for the record that portion sizes for a 270 pound football lineman should be drastically different from the 120 pound chess club member.

But when I read that childhood obesity rates had ebbed in several areas around the country that had been dealing proactively with the issue, it helped me understand. 

Said Dr. James Marks, a pediatrician and senior vice president for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (an immensely respected organization dedicated to improving our world):  "We've had 30 years of increasing rates of obesity, but we might be seeing the turning point for this epidemic."

In Mississippi, obesity in children in grades K-5 dropped from 43% in 2007 to 37.3% in 2011.  That's huge in our most obese state. 

I preach the sermon all the time about how our kids need to be more active.  That's an essential part of the culture change that is necessary to see real improvement.    But kids have also got to learn to eat smarter, making better food choices. 

And if they're not going to get it at home, I think it's OK that they get that portion of their education at school as well.

 

Pitch count is everything

I may have seen more problems this past summer with the shoulder and elbow among young softball and baseball players than ever in my career.  "Little League Shoulder" and "Little League Elbow" are catch-all terms used to describe pain and dysfunction that is far more complex than simple names might imply.

Baseball and softball seasons have been over for a while for almost everybody.   Even the World Series has been played, short as it was.

Yes, I know about "fall ball" and it does seem like preparations for spring seasons are just around the corner but my point is about to be that now is the most crucial time to do what is necessary to protect young arms during the lull between games and serious training.

One of the many journals that I take is Sports Health.   An article entitled "Prevention of Elbow Injuries in Youth Baseball Pitchers" in the most recent edition confirmed that now is the time to address this topic.

The authors of this piece described the problems leading to shoulder and elbow problems among baseball players (but really, among all throwing athletes).  The biggest risk factor is pitch quantity.  A function of that is pitches per game, innings pitched, rest between outings,  and pitching on multiple teams.   Pitchers that also play catcher must also count those throws against their pitch count.

We know that throwing mechanics are huge.  Bad mechanics mean excess stress on the shoulder and elbow and sooner later something is going to get hurt. 

So I asked Josh Pitts, pitching instructor at Dr. K's Baseball & Softball Academy located next door to the clinic where I spend most of my time in the Cherokee Athletic Facility, what he sees as the biggest problems in throwing mechanics.

#1:  Throwing with a "short arm," which mainly means leading with the elbow during the throwing motion.   Following close behind are bad habits in their throwing motion, throwing with their arm instead of using their whole body, lack of leg strength or failure to use the strength that they have, and balance issues.  All those are correctible with proper instruction.

We've known for a long time that throwing athletes need to have strong supportive musculature to be able to throw without injury.  We also know that it is most important to have good strength in those muscles that decelerate the arm.  But most people don't realize how important leg and core strength are both to performance and to injury prevention.

I have long railed against teaching too young kids how to throw a curve ball but Josh and the authors of the article cited above don't see that as a huge problem.   Sure, if a youngster is going to be taught how to throw a curve, they need to learn proper technique, but it may be more simply pitch count, innings pitched, and rest between outings that determines injury rates than exactly what pitches are being thrown.

I am still dismayed when a 12 year old comes into my office and claims to be able to throw five different pitches.  I will go on the record here as saying that no 12 year old pitcher in the world needs to be trying to throw  that many different pitches.   That kid was also in my office for a reason.

What's Next?

It's been ten years and it is still hard to talk about.

On October 3, 2002, my son Nick Black ended his football career on the field at Florida State University's Doak Campbell Stadium.  In the middle of his redshirt junior season as a Clemson Tiger offensive lineman, a defensive end was blocked into the side of his right lower leg, shattering everything between his knee brace and his ankle brace.

When the anniversary of my son's injury arrived, I didn't realize it had been ten years.   But my son did.  It was a horrific injury that required over a year of rehabilitation and two surgeries.

When Marcus Lattimore was injured in South Carolina's game with UT last weekend, we were all forced to re-live those moments.

When Lattimore went down, I really didn't want to see it.  It is my responsibility to take care of injured athletes when those things happen and I know that I can do my job when the time comes.   But I sure don't like to watch it on TV. 

When Nick was injured, the Clemson Athletic Trainer beckoned me on to the field to assist.  One memorable photo shows me lifting my 300 pound son onto the cart to remove him from the field.  Standing next to me was Joey Batson, the Head Strength Coach at Clemson.   Batson could pick up the corner of my house but I was the one who picked up my son.

 As Nick approached the exit at the end of the stadium, the crowd erupted in applause as Nick, his head down in agony, raised his arm in encouragement.  It was the exact same spot where Lattimore's mother stood waiting on her son to get there.

It is genuinely heartbreaking.   As a Clemson fan, South Carolina is the enemy.   You want them to lose every game.   But this was different.   This hurts all of us.

I felt the pain that his family was experiencing.  I still get emotional just telling the story of Nick's last game and the tears were close watching the players from both sidelines pour onto the field to support the injured Lattimore.

What's next for this young man?  He's surely had surgery by now and he is going to get better acquainted with my professions than he ever did with his ACL injury.   Those things that made him one of the country's best running backs will help him with his rehabilitation.  

But sometimes injuries are just too much to overcome.   I hope that he plays again someday.  He deserves the chance.  But if he can't, I hope that he takes the lessons that he has already learned about what it takes to become so good and the lessons still to come about overcoming adversity and makes his life count for something outside football.

It has been reported that just before taking the field last week, Lattimore told his teammates that they should "play like you may never get to play again."  How poignant is that?

Some pretty good coaches that I know are always telling their players they shouldn't let a win or a championship be the greatest thing that they ever do...that it's what you do next that counts most.   I'm betting on Marcus Lattimore to do something pretty spectacular next.

No place for...

In the pursuit of health and fitness, there is no place for...

Eliminating all fat from your diet.    If you eliminate all fat, you deprive your body of much needed nutrients.   What you really need to do is avoid saturated fat and trans fat.  That means read labels.

Polyunsaturated and monosaturated fats are the "good" fats and provide important nutrients and nutrition for your body.   Those are found mainly in nuts, vegetable oils, and fish.

No pain. No gain. Not really.  The reality of it is that if you hurt during your workout, you are probably doing something wrong.   Sure, it's OK for it to be difficult for you, just not painful.

One thing we all need to learn is the difference between post-exercise soreness that comes from either pushing our limits or trying something new and pain after exercising that might be an indication that you have injured something.   That's where a relationship with a physical therapist could be handy.

I would like to see a world in which everyone has a physical therapist.   You might talk about "my attorney" or "my accountant" but do you ever think about "my" physical therapist?  It's National Physical Therapy Month so I can get that plug in there.

But physical therapists have a great deal of expertise in musculoskeletal dysfunction and can offer techniques, exercises, and treatments that get at the cause of your problem.

Not having a primary care physician.  No excuse.  You need someone that knows you and knows your medical history.   Who greets you by name when they walk in the door because they know who you are. 

Not having colonoscopies and/or mammograms, if you are in any at-risk category.  I was asked recently if I thought we would ever  "cure" cancer.   I said, for a large part, we already had.

Statistics reveal that about 65% of Americans diagnosed with cancer survive past the crucial 5 year mark.  And for those that dismiss the quality of American medicine, that is significantly higher than the best to be found in the rest of the world. 

Take leukemia for example.   When I was a child, leukemia was  a death sentence.   There was no cure and hardly any treatment.   While it is still a horrible disease, over 50% of the people diagnosed with leukemia survive to 5 years.

With early detection and treatment, female breast cancer  has an 88.7% survival rate.  As for colon cancer, with early detection the survival rate is almost 100%. 

Stretch before exercise to prevent injury.   Nope.  After.   When your connective tissue is warmed up and more effectively stretched.

Focusing on one body part in a workout.  Oh, my, how many times have I heard that one.  Today is "my arm day."  Or "leg day."  The most effective workouts engage multiple body parts.  Every time.  Only if you want to make it bigger do you ever isolate your workout on one muscle.

Single rep max.  If you lift weights, you know what I'm talking about.   If you are preparing for a competition that will require you to perform a single repetition of a particular weight, it might be OK.  But it is generally a formula for injury.  And to what end?

You owe it to your body to investigate everything you do in the name of good health.  There are too many fads, bad ideas, and misinformation out there to do anything less. 

No Excuses!

I think I just got a new nickname.  I've never had many, other than always being called "joeblack" as though it were one word.  Growing up, other kids got to be Suzie and Ronnie and Jimmy but I was always joeblack. 

Such is the curse of those named single syllable first names and single syllable last names.  My son tried to fix it by always insisting on being called by his full first name, which is the multi-syllable Nicholas.   That seemed to work until sports, when coaches reduced his name to one word-nickblack.

The new nickname for me seems to be "Excuse Remover."  OK, maybe I should back up. 

I work in a fitness center.  Well, more specifically, I spend most of my work day at a physical therapy clinic (Total Rehabilitation-Cherokee) that is adjacent to a fitness center (BMH Wellness Center at Cherokee).  The two are under the same roof and are separated by only a counter and half wall.

In fact, my "desk" is a stool and a laptop computer that straddles the two.   So someone working out at Cherokee can simply step up to my "desk" and get a consult about their injury or their workout.   Happens all the time.

And since most folks know that health and fitness are very important to me (not to mention my day job), I get stopped regularly for advice on both.  I really don't mind.  I'm actually flattered when folks seek my opinion.  

The usual script is this: "I know you really don't want to be bothered with this, but can I ask you about my knee (or shoulder or exercise program)?"  But really, I don't mind at all.  

So today I was in a conversation just like that about a fellow that felt that he needed to lose 50 pounds.   He didn't really like to diet, his knees kept him from jogging, and his lifestyle might need some tweaks.

So I started removing his excuses.  I think I'm pretty good at it.

Dieting doesn't work for you?  Start by just eliminating fried foods from your diet.   Then maybe look at nothing to eat after dinner.   Reduce size portion and frequency of desserts.   That doesn't sound too hard, does it?

You don't have to make wholesale changes, just changes that you can stick with.   And do them consistently.   No excuses.   And start today.  Unless you've got a special meal scheduled, there's no reason to wait until tomorrow.

Can't run?  Bike, swim, or row.  Don't own a bike, a pool, or a boat?  The bike shop can help, several fitness centers have indoor pools, and rowing machines work great.   Then, you've always got my personal favorite-CrossFit workouts.   You can do those with little or no equipment.  The secret is to find something that you can stick with.

Can't find the time to exercise?   Do you really need a sit-down lunch every day?   Brown bag and exercise through lunch.  If you went to bed on time, you could  get up early enough to exercise before work/school/your normal day.   Don't wait until the end of the day--it's too easy to find...yep, you guessed it...EXCUSES!

Don't know what exercise would work for you or don't know the equipment?  Every gym in town has personal trainers that can help you with that.  Don't want to go to a gym?  Google up workout advice. 

I know a lot of people who are very healthy, that have found the formula that works for them.   Somewhere along the way, they stopped looking for excuses and started doing the right things.  Things that would lead them to better health and help them achieve their personal goals.

No excuses.

You Know You're a Grandparent if...

It doesn't seem possible, but I am firmly entrenched in grandad-dom.  Grandchild #6 is on the way.  My wife and I are convinced that being a grandparent is about the best gig going.

You heard about Camp Blackberry a couple of months and those that know me know that I've fully recovered from the nervous breakdowns that happened on Days 5 and 7 (just kidding).  

So last week I was putting away the dishes and just stopped and thought...we are really, honestly 100% full-fledged grandparents.   The evidence was in front of me (and constitutes the first line in the rest of the column).

You know you're a grandparent if...

Your "sippy" cups outnumber your wine glasses.

Your dining room has a high chair.  Probably recycled from your own children.  We actually have 2--one for indoors and a plastic one for outdoors.

You've tried to recycle Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony.   Barbie is still out there but I'm too much of a feminist to embrace that whole arena.

You know how to change a diaper but wonder where the pins go.   When I talk about cloth diapers, I get looks that let me know with absolute certainty that I'm a dinosaur.

Your vacation plans just might include something that begins with Disney.  Oh, and you know what the "Hot Dog Dance" is.

You're pretty sure that swimming means they don't need a bath but your own kids would still have been scrubbed to their last layer of epidermis.

Pizza now fulfills four major  food groups (but it sure didn't used to). I mean, think about it.  Grains (the crust), fruits (tomato paste--remember, tomatoes are fruits), meat (pepperoni), and vegetables (other toppings).  See?

You know you're a grandparent if it is now OK if they eat too much candy and stay up too late.  You're just going to send them home anyway.

You find cereal in the couch instead of change.  And your meals involve 2 menus, one for the adults and one for the children.  Ham and plum baby food?  I ain't goin' there!

You think James Dobson's The Strong Willed Child is funny.

You put plastic sheets back on your beds and get excited about a phone update on potty training.

You have no idea how to put in the car seat or fold up the stroller.  Your own kids probably just used an adult seatbelt and you yourself might have stood on the front bench seat between your parents, unrestrained.   Yeah, it is a lot better now.  A LOT better.

And finally, you know you're a grandparent when you realize that even though you thought you had all the answers when you were raising your own kids you now understand that parenting is mostly about not messing them up--more like gently re-arranging clouds--than it is about grand design. 

 

Vertigo?

BPPV.  I thought I had it.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is a type of vertigo caused by a disorder in the vestibular system in the inner ear.  Occurring suddenly with a change in the position of your head, it is characterized by dizziness and loss of balance.

At the core of the problem are crystals found in the inner ear that become detached from the lining of the vestibular system.  When the head changes position, these crystals shift.  Since the vestibular apparatus is responsible for balance, dysfunction can cause vertigo.

Vertigo sends over 6 million people to the doctor every year.   Of those, almost half can be BPPV. 

About a week and a half ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and stumbled to the bathroom.  I felt like I was falling forward.  I managed to make it to the bathroom then back to bed and once I was lying down again, I was fine.

When I woke up a few hours later, I certainly seemed fine-normal, really.   So I headed in for my morning workout. 

One of the exercises on this particular morning had me lying on my back.   When I started to get up, my world went upside down again.  I had to stop.   About 20 seconds later, I was normal.

It took  me about 3 times to figure out that I really didn't need to be lying on my back and then getting up quickly (yeah, I'm a slow learner).

At that point, I was convinced that I had vertigo.  One of the physical therapists that I work with is Whitney Sharp, who has specialized in the treatment of vertigo.   Unfortunately for me, Whitney was in Oregon to watch her son play football (Tennessee Tech kicker Zach Sharp).   At our Springbrook office, is another physical therapist that is trained in the treatment of vertigo, Dr. Courtney Irons.  

So I took off to see her.  After a thorough examination, she decided that I didn't have vertigo.   Next stop: upstairs to see my personal physician, Dr. Kevin Turner.   Dr. Turner did his usual thorough job with an EKG (pretty normal) and blood work.

It was from the blood work that he discovered that I was dehydrated.   I had no idea.   This episode had started on a Tuesday night and I had a hard bike ride on Tuesday but I thought I had hydrated sufficiently.  Obviously not.

One of the problems with dehydration is dizziness and a form of vertigo.   I didn't really know that (and, quite frankly, I should have) but I sure do now.

I've had patients, friends, and colleagues with vertigo but I didn't really know what they were experiencing.   But when your world gets all topsy-turvy, it gets your attention.  I definitely have a greater appreciation for what they are going through.

And I know (and want you to know) that if you do have vertigo, there is something you can do.   For this episode, a combination of a physical therapist and a primary care physician fixed the problem quickly for me. 

And one thing you can be assured of:  I will drink more (written between sips from the water bottle that has become my constant companion).  I don't want to go down that path again.

Teens and Back Pain

Already this year, it seems as though the sports injury of the fall is a back or neck injury.   I've seen way too many of these and the fall sports season is young.

Teenagers aren't supposed to have back problems.   That's supposed to be for the middle-aged guy that tries to lift too much without using good body mechanics.  Or the senior citizen that has simply abused their spine for too many years.

Oh, I see enough bad posture among younger folks that I sometimes wonder why they aren't having more neck pain but then I do know that eventually they are going to have problems.   Sitting at a computer (which a lot more folks do for a job these days) will definitely take a postural problem and make it a significant medical problem.

And those backpacks.  I've ranted here more than once about the weight of the backpacks that our high school-aged kids are required to lug around every day.  It's obscene!

I weighed one of those backpacks, fully loaded, not too long ago.   It was 45 pounds.   And that one was carried by a 15 year old girl that might weigh 105, soaking wet.   That's over 40% of her body weight on her back.  Every day.

Something has got to be done about that one.   Those teens will be adults with serious back problems. 

But I'm also seeing athletic injuries to the spine that cannot be taken lightly.   Although not seen with the fear and gravity that concussions are, back problems among teenage athletes need to be evaluated by a health care professional.   For most teams, that starts with the team's Athletic Trainer.

One category of back problems, known as spondylolisthesis, is not uncommon in football linemen.   The mechanism of injury is often the repetitive nature of collisions with other large individuals, usually with the spine in extension.   Over time, a structural change can take place in the low back that only rest and no football can fix.

That's why offensive linemen with chronic low back pain should be seen by an orthopedic surgeon with x-rays done.

Protective equipment has gotten much better in the past few years, from better shoulder pads to fitted and padded undergarments that dissipate the force of a direct blow to the trunk and shoulders.

But still, a lot of times an injury to the back in football is from a direct blow, such as a receiver going up for a pass and being hit from behind.   Those usually aren't serious and require only time to be resolved.  Still, the kidneys are vulnerable and a potential kidney injury is something that cannot be ignored.  

That's why a medical evaluation is important.  If you remember one thing from today's column remember that if there is any blood at all in the urine (pink to red urine), then you need to see a doctor immediately.

As for those backpacks:  Parents, get involved.   Make sure that you help your teenager keep a proper fit with their backpack.   It should hit higher up the back than most of what I too often see, with the straps shortened and the bag fitting snugly against the back, not drooping down low.

When do you feel REALLY alive?

When do you feel really alive?   I mean, REALLY alive.   So alive that maybe you forget about everything else?   

This came up recently after I spent the afternoon swimming with my oldest grandchild.  She has discovered the joy of diving to the bottom of the pool with a mask on.  It seems simple but she really enjoys it.  I think she would do it for hours without stop.

And she allows me to share in that joy.  We will dive to the bottom, pose with our arms crossed, then drift to the top.  Or we will retrieve toys on the bottom just because we can.  We smile, we laugh, we hold hands, then down we go again.

When I saw photos of the two of us her dad took with an underwater camera, the thought popped into my mind--that's what being really alive is all about.  Joy.  Simplicity.  Lost in the moment. 

A great bike ride does that for me too.  When you're grinding up a steep hill, every thought, every bit of energy is put into that task.  It doesn't have to be something fun (some of those hills definitely aren't fun) but it reminds me that I'm alive. 

Did you ever laugh so hard that your stomach hurts?  At that moment, you really don't think about your problems, about life's difficulties.   You are in the moment. 

Really being alive isn't always the safe place.  Maybe my definition of really being alive doesn't amount to much more than being so engaged in what you're doing that you forget everything else.   That can include fear, heartache, and disappointment. 

But isn't that what tells us that we are alive?  The ability to feel, to experience?  We aren't promised that it will always be easy, just that we can get through good times and bad.

A friend sent me this quote:  "One of the biggest tragedies in life is to just settle...."

I like that.  We shouldn't "settle" for whatever is handed to us, the life that someone expects us to live.  It is up to us to explore new worlds, to dream our dreams, and to live our life to the fullest.  I believe that is what is expected of us.  And it requires us to often get out of our comfort zone.

I think another huge tragedy is to work at a job that you don't like.   A job that you dread.  That when the alarm goes off in the morning, you would rather do anything than go to work. 

Back in college, I wasn't interested in getting rich and famous.  I just wanted a job that I could enjoy.  At first, it was Wildlife Management but mostly because I thought I could hunt and fish for a living.  That didn't work out.

It took a knee injury to point me in the right direction (see "silver lining").  Now, when the alarm goes off, I can hardly wait to get to the office to see what patients are on my schedule, to discover the day's challenges.  I don't even know how the snooze button works.

So, back to my original question...what makes you feel really alive?

Maryville-Alcoa on ESPN

Unless you were totally not paying attention, there was a little game of football around these parts last Sunday.   One could make the argument that it was the biggest sporting event ever held in Blount County.

ESPN.  Sunday game.  Easily the biggest rivalry in Tennessee high school football.  (How many times do two teams only 6 miles apart with that many state championships play each other?)  Marine Corps All-American Rivalry Game.

An electric atmosphere.   A game that lived up to the hype.  An airplane trailing advertisements overhead.   A Kiowa Warrior helicopter on the practice field.  And a packed stadium of people, many of them a bit warm.  

OK, it was hot.   Not so hot that the game was in jeopardy of not being played.   We were way below that TSSAA threshold.   At game time, the temperature on the field was 89 and the humidity was 41%.  That produces a heat index of 90, well below the point where the game had to be changed.

But it was still hot.  For the players, we spent a lot of time and effort to make sure that the heat didn't affect them.   All week, Alcoa Athletic Trainer Peggy Bratt and I had been preaching hydration to our players.   We ask that they not pass a water fountain at school without stopping to take a drink and that they have a regular intake of sports drinks.

We practice in the heat, allowing them to acclimatize over several weeks before the first game.   The body can be conditioned to deal more effectively with hot conditions.

For the game itself, both sidelines had "misters," big fans with a spray of water that is very effective at cooling the players off.  Plenty of water and Gatorade were available at all times.   We broke out the ice towels (chamois towels soaked in ice water) early and even used them with the officials at times.  

I had a second athletic trainer on my sideline, Tracy Martin, and team physician Dr. Todd Griffith who helped me keep an eye on players that might be having difficulty with the heat.  And 10 student athletic trainers.  Peggy had Para-Medic Keith Amos and Alcoa team physician Dr. Mike Campbell on her sideline. 

The good news is that Peggy had only one significant problem with cramping but was able to effectively treat the athlete and return him to play without further problem.   And I only had one minor problem with heat cramps that didn't really interfere with his ability to play. 

The bad news is that the spectators didn't fare so well.    By reports that I have since heard,  Rural Metro transported six individuals to the hospital with heat-related problems. 

I would like to stop here and give kudo's to the Maryville Fire Department.   It seems like MFD Para-Medics and EMT's were everywhere on game day.   After the game, there were 3 spectators down with heat-related problems at once and there was at least 1 MFD employee with each of them.  

What could the spectators have done differently?   Drink more.   We think that we drink enough but probably don't.  I can tell you that the lines were already long when the gates opened at 9 and that means that by 3, folks had been out in the sun for a long time.

Fans that were passed out sure seemed to be popular.   Lack of moving air in the stands was a real problem.  Reflective clothing and hats would have helped.

But maybe the biggest thing is acclimatization.   Our football players benefited from having been out in the heat for long stretches of time in the preseason.  I suspect our spectators didn't have that advantage.

Please remember all that the next time you have to outside in the heat for an extended period of time. 

The "next" 10 health tips

Remember when Mom was always saying "wash your hands," especially just before dinner?   We don't seem to hear that as much these days.   Yet, we know full well that to avoid getting sick, we need to do two very important things:  Wash our hands and keep our hands out of our mouth.  

I'm pretty sure most of us don't wash our hands enough.  In health care, we do it all the time, to the point that most of us have chronic skin problems because of it.   I clean my hands every time when I walk in to see a patient and I clean them again as I walk out.

But most of the time, I don't do the same outside the clinic.   It just isn't convenient to wash my hands after every encounter.   It isn't convenient on the football field.  It isn't convenient after I have shaken hands with someone in the grocery store.

And I would bet that most people don't really think about the impact of putting their hand to their mouth.   You should.  We do it all the time.

As I write this, I find myself coming down with a cold.   I obviously haven't taken my own advice.  That old "do as I say" thing that doesn't work in parenting either.    Lesson learned.   I will do better.

What else?  I usually preach about the big three:  Exercise daily, eat a balanced diet, and don't smoke.  So, what else we can do to stay healthy?   I've formulated my next ten list of what all of us can do.

Be a friend.  I've often said to have a friend, be a friend.  Connecting with other people helps us to manage our own stress and be generally happier, healthier people. 

Wear shower shoes in a public shower.  Oh yeah.  I got Athlete's Foot as an 11 year old at Camp Buck Toms and it took me years to get over it.  

Laugh more.  I get busted on this one regularly.   I admit that I'm way too serious most of the time.   It's my job to take your health seriously but I really shouldn't let that carry over into the rest of my life. 

Wear your seatbelt.  Yes, I know it's the law but too many people still don't do it.  In the event of an accident, it is your best bet for staying safe.

Use sunscreen.  Ask any dermatologist.   You never want to get a sunburn.  Never.

Read labels.  Know what is in your food.  You will be surprised.   You don't know what an ingredient is?  And you would really consider eating it?

Brush and floss.  It's not just important from your dentist's viewpoint but it helps to keep you healthier.   Our mouth can harbor all kinds of germs. 

Establish a Relationship with a Primary Care Physician.  And then get an annual checkup.  Oh, and do what they tell you to.  

Hydrate.  Especially this time of year.  And especially in winter.  By golly drink lots of water year round.   You may not realize it but it really helps your skin and digestive system be healthier.  

Moderation in everything.   Even the good stuff but especially the bad stuff.