One Good Dog

I had a great dog onetime, a Dalmatian.  He actually was my daughter's dog.  She got him one Christmas morning and immediately dubbed him Bubba.  We had no idea he would be huge for a Dalmatian and thus deserving of his name.  They were inseparable. 

But then my daughter went away to college.  From that point on, Bubba was mine, heart and soul. 

I've had other dogs.  My first was a Beagle named Bubbles who died too soon after an apparent snake bite.  Then my dad brings home this little dog of mixed breed.  Brown from the tip of her nose to the end of her  tail, we called her, of course, Brownie.

Brownie didn't like people outside the immediate family and I was never even sure about the family but we fed her so she tolerated us.  My friends knew to wait until Brownie was put up before they came into the house.  She was just downright mean.  She lived too long and I left her with my parents when I went away to college.  I didn't miss her.

But Bubba was different.  He was special.  He loved everybody.  We never had to worry about him with other people.  He lived to please.  He might thump you with his tail but that was about it.

And he worshipped me.  When I was gone through the day, he wouldn't eat a thing.  Then, when I pulled in the driveway, he would wait until I opened my truck door, make sure it was me, then head for the food bowl.   When I travelled I would always worry about him.

I would occasionally take him for a ride in my son's jeep.  He would sit like a statue in the front seat.  He enjoyed it so much he wouldn't so much as move a muscle lest I not take him with me.  He wouldn't even move his head, just catching a glance of me by moving only his eyes.   I don't think he loved anything in the world more than that.

Then he got cancer.  When he wouldn't eat bacon (his and my favorite food), I knew it was time.  I cried like a baby when I buried him near my barn. 

So what's this got to do with sports?  I don't know...I figure that if the Westminster Kennel Club show can be featured in the sports pages and shooting birds over a dog is considered a sport then my story of Bubba can fit in there somewhere.

And it doesn't have much of anything to do about injuries.  Bubba was healthy until the end. 

Maybe it has everything to do about living.  I know there are people out there who only get exercise when they walk their dog.  That's OK.  At least they're out there.

For some, I know that it is a cure for loneliness.   Even the unloved can find love in a dog.  A dog loves unconditionally and too few people don't have that in their lives.  Most dogs require very little, just food and a pat on the head.

So if exercise and healthy living add quality to your life, then I think there is room for a dog in there too for a dog surely adds to the quality of our lives.

I miss Bubba but I don't want another dog.  I had one great dog in my lifetime.  I think that's enough.

Avoiding Skin Cancer

When I sit down to write in this space, most of the time I write about what's running around in my brain at that moment.  Something always seems to pop up that leads to a column. Things I see in our community.  Most often something to do with sports. Sometimes it's more what's on my heart. 

I try not to focus on my own personal story.  You probably know too much about me anyway.  I know I wrote about my own headaches last week but my point was really that if you have headaches that persist or are somehow different you should seek medical attention.

But sometimes my experiences might help you understand where you are in your own path to good health.  I had more of that this past week. 

Let me explain.  Last week, I underwent a dermatology procedure called Blue-light therapy.  Also known as Photodynamics, it is a treatment for precancerous lesions. 

If you've paid attention, you know that I advocate visiting your dermatologist on a regular basis.  You also know that I encourage everyone to take care of their skin.  Unfortunately, we don't do that very well.  Lots of sports are outside, exposing athletes to lots of sun.

But the sun takes its toll.  And usually the problems aren't revealed for many years.  Those spots that we might call age spots or sun spots? If left untreated, about 10% of them can turn into a type of skin cancer called Squamous Cell Carcinoma. 

What you might also not know is that a lot of cancer that is found elsewhere starts with skin cancer.   Unchecked cancers on the skin can metastasize to the different organs in your body.  It happens too often.

The good news is that most of it is preventable.  Early detection and removal offers a great deal of control of skin cancers.  It's why you should see a dermatologist.  Regularly.  They will likely perform a full body scan and make note of any suspicious looking spots or lesions.

Maybe a lesion doesn't need to be removed right then but it might need watching.  Removal in the early stages is usually quick and easy.  Some lesions can even be frozen off.

I happen to be at high risk for skin cancer since I am outside so much.  Yardwork/Farmwork.  Football practice that begins in July and lasts until December.  Lots of time on the bike.  It seems like I'm working, sleeping, or outside.

All that exposure to the sun takes its toll on my skin.  I use sunscreen frequently but not frequently enough.  So after removing several lesions, my dermatologist recommended that I go through this Blue-Light thing.

I'll spare you the details but the treatment is effective.  Oh sure, it wasn't fun for a couple of days.  I had a rather severe sunburn the next day and my skin is still peeling off but it was definitely worth it.

The bottom line is to protect your skin.  Use sunscreen liberally and often.  Cover up.  Wear a hat.  A "healthy tan" isn't healthy at all.  Protect your skin.

Dealing With Headaches

Do you have headaches?  I used to think everybody did.  It was so normal for me.  I've had them pretty much all my life. 

I used to have migraines.  Regularly.  A pocketful of Excedrin was with me always.  I hit 45 and they stopped.  I said then it was the onset of male menopause but who knows.  I was just grateful. They came back a bit at 55 but never nearly as bad as they used to be.  I feel blessed.

I had a wrestler with a headache the other day.  He blamed it on dehydration--wrestlers do that, you know, dehydrate for weight loss.  He wasn't really a candidate.  I blamed it on exertion.  More on that in a minute.

It got me to thinking about headaches, both my own history and what headaches mean to active individuals.  Back when I had migraines, the world almost stopped.  Nothing else mattered much.  I couldn't eat.  I couldn't sleep. And I sure couldn't exercise.

In the throes of a booming headache, I was willing to do anything, to take anything to make it go away.  Not to trivialize drug addiction but I could understand what might lead someone to do things that they might not ordinarily do. 

A lot of people get headaches from problems with their neck, particularly postural problems.  Poor posture leads to a lot of things and headaches are one of them. Get those taken care of and your headaches could be much better.

Problems with the TemperoMandibular Joint (TMJ) can cause headaches.  Do you clench your teeth a lot?  Have you been told you grind your teeth at night?  Does your job pop and crunch?  It could be your TMJ.  Ask your dentist. 

What we eat and drink can cause headaches.  There a lot of things that seem to contribute to the classic migraine.  Hard cheese, caffeine, beer, processed meats, chocolate, and MSG have all been linked to migraines.  Sometimes it's not the food but the additives.  Your best next tactic?  Take a food inventory (what you eat) and match it to your headache pattern.

If you get a blow to the head and have a headache, you should be worried about a possible concussion.  Always.  Concussions are something we take very seriously.  I deal with young athletes a lot.  I can tell you that we are ultra-conservative when we suspect a concussion.

Stress can contribute to headaches.  Emotional stress.  Mental stress.   You will probably say "but stress is everywhere."  Yes, probably.  But that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of things that you can do to effectively deal with it.  You owe it to yourself to investigate what those things might be for you. 

Physical stress can contribute to headaches.   I believe my young wrestler was experiencing a headache because of extreme physical stress.  Not to personalize this whole column but back in my headache days (pre-45), extreme physical stress would always precipitate a headache.

And usually not right then.  For me, it was later that night, but then most of my headaches have been in the middle of the night.  My headaches were vasodilatory--the blood vessels in my brain would dilate and make my head hurt.

My basic recommendation is that you should never just assume that headaches are a way of life for you.  Get them checked out.  Especially if your symptoms seem strange somehow.  See your Primary Care Physician.  Don't wait.

You Old Goat!

So here's the story.  My wife and I were hiking last summer.  Glacier National Park.  We were coming down after visiting Sperry Glacier, a truly magnificent hike.  We were descending across a scree field on a trail cut into the side of the mountain when we came upon a family of four stopped in the trail.

To give you a picture of that, it wasn't really that steep of a slope but you didn't want to fall off.  It wasn't like the side of a cliff or anything but the trail was a bit narrow. 

Directly in front of them was a mountain goat, munching on some grass on the side of the trail.   There wasn't really room to go around the goat so these folks were stopped in their tracks.

The family included grandma, granddad, son-in-law, and 7 year old granddaughter (mom and a newborn were at the lodge at the trailhead).  They were from North Dakota and were afraid to pass the goat, who was a bit menacing, bobbing his head up and down as they approached. 

Now keep in mind, this was a wild animal.  Bigger than most of the goats we see around here, he did have those curved horns that we assume he uses for butting things.   This family was wise to proceed cautiously. 

So I pulled on my full "country boy" persona and stepped forward boldly, clacking my hiking poles and yelling at the goat "Billy, get off my trail."

The goat just looked at me.   "I don't have time for this, Billy, get off my trail!"  He moved to the side of the trail.

"That's not enough.  Git on up that hill!"  To which Billy ran on up the hill, nimbly, like mountain goats do.  We all passed safely.

On down the trail, we stopped and talked to the family.  The little girl was in awe.  "Mister, how did you do that?" I told her "well, honey, me and that goat just speak the same language--one old goat talking to another old goat."

The little girl was just all "wow" and everything while the grandparents laughed out loud (lol to teenagers and millenials).  As you might have suspected, there is a message behind this whole story. 

In recent weeks, I've talked about making decisions, not resolutions and about what you might do to stay healthy.

Well, sometimes you just have to take charge.  Take charge of your health.  Make those decisions that allow you to be the person you might need to be.

Take charge of where you are.  Take charge of your work environment.  Take charge of your family situation.  Take charge of your life.

Like with that old goat, sometimes you have to move boldly.  And bravely.  I was confident that I could handle whatever that old goat could come at me with.  Being brave is not about having no fear, it's about being able to look fear in the face and tell it to move out of the way.

It's about taking charge of the situation, your situation.  Know that inside of you is all you need to achieve your dreams, whatever they may be.

Make Decisions, Not Resolutions

OK.  It's New Year's Eve.  I know that a lot of people are going to make resolutions.  New Year's Resolutions, that is.   It's an annual thing.

Most of the time it is to do something with improving your health.  And most of the time it is a resolution to get more exercise.  That and to eat better. 

Gym memberships skyrocket in January.   Lots of resolutions and good intentions.  And those same gyms that are packed in January and early February (gotta look good for Valentine's Day) are empty of those newbies by March.

There's lots of other things too.  Sleep more.  Spend more quality time with your kids.  Finish that project that you've started too many times.  Quit smoking.  Be kinder, gentler.

Well I want to suggest that you don't make resolutions.  Ever.  I want to suggest that you simply make decisions.

A decision to be healthier.  A decision to do whatever it is that you should be doing but aren't.  Or that you are doing but shouldn't.

I have heard it said by lots of smokers, "you will quit when you decide to."  Not when you promise yourself on New Year's Eve to do it.  Not when you make a resolution that has little chance of surviving cold weather.

When you make a decision to make a change in your life, you're going to do it.  Make a decision to make a lifestyle change and you will do it.  There is no turning back.  There is no empty gym in March.

Make the decision to take better care of yourself.  You've heard it here (too many times, probably), make sure that your primary care physician, whomever he or she might be, knows you by your first name when they run into you in the grocery store. 

Make a decision that you're going to exercise.  Regularly.  Five days a week.  Build it into your schedule.  Build it into your lifestyle.  It's just what you do.  You deserve it.

Make a decision to eat better.  Eat more vegetables and fruits. Especially more green leafy vegetables and things like broccoli and brussels sprouts.  Make sure your meat is lean and know where it comes from. 

Make a decision to end those bad habits.  Smoke?  Quit.  Make the decision.  Other bad habits?  Be honest with yourself and admit that they aren't good for you and then make the decision to stop.

Make a decision to stop and smell the roses.  Seek more laughter, more long walks, more hugs, more sunsets,  more dreaming, more fun, more love.

Need to lose weight?  Make the decision to do the things that will help you get your weight under control.  Don't be unrealistic.  As for all the weight loss plans, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  It's often more journey than destination.

If you ate your way into 2017, walk your way out of 2018.  Happy New Year!

Giving Thanks

It is time to give thanks.  Yes, I realize it is Christmas Eve and not Thanksgiving but what better "reason for the season" can we have than to give thanks?  So here goes.

I'm thankful for Coaches everywhere. Coaches give so much to the growth and development of our children, gifts that don't always get acknowledged.  The hours are awful.  The pay is not enough to register.  Good coaches do it for the kids.

I don't know a single coach that puts winning above the welfare of their young charges.  Maybe in days of old, before we knew better, but not now.  Oh, they're probably out there.  But they don't live or work in this backyard.

And teachers.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  What an underappreciated group of people.  They sometimes are trying to teach young folks things that they don't want to learn.  Imagine how difficult that might be.

Maybe if all the classes were about video games, texting, smart phones, and social media, they could get 100% attention.  Yet, the learning of things that we don't find interesting teaches us HOW to learn.  And that is a life skill that is essential. 

So thank you to all teachers and especially all the teachers that put up with my shenanigans (except for maybe that English teacher that insisted that I learn to properly diagram sentences).  And God bless those teachers that teach things like Physics and Chemistry that few students find compelling.  They may someday realize how important that stuff is.

Thank you to preachers everywhere.  We rarely think to tell them thank you for doing all they do.  We need the moral compass that comes from someone spiritually connected, who is willing to share that connection with us.  They're not perfect and once you realize that, you will probably be able to learn more from them.

A big thank you to those in health care.  Yeah, I know that's a bit self-serving but it's true.  Thank you to physicians in particular.   It used to be that they were the best paid people around.  Not so true these days.  Most of them could make more doing something else. 

Most of the doctors that I know do it because the work is rewarding.  Because they want to make a difference in the world.  Because they have a skillset that can help people be healthier.  And the difficulty in getting paid for what they do (paperwork, insurance regulations, people making reimbursement decisions that have no idea what the patient needs) be darned (this is a family newspaper, after all), they do it anyway.

Thanks to the farmers.  Without them, we wouldn't survive.  I don't know too many of them that are in it for the money either.  And the hours?  Ridiculous.  There basically aren't any hours--there is always something to do.  A friend that was getting her chickens to the market recently worked 30 straight hours.  And then the price she got for those chickens wasn't what it should be. 

It doesn't deter her. She probably dismissed it as the price for the lifestyle she chooses to lead.  Working on a farm, raising her own food and enough to sell to help pay the bills.  I often brag that I "live on a farm" when all I do is raise a few vegetables and some berries.  Real farmers allow the rest of us to live the life we want to.

I'm thankful for good bicycles, Benton's bacon, a truck that starts in the morning, good restaurants, and the fact that I don't live in Atlanta.  

And a big thank you to the kids that I work with that keep me young, grandchildren that remind me what life is all about, and a wife that tolerates the roller coaster that living with me must surely be.

Yes, Tennessee, we have a problem

Did you know that Tennessee is the second most medicated state in America?  I'm not talking about illegal drug use (although we're pretty darn high in that category too).  I'm talking about medications for legitimate medical problems.

Part of that is because over 65% of Tennessee adults are classified as obese or overweight.  There are a lot of health issues that are the result of obesity.  Heart disease.  Stroke.  Some cancers.  Gallbladder disease.  Joint problems.  High blood pressure.  Sleep apnea.  Diabetes.

Oh, and about diabetes--did you know that over 10% of Tennessee adults have diabetes?   And that over half of those could be eliminated with weight control and lifestyle changes?

So before I get started on the mother-of-all prescription drug problem in Tennessee (Opioids), let me admit that I am on three prescription drugs, which place me in the top 23% of American prescription medication usage.

I take two blood pressure pills and a Statin.  More on that in a minute. 

If you read this space regularly, you know that my lifestyle is good.  I exercise pretty much every day, ride a bicycle 3-4 days per week, eat mostly healthy, and visit my primary care physician, my gastroenterologist, and my dermatologist regularly.  I do most of the things that we know to do to stay healthy.

But as for the blood pressure thing, you can only run so far from your genetics.  High blood pressure runs in my family.  Broadly and deeply.  I have very few relatives that aren't affected.  My mom and dad for sure.  My grandparents, probably.

In my 40's, my blood pressure was already running in the range of 140/90.  Not terribly high but I guess I just couldn't believe it was happening to me.  I have always been hot pursuit of good health, beginning as a child of five when my dad had his first heart attack. 

So I ignored it.  After too many visits to my primary care physician where my blood pressure was too high but I scoffed at that because surely it must be a fluke, he insisted I get medicated for it.

Which indirectly leads to that Statin thing (a recent addition).  You see, I have a rather significant level of atherosclerosis.  Plaque lines my arteries.  We used to call it "hardening of the arteries."

Part of that is probably due to ignoring high blood pressure for too long.  The other part is that darn gene pool of mine.  Either way, Statins have been shown to help with that.  And a cholesterol level that has creeped up as I've gotten older.

So here I am.  Testimony to the fact that even the most vigorous, seemingly healthy among us needs to pay attention to medical care, not just the healthy part that is exercise and diet but doing what we should do medically.

As for those Opioids--Tennessee is among the country's worst in Opioid use.  The statistics are hard to track down because it is such a widespread epidemic.  I'm going to write more about this later but let me just add a couple of scary statistics.

Oxycodone prescriptions would have supplied every adult in Tennessee with 21 pills in 2016.  And Hydrocodone prescriptions would have provided every person over 12 in Tennessee with 51 pills. 

Yes, we have a problem.