The Name of the Beast.....
Well, yesterday I returned to my Doc's Office to discuss my medical episode of late June & reveiw the results of my Chest X-Rays......
The Good News is that I am NOT on Death's Bed over this thang! There IS NO "SPOT" on my lung.......
But, I DO have a condition that, given time, 15-20 years, would probably be listed as the "Cause Of Death" (Unless something else gits me First!).......
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) , according to Internet sources, is somewhat of a catch-all term, covering both Emphysema & Bronchitis, although my Doc was emphasising my case to be in the Bronchitis line as opposed to the Emphysema line........
Old "Doctor A" is a good "Old School" Doc, a man whom I respect, but he seems to feel that smoking tobacco could play a part in all this......That, of course, is ridiculous!
Anyone in their right mind knows that, if tobacco smoke was so bad for you, the Federal Government would have long ago banned it's use! I mean, just look at the long list of substances, devices & practices that have been banned "for our own good" over the last hundred years or better! Nah! My Government would NEVER allow me to ruin my health! I KNOW! It must be GENETICAL! Yeah!
That's the Ticket! It's all Maw & Paw's Fault! Not Mine, Surely! Damned Genes anyhow!
Since my first (and only, so far) "attack", 3 weeks in the past, I have tried to quit smoking......went 2 days without, 3 times and fell to one-pack-a-day-and-when-it's-gone-I'm-done-for-the-day.........
The immediate fear, of course, was in learning that I had lung cancer. That would have not made me quit smoking, though! I feel that, were I to have received a death sentence, since I ain't about to go through what my Dad went through, only to live in misery for 3-4 more years, missing body parts, being sick all the time.....I would have, I believe, just partied my way on out the door.....as Faron Young, the 1950s Country Star sang, "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young and Leave a Beautiful Memory"!
But, now, all is in a different light.......I AM getting older and on the Downward Swing so, do I want to Die feeling relatively good or do I want to Die drowning in my own body fluids? From what I have experienced, I don't much care for the "drowning" part.....it Sucks!
It is what my Dad called a "Quality of Life" decision....."Quantity of Life" is a more ephemeral concept.....we live, we die.....How we live our last 5, 10, 30 years (Quality...) is something else... the ONLY thing over which we have a smidgen of control.....
One thing I have larned over my nigh on 58 years: While the body erodes, the mind, the Soul, never does..........I still feel, mentally, like a 17-year-old Man, not no old Geezer! Heck, I'm still waitin' for Puberty to set in! Might even lose my virginity someday, with a little luck! This is the conundrum, the Riddle of Life! You only realize the Truth when it be Too Late! Ain't hardly Nobody "Ready" to Die!
Back in 1967 I worked in a County Hospital, my First Real Job, I dealt with thousands of older folk over the span of 1 1/2 years......Some of the "Truly Old", folks, well into their Eighties & Beyond, were actually accepting of Death, seemed to even Welcome it! But we were not created, as a whole, to kick off peacefully while still in our 50s, 60s, 70s........sure, dying is, must be, Easy! Babies Do It! Kids Do It! Teens, Tweens, folks in the Prime of Life, do it but, as an Average, One should live until one becomes naturally weary of life, NOT when one, due to bad choices, bad luck, bad timing, checks out early.
So, Kiddies, Repeat After King Normie......."Ciggies Bad! Ciggies No Bueno! Ciggies Be Caca in the Ether of the Soul!"
The Good News is that I am NOT on Death's Bed over this thang! There IS NO "SPOT" on my lung.......
But, I DO have a condition that, given time, 15-20 years, would probably be listed as the "Cause Of Death" (Unless something else gits me First!).......
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) , according to Internet sources, is somewhat of a catch-all term, covering both Emphysema & Bronchitis, although my Doc was emphasising my case to be in the Bronchitis line as opposed to the Emphysema line........
Old "Doctor A" is a good "Old School" Doc, a man whom I respect, but he seems to feel that smoking tobacco could play a part in all this......That, of course, is ridiculous!
Anyone in their right mind knows that, if tobacco smoke was so bad for you, the Federal Government would have long ago banned it's use! I mean, just look at the long list of substances, devices & practices that have been banned "for our own good" over the last hundred years or better! Nah! My Government would NEVER allow me to ruin my health! I KNOW! It must be GENETICAL! Yeah!
That's the Ticket! It's all Maw & Paw's Fault! Not Mine, Surely! Damned Genes anyhow!
Since my first (and only, so far) "attack", 3 weeks in the past, I have tried to quit smoking......went 2 days without, 3 times and fell to one-pack-a-day-and-when-it's-gone-I'm-done-for-the-day.........
The immediate fear, of course, was in learning that I had lung cancer. That would have not made me quit smoking, though! I feel that, were I to have received a death sentence, since I ain't about to go through what my Dad went through, only to live in misery for 3-4 more years, missing body parts, being sick all the time.....I would have, I believe, just partied my way on out the door.....as Faron Young, the 1950s Country Star sang, "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young and Leave a Beautiful Memory"!
But, now, all is in a different light.......I AM getting older and on the Downward Swing so, do I want to Die feeling relatively good or do I want to Die drowning in my own body fluids? From what I have experienced, I don't much care for the "drowning" part.....it Sucks!
It is what my Dad called a "Quality of Life" decision....."Quantity of Life" is a more ephemeral concept.....we live, we die.....How we live our last 5, 10, 30 years (Quality...) is something else... the ONLY thing over which we have a smidgen of control.....
One thing I have larned over my nigh on 58 years: While the body erodes, the mind, the Soul, never does..........I still feel, mentally, like a 17-year-old Man, not no old Geezer! Heck, I'm still waitin' for Puberty to set in! Might even lose my virginity someday, with a little luck! This is the conundrum, the Riddle of Life! You only realize the Truth when it be Too Late! Ain't hardly Nobody "Ready" to Die!
Back in 1967 I worked in a County Hospital, my First Real Job, I dealt with thousands of older folk over the span of 1 1/2 years......Some of the "Truly Old", folks, well into their Eighties & Beyond, were actually accepting of Death, seemed to even Welcome it! But we were not created, as a whole, to kick off peacefully while still in our 50s, 60s, 70s........sure, dying is, must be, Easy! Babies Do It! Kids Do It! Teens, Tweens, folks in the Prime of Life, do it but, as an Average, One should live until one becomes naturally weary of life, NOT when one, due to bad choices, bad luck, bad timing, checks out early.
So, Kiddies, Repeat After King Normie......."Ciggies Bad! Ciggies No Bueno! Ciggies Be Caca in the Ether of the Soul!"
posted by Norm! | 11:36 AM
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