Tuesday, November 20, 2012

30 Days of Thanksvember - Day 20

Day 20 -

I am thankful for health.

Yes, I am overweight. I'm not a goddess of all things vegan and organic, and I don't get up at 5am every day and work out for two hours. I'm working on getting my weight down, battle that it is.

But otherwise, I am physically healthy.

All five of my senses are intact and in optimal shape. I have no autoimmune diseases, no disorders, and everything works in ideal fashion. My blood panel always looks great. The only thing my body suffers from is extra weight, but as I said, I'm working it off.

My mom has had at least five heart attacks since 1995, has high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, very high cholesterol, and has such severe emphysema that right now she's back on a ventilator because she can't breathe even with oxygen assistance. She's been on 9-10 meds at a time, but last I heard, that number was over 20 to keep her alive. She abused her body her entire life and never, ever took care of it. She was a chain smoker, would go through a 2-litre of soda every day, loved fried foods, at one point was eating bacon sandwiches 3 times a day, and disliked exercise.

When I get to be her age, I'd much rather be like my husband's grandmother, who is 70 and works out every day, plays tennis, is in optimal health and is constantly on the go; than my mother, who is 68 and lying in a hospital bed, attached to a ventilator.

It's incredibly distressing and awful to see my mom deteriorate when she has already suffered. I'm constantly praying for her health. She's under an amazing team of doctors and they've been working hard to help her in every way they can. Not being able to talk to her every single day has been awful, and being 800 miles away doesn't help.

I'm taking care of myself now so this stuff doesn't happen to me (or, at least, is much less likely to). This body is the only organic avatar I've got for this lifetime, and I plan on making the most of it and keeping it functioning the way it's supposed to! And I am so, so thankful that I am currently so healthy!!

Health is a very fragile thing. I'm so thankful. So very thankful, and blessed.




3 comments:

Rosanna said...

This is something I have to keep in mind too. It's easy to neglet what we have till it's too late.
washi ~ swapbot

Debbie said...

Great post Mary. As I approach 50 these same thoughts run through my mind and I must start taking it more seriously. I don't abuse myself horribly but there are some major changes I need to make. Love ya <3

Vesper Lestrange said...

This is a great post! I need to keep these things in mind and remember what I am thankful for instead of all the negatives.


Brittany (IzzyStardust)
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