Resiliency and abuse...

On a sweet day in December of 2001 I went to my doctor for my yearly checkup, something I did just to monitor my well-being and to keep my insurance company happy. Life was pretty good. Things, although not perfect, were moving long well. My new business was growing. Money was not really an issue. My marriage was iffy. My elder mother, who had been living with me since my dad died 9 years before, had Alzheimer’s and this was exerting much pressure upon the household; something looking back I see had a profound effect upon my health and mental clarity.

On that day my blood was drawn, an ECG (Electrocardiography) taken, and I left my doctor’s office not thinking I’d see him again till next year, surprise! Two days later, I received a call from his office asking me to come back in. He had something to discuss with me. I figured my cholesterol was probably too high since for I had not been watching my diet as well as I should, so I called, made an appointment, and saw him the next day. He said, Gabriel, your blood work came back and there are some concerns. I’ll have to refer you to a hematologist. I said ok, thinking nothing of it, assuming my diet had my blood in disarray that I’d get a talking to and my life would continue on... 

The appointment day came. I showed up at the office, an extension of University Hospital in Tamarac, Florida. I was in a great mood, played with the nurses. The one who drew my blood was cute, and I flirted a bit, all the time thinking all was well. It was not...

After waiting for a bit, they had an in-house lab. I finally saw the doctor. An unconscious man who I saw more of his back than his face as he stood back to me flipping through my chart. While still back to me, he said, Gabriel, your numbers are way off. Please lie on the exam table face up. He finally turned and palpated my abdomen. In only a second said, “your spleen is huge, did you not feel this?” I had not, my belly had recently grown, but I thought it was from food and drink and nothing more.

Again he turned his back and began to write, offering me these words, “Gabriel, you are very sick. The exact nature of your disease is yet unclear, but it is severe based on your very enlarged spleen and low blood counts. I will have my nurse schedule a bone marrow biopsy.” He was about to walk out when I demanded more information asking “doctor tell me what are the causes of this and how serious are they?” He just turned, looking not so happy to offer me more time, and spat out a list of nasty things. Hairy cell leukemia, lymphoma, or myelofibrosis (who knew this would be the one since I had never heard of it and it was the most deadly and rare). I asked “can these kill me?” he said yes.

He then turned, leaving the room at a breakneck speed as to escape before I asked more questions. Shocked and angry that after giving me such a bad report, he would walk away so coldly, leaving me in this little room alone. We’ll I did not stay there long. I took off after him, calling his name. He continued to walk. I caught up to him, grabbed his shoulder, and spun him around, saying “doctor you cannot tell me this and then just walk away... we need to talk”. He said “there is nothing to talk about, you need a bone marrow biopsy, my nurse will schedule it”...

The story goes on, you’ll find it complete in my future book and on the net soon. The message of this piece is about how mindless we are about our bodies’ state of being, how I could have walked around dying with a huge spleen and had not known a thing.

During my lectures, I use a prop. It’s a sweet little plant. I carry it out, show it to the audience and say “sweet isn’t it, healthy looking yes?”. Then from behind the lectern I pull a can of coke saying, “oh little plant you look thirsty” and act as if I’m going to “water” this plant with it. Many in the audience gasp, some laugh, but there is always a response. 

I stop before actually pouring the poison into the plant. I say “I see many of you think it would be a mistake to water a plant with coke and yet we drink this garbage, this and worse every day”. If I had poured the soft drink into the pot, the plant would have died quickly, most likely by the next morning. 

The blessing and curse of our sweet bodies is its resiliency. That it can take a beating and keep on living. If we were like the plant. We would have immediate feedback screaming at us saying “stop!”. But because we are so resilient, we continue, day after day, month after month, year after year, to pour crap into our bodies, thinking all is well. This mindless abuse leads to days like the ones I reported above. Days of surprise, as we are told, the years of abuse have come to offer their nasty payback. 

This resilience breeds a mindless attitude of abuse. One in which we take this life, this sweet opportunity for granted. Living our lives pouring, inhaling, and soaking up the poisons of the world we’ve created. Everywhere we look, if we look, is death, from the antiperspirant we spray under our arms, the foods we put into our mouths, and to the toxic news we watch over and over again on the death tube.

My friends, just because the poison we consume doe not immediately show its nasty intent, please don’t be deceived. It is killing you. Don’t let the strength of this flesh suit we live in delude you into a belief that all is well, it is not, and the piper will have to be paid, and the price is high, very high.

Don’t take this life for granted. Don’t assume all is well. Educate yourself, give yourself the same grace, offer the same mercy as you do your pets. You would not feed your dog or cat half the crap we feed ourselves, saying “the vet says” they should eat this and not that. Instead, we buy special formulas, and offer them clean water (not coke) to drink... Friends awaken!

Save yourselves. Know “it is up to you what will happen”. That the thoughts, words and actions of today, yesterday, and all the days you’ve lived, are at this moment an accumulating. Waiting to hit that critical mass. Many are sitting on a fence, a fence that divides life and death, wellness (the appearance of) and disease. The next nasty thing might be the one that takes you over to the other side. You are at a tipping point. Don’t be deceived, you may be ready to fall over to the bad side of the fence... don’t do it! You may not find your way back.

The good news is the healthy, vital, sexy side of that fence is there for you. You can tip over and move into a fine life. One that offers you all the strength to live a sexy, active life long into your later years. Longevity is the goal. One hundred years or more; not sitting in a wheelchair or shuffling around on a walker, demented, but one with a sound mind and body. One that is useful and full of joy till the day you pass into Bardo (the time between lives). Please awaken. Again I say AWAKEN!

I send you all waves of joy, peace, and understanding.

Be well... Dr G