Cookie and I were married Feb. 4th 1962 and that day in late Oct. ,2008 represented the low point in our lives. It was very difficult for her but she managed to negotiate from the wheelchair to the van for the short ride to the nursing home. This was a whole new experience for us and needless to say we were both scared. We got her there and made the exchange from the van to another wheelchair and were ushered to an office where she was to be admitted. After signing off on the paperwork, which was considerable, she was assigned to room 13.

Throughout the years we had often functioned independently. When the boys were young she was there with them when my work would take me away from home for days at a time. I started OTR trucking in 1985 and was gone for weeks at a time but this was very different. I am sure some of you can identify with this situation and unfortunately others of you may also have to face this in the future. While she was in the hospital I had spent much of the day with her and had spent the night on occasion However the nursing home experience would provide her with care which I had yet to learn. More about that later. We agreed that I would be there for a while everyday and it would free up time for me. The quest began. PTL JPT

home, what now

Cookie, my wife, seemed to experience a new low relative to her health each day that passed . This was the situation even though she was in the hospital. Medical efforts to to diagnose the problem include the usual battery of tests. The one procedure that would over a period 0f time cause the most pain and misery was the constant collection of blood. She is described as a hard stick. The veins in her arm were small, they rolled and many times required multiple sticks in order to obtain the specimen. This exercise only became more difficult and painful with the passage of time and by the end of that hospital stay her arms and the backs of her hand resembled the color of a rainbow. She was in such pain and misery and I suffered right along with her. This situation was to drag on for the next few months. Mind you now this whole episode was designed to assist the medical profession in their efforts to diagnose and develop a modality addressing her failing health. She had been experiencing declining health for several years as her medical attendants had removed , rerouted and medicated while observing and treating her steady decline. She had developed a severe case of psoriasis over the years and was wracked with widespread inflammation. Hygiene was extremely important in the treatment of the symptoms but because of her steadily deteriorating condition she was not able to maintain at a proper level . Though not exactly life threatening some of these symptoms did contribute considerably to her misery. While in the hospital some of them were , rightly so, addressed but the symptoms appeared to take on the major focus. I am not a Dr. but I strongly believe in cause and affect. Treating the symptoms is important but in order to achieve a cure you must address and correct the underlying cause and it was here that modern medicine was failing. Her caregivers did all they could to alleviate her pain and suffering but by the end of her hospital stay it was obvious that she was still a very sick lady. The next stop was the nursing home for rehabilitation. Rehab from what to what? As many of you have experienced, either personally, or as a caregiver, we were facing a discouraging, dismal and dreaded experience.PTL JPT

Who is responsible

Achieving maximum wellness requires a commitment on the part of each of us. Where does one start to achieve maximum wellness and how does one achieve it? I'm glad you ask as we will delve into this subject today. First, remember you are going to engage in your maximum health and being the individual you are the blueprint will be unique to you. Think about that. Of the millions of people living today there is not another person on this planet exactly like you.

As an adult, who is ultimately responsible for your health? If you are currently experiencing a satisfactory level of wellness that is great. What specifically are you doing to maintain your health? In all liklihood there will eventually be challenges. Will you be properly prepared to address them when the time comes?

Some of the following may gross some of you out but it needs to be said. A visual examination of your stool and urine is very important. Once you have established a baseline , any noted change might be of significance. The appearance of blood, irregardless of the amount, in either the stool or urine could be an early indicator of a medical condition requiring immediate attention. We would do well to heed the ancient Greek aphorism "know thyself". It would be good to take and record your blood pressure. Be sure and use the same cuff day after day and get a reading two or three times a day. Once you have established a baseline any notable change would give cause to pose the question "why". A professional explanation would be in order. Get a thermometer and record body temperature with the same end in mind. Lab work generates lab reports. Your doctor will review them and advise you regarding any irregularities. I would suggest you get copies of all lab reports and doctors notes and scan them to a folder in your computer or file them with other medical records for future reference. Another suggestion along this line would be to share the location of these files with a family member or trusted advisor. Believe me its a lot easier to do this than it is to collect and assemble them later in a crisis situation. More about this later. PTL JPT

You are needed at home

This was the message! It was late Sept., 2008 and I was on the road. The average OTR truck driver spends one to three weeks on the road before taking time off. I usually stayed out three to four weeks at a time. Cookie knew the routine as we had teamed for several years. The last few departures had been difficult because each time it appeared that her health was gradually deteriorating. My question upon departure each time was always the same. Honey will you be able to manage until I can return. Even though she was getting steadily weaker her reply was always yes. It was early in September when we said goodby and I took off for parts known. She had a wonderful support group and up to this time they had been able to support her in most cases both literally and figuratively. During those last few days she had fallen and was not strong enough to get up by herself and it was at this point that I got the phone call. Her friends who had been so kind and giving had reached the point where felt they were no longer able to meet her needs. I was able able to piece together those last few days and it was amazing how much time and energy they contributed to her wellbeing those last few days before I got home. We owe them so much.

I got home around 10:00pm Oct. 3rd 2008 and found a very sick lady. I will be relating the events of the next six months in future posts. There are moments of despair, much pain, and eventually light at the end of the tunnel which was as yet quite a ways off. She, Mabel, aka, Cookie was experiencing a considerable amount of pain, greatly restricted in mobility and forced to use a walker to move around. She had an appointment with her Dr. for sometime around the middle of Oct. Her doctor hopitalized her on the spot. PTL & JPT til next post.

Edu:101

The drums beat ceaselessly day after day. There are multitudes out there just waiting to help you improve your physical health while leaving your wallet or purse with a wasting disease. There is an antidote for much of this confusion and it is called knowledge. You are never to young or to healthy to start the process because the sooner you realize that you and you alone are ultimately responsible for your own health and assert some control the better off you will be.

Governments, institutions and religion have since time immemorial held sway over the masses by controlling the flow of information. Today we are suffering from a glut and the challenge is to be able to separate the genuine from the spammer. A side bar: free market capitalism is , I believe, the second best economic system ever devised. It does however carry with it serious challenges which I will address at some future date on another blog.

How much personal time are you willing to commit to this endeavor? Its never to late to start, assuming you still have breath in your body, but it will be more difficult if you are flat on your back. We are fortunate today to have caring professionals, TV, magazines, news letters and the internet. at our disposal. If we are going to be able to make informed decisions regarding our health we must avail ourselves of that which is available. Youth, as many of us have found out, is brief and the attendant health is all to soon replaced by a host of challenging issues.

It starts with a commitment. CHEERS and a glass of red wine as you contemplate your state of health and your role in the maintenance thereof. This is a call to arms. Did you see this one coming? your response will be appreciated. If you got this far, thanks, til next time.