After my Triple By Pass October 5, 2015, my Cardiologist gave me several bits of ‘bad news’ ….
One, was I would ‘be on Blood Pressure Meds for the rest of my life, as well as Baby Aspirin and Statin Drugs for the Cholesterol Control. All of that is another story for another Blog, another Day…
Second, while the Cardiologist was filling out my records, he tells me I was a smoker.
I PROTESTED and explained it had been about eight years since I quit smoking COLD TURKEY, and never looked back…..
I was all proud, high and mighty!
Until he tells me this….
The Lungs, Heart and Vascular System would forever ‘say’, I was a smoker .
He tells me that smoking permanently marks a life, a body.
Sure! The moment you ‘put out’ each cigarette you smoke, the body begins to heal the damage. But the Doc tells me that every time a Medical Person would look at my BODY, they would always see evidence that I was a smoker…. even though I had stopped years ago.
In that moment, I pictured myself standing in front of a gathering of people and say, ” Hi! My name is Ray, and I am a smoker”.
In fact, I did that with a gathering of folks last week.
It is just that after that statement and seeing their SHOCKED FACES (because you can always SMELL a Smoker) I was able to conclude with this statement….
“… BUT, I have not had a cigarette in almost TEN YEARS.”
With that completed testimony, they could understand why they had never smelled that stench of tobacco death on me.
There was a series of events that took me from a smoker of almost two packs a day, to stopping, and never desiring another (another Blog, another day)
But I can say, I have never desired another cigarette since Good Friday, 2008.
But then, I find out that I would always BE a smoker.
Damn.
I hate that….
Regrets? I have a few…
This ‘Good Friday’ (March 30, 2018) is the TENTH ANNIVERSARY of the day I stopped wanting to smoke.
I can celebrate that, and the fact that I can now run a 5K and breath MOST OF THE TIME with my mouth closed.
Have I recovered from the smoking damage I did to myself?
Hell yeah I have.
My BY PASS SURGERY was successful, it seems. There is a certain percentage of these procedures that ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL.
I have not returned to have Stents, nor more BY PASS SURGERIES as many have, and will.
(Yeah, you DO KNOW that Stents and By Pass Surgeries do not ‘fix’ your Heart Disease… what you eat can fix the Heart Disease, but not procedures, nor medicine. Heart Disease afflicts the 60,000 miles of the Vascular System… replacing, or stenting a few inches will not address the whole problem…
Sorry 🙁
With every bite of food I take, I purpose to provide the ‘tools’ of nourishment to repair and heal damage done to the WHOLE body…
But I will always be a smoker …
… but it has been TEN YEARS since I have had a cigarette.
and…
it has been almost three years since I have counted calories, measured protein, or been afraid of Carbs…
Being free from those burdens feels good.
May we all find freedom …
oldmanskinandbones.com
OH YEAH! Like a really disobedient ‘bad boy’ …. I have been off all medication, disobeying Doctors Orders, since March 2016. Food has been my MEDICINE since then. Also … since June 2017, I have begun to ‘Work Out’ and since January 2018, I have started to ‘Run’, and let ‘that’ be my Medicine too…
… my BP this morning, after three cups of really strong ‘black’ coffee …
See? I told you I was a ‘Bad Boy’ …