What do you take for granted?
Ok, so I'm not the most mechanically inclined person in the world. I'm fairly handy, but at times, my patience, or occasional lack of, can get the best of me.
Well, Wednesday night, it got me again. I'm trying to change the blades on my lawn mower, they needed it badly, and I'm having trouble loosening the nut that holds the right blade on. I won't go into all of the details, which includes not taking time to go inside, find some WD40 (which I found today) and loosen that nut so I can easily change the blades. No, I just figured I'd use some good old fashioned brute force and loosen it that way. It worked, a little too well. My right hand slipped off the blade and without looking, I knew it wasn't good.
Oh, it wasn't that bad, 11 stitches and 12 chicken wings (I know they're horrible for you, but it's a rare guilty pleasure I take) later, I'm back hom
e marveling at my right hand. Heck, I actually caught a few innings of a baseball game while I was in the ER. Hadn't done that in a while, and Lana and I talked a lot. It's not often we get uninterrupted conversation.
One of my first thoughts was, "good thing, it's my right hand. I'm left handed, this shouldn't be that bad" The next morning, I noticed that I used my right hand a lot more than I thought I did. I figured I did most everything left handed. Kind of took my right hand for granted. I even started making a list of what I use my right hand for. I live a fairly pain free life. I'm rarely sick. I get up every morning and have great days, usually.
Then I took a look at the bands on my wrist and thought about how sometimes we can take things for granted, especially our health. I'm sure everyone recognizes the yellow band, It's the LIVESTRONG band, courtesy of the Lance Armstrong foundation. http://www.livestrong.org/ The other one is the one that got me thinking. It says Cancer Can't, Ninja Can WIN. A friend of mine has a paintball teammate who just got diagnosed with colon cancer. Sucks. The bands are to help raise money for his fight. He just got a bad draw, the big C. Another guy that I ride with, the first time I rode with him, he told me he has stage 4 lung cancer and a few surgeries to go along with it. He was kind enough to hang back with me since it was my first ride. Again, I don't think he abused his body, just got a bad draw. It can happen that easily. Your health can change in a matter of seconds, even if you treat your body like a temple. I worked 8 years in hospitals, I've seen it.
Cancer just happens to be one of the things that I've got a passion for, or against actually. But there are a number of things that can sidetrack our health. I'm thankful that in a few days, I'll be back at 100%, or should be. I'll be able to swim with Kenny and roughhouse with him like I did before Wednesday. It could have been worse, I know, and I guess I'll take this opportunity to take stock of that and be thankful for what I have and my family. You never know what may happen tomorrow.
Since I got on the cancer soapbox, I'll go ahead and post a few sites where you can go and help that fight. If this fight isn't for you, then please find one that is and take up arms. There are many ways to help, and not all of them will drain your time or your wallet. I've been participating in the ACS relay for life the past few years. http://www.relay.org/ It's a great program and the walk is fun. Long but fun.
Lance Armstrong Foundation http://www.livestrong.org/
American Cancer Society http://www.cancer.org/
Relay for Life http://www.relay.org/
Well, Wednesday night, it got me again. I'm trying to change the blades on my lawn mower, they needed it badly, and I'm having trouble loosening the nut that holds the right blade on. I won't go into all of the details, which includes not taking time to go inside, find some WD40 (which I found today) and loosen that nut so I can easily change the blades. No, I just figured I'd use some good old fashioned brute force and loosen it that way. It worked, a little too well. My right hand slipped off the blade and without looking, I knew it wasn't good.
Oh, it wasn't that bad, 11 stitches and 12 chicken wings (I know they're horrible for you, but it's a rare guilty pleasure I take) later, I'm back hom
e marveling at my right hand. Heck, I actually caught a few innings of a baseball game while I was in the ER. Hadn't done that in a while, and Lana and I talked a lot. It's not often we get uninterrupted conversation. One of my first thoughts was, "good thing, it's my right hand. I'm left handed, this shouldn't be that bad" The next morning, I noticed that I used my right hand a lot more than I thought I did. I figured I did most everything left handed. Kind of took my right hand for granted. I even started making a list of what I use my right hand for. I live a fairly pain free life. I'm rarely sick. I get up every morning and have great days, usually.
Then I took a look at the bands on my wrist and thought about how sometimes we can take things for granted, especially our health. I'm sure everyone recognizes the yellow band, It's the LIVESTRONG band, courtesy of the Lance Armstrong foundation. http://www.livestrong.org/ The other one is the one that got me thinking. It says Cancer Can't, Ninja Can WIN. A friend of mine has a paintball teammate who just got diagnosed with colon cancer. Sucks. The bands are to help raise money for his fight. He just got a bad draw, the big C. Another guy that I ride with, the first time I rode with him, he told me he has stage 4 lung cancer and a few surgeries to go along with it. He was kind enough to hang back with me since it was my first ride. Again, I don't think he abused his body, just got a bad draw. It can happen that easily. Your health can change in a matter of seconds, even if you treat your body like a temple. I worked 8 years in hospitals, I've seen it.
Cancer just happens to be one of the things that I've got a passion for, or against actually. But there are a number of things that can sidetrack our health. I'm thankful that in a few days, I'll be back at 100%, or should be. I'll be able to swim with Kenny and roughhouse with him like I did before Wednesday. It could have been worse, I know, and I guess I'll take this opportunity to take stock of that and be thankful for what I have and my family. You never know what may happen tomorrow.
Since I got on the cancer soapbox, I'll go ahead and post a few sites where you can go and help that fight. If this fight isn't for you, then please find one that is and take up arms. There are many ways to help, and not all of them will drain your time or your wallet. I've been participating in the ACS relay for life the past few years. http://www.relay.org/ It's a great program and the walk is fun. Long but fun.
Lance Armstrong Foundation http://www.livestrong.org/
American Cancer Society http://www.cancer.org/
Relay for Life http://www.relay.org/
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