Mayo--100 Words

Mayo.

You know that white stuff you spread on a sandwich.

Yeah. That stuff.

Not Miracle Whip! Read the label. That’s salad dressing! I have to remind my wife and mother-in-law that all the time.

I love mayo! Maybe more than I should.

You see, mayo is the perfect condiment for just about anything. And, when you grow up in the South as I did, you use it on just about anything. Don’t get me started. It’d only gross you out to know all the things I’ve eaten mayo on.

But oh, what I wouldn’t do for some right now!

Prayer--100 Words

Prayer.

Not sure 100 words is sufficient to describe prayer.

One million wouldn’t be enough.

Best to keep it simple. Why make this subject complex?

Gandhi said, “It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”

I buy that. What words impress God? What words does He need?

Prayer isn’t just talking. Seems listening is vital in prayer.

Prayer is sometimes quiet. Sometimes screaming.

Prayer is more about God than silly rules or formalities.

Prayer is about God. Abba. Father. Daddy. It’s about closeness. And hearing.

Prayer is not about me. But Him.

Pucker Up, Won't You!

Earlier this week, I shared the story of a relationship gone terribly wrong as a girlfriend shot her boyfriend for not letting her sleep.

Well, here’s another story, with a far different outcome! Grab some tissues, you’ll need them!

Some might call Emma Ray a real-life “Sleeping Beauty.” The 34-year-old from the United Kingdom suffered a heart attack nearly two weeks after giving birth to her son and failed to regain consciousness. Her husband, Andrew, spent two weeks by her bedside waiting for her to wake up from a coma–but her condition did not improve until he leaned over and asked her for a kiss.

“What happened next was beyond my wildest dreams,” he told the newspaper. “She turned her head toward mine, puckered up her lips and gave me a little kiss. I couldn't believe it. My heart felt like it was going to leap from my chest—it suddenly felt like a huge weight had been lifted.”

Mrs. Ray collapsed while shopping with her husband 10 days after giving birth. She was taken to the hospital where doctors were able to restart her heart, but warned she could remain in a coma indefinitely.

Despite waking up after the kiss, Ray still had a long road ahead of her. The heart attack left her with short-term memory loss—and as a result she’s had to undergo extensive brain injury rehabilitation.

Now, nearly two years later, Ray is back at home where her family is grateful to have her. “She can walk quite well holding hands now, and at least our kids still have a mother and I still have a wife,” her husband said.

Doctors believe her heart attack may have been caused by a blood clot after her son was delivered by Caesarean section.

What a sweet, sweet story! A wife and mother rescued by a simple kiss.

At this point, I’d recommend you stop reading this blog and go find someone to kiss!

I'm Home!

Well, I'm home!

At 6:45 AM Central time...I'm home from the hospital.

And, as if I needed to tell you this, God is good!

The cath went well. The doctor spent about 15-20 minutes looking around. Apparently, my abnormal cath turned out to be nothing more than a "false positive."

In laymen's terms, I think that means it showed something that really wasn't there!

I'm great. No blockages. No stents. No surgery. No nothing!

The doctor said that at this rate, I won't have another cath for several decades!

I'm holding him to that promise!

Thanks for all of the prayers and well wishes. You guys are the best!

Monday Morning

Hello!

Thanks for stopping by.

As you read this I am, well, I don't really know when you will be reading this. If it is December 15, and after 8:00 AM, I am at the hospital having a heart cath performed on me.

I suppose you could be reading this at 1:00 AM on December 15, and hopefully, I am sleeping, even though there's a good chance I am tossing and turning in my bed.

But, then again, you may have stumbled upon my blog on April 12, 2009, and my strong hope is that you will find a few hundreds more posts added since this one posted on December 15!

So, for whatever reason and on whatever day, I'm glad you stopped by my blog site. I don't really know why I blog, well, I have a few ideas of why and what I hope to accomplish. To be honest with you, most days I just like sharing a story or two that will make you laugh, smile, think, or simply want to respond back with a comment or two.

While I may not always understand my purpose in blogging, I do know this about my blog, I love networking with all kinds of people who stop by. Some comment, most do not. Either way is fine with me, even though I really do like chatting with those who comment.

Today, there probably won't be much chatting on my side, at least not on my blog. This morning, I'm heading off to the hospital to have my heart cath (I'm getting old, I've already said that). The doctor said it would happen around 10:00 AM, Central Time. If you are a Christ follower, a prayer would be appreciated, nothing too long, the Lord has many more important things to do today, so just a short one will be fine and appreciated.

I hope to be back home tonight and if my wife will let me hold our laptop for a few minutes, I'll jot a note to you and let you know how I've done. If she won't, well, it will be later before I can communicate. Tonya is rather short, but she really packs a punch!

So, nothing I have shared today will make you smile or laugh or probably even think. But, maybe for just a moment, we shared a moment of our journey together. Our life. Ourselves. Just a piece.

Hopefully, I'll be back shortly. Just being myself. And, enjoying life.

See you.

Either here or There!

Hurry Up and Wait

[The picture above isn't me! It is from Google. But, the leads, monitor, and blood pressure cuff look identical to what I used today.]

I'll confess.

I'm not very good at waiting.

Never have been. And, even after a heart attack on October 13, I'm not much better at it.

I really don't like to wait when I go out to eat. I don't like to wait at the traffic signal. I don't like to wait for my favorite show to come on TV. I don't like to wait in the checkout lane at the grocery story. I don't like to wait for my refund check from the IRS--when I get one.

Simply put. I don't like to wait.

But now, I'm in a waiting mode.

No. I don't like it.

But, there's absolutely nothing I can do about it.

You see, I had my nuclear stress test this morning. I see why they call it a stress test--because I found myself stressing over it as I waited to have it done! The test really wasn't bad--honest, it wasn't. I walk and jog regularly. What they put me through didn't even cause me to break a sweat! At one point, I did think my head was going to hit the ceiling though--as high as they had me inclined on the treadmill.

I had an IV put in. And I waited. I had leads applied to my chest. And I waited. I had a screening done to show what my heart does at rest. And I waited. Then, I got on the treadmill and the "heart in action" test began. Once the test was over, I waited. Then, I was screened to see what my heart was doing while in action. And, you got it. I waited.

Finally, a nurse said that I was done for the day. The doctor would call me in a day or two.

What??? I have to wait for the results??? No one could tell me anything about what my heart did or how it functioned? Am I going to live or die? Should I expect another heart attack soon?

I guess I won't know right now. I've got waiting to do. Please pray for me as I wait. Better yet, pray for my wife! She'll need your extra prayers as I nervously await the news.

Even as I was typing this, the doctor's office called. Guess what? They were not supposed to send me home when they did! The techs were misinformed! I was supposed to see the doctor today! Do you think someone is going to get chewed out by the doctor?

At least it won't be me! I just did what I was told to do--while I was waiting, of course.

Oh well, I'm still waiting!

A Different View of Things

I love summertime vegetables. You know, a fresh ear of corn. A nice green pepper from the garden. Crisp green beans. Juicy watermelon or peach. Cucumbers! As a popular Food Network is known to say: Yum-O!

Oh, and be sure to add a nice, round, juicy, and fresh red tomato to that list. There is nothing like a good tomato sandwich! With mayo and black pepper! Now you are talking some good eating!

Well, times are changing, as Bob Dylan once opined. Before long, we may have to change our way of thinking as we add genetically engineered purple tomatoes to our bread. British researches have engineered purple tomatoes that may well be added to the list of foods known to help fight cancer.

These researchers engineered the fruit to contain nutrients more commonly seen in dark berries, which have been shown to lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, and some neurological diseases.

For the study, cancer-prone mice fed the fruit lived an average of 40 days longer than animals on a standard diet. “The effect was much bigger than we had expected,” Cathie Martin, a plant biologist, said in a news release. “It is enormously encouraging to believe that by changing diet, or specific components in the diet, you can improve health in animals and possibly humans.”

Researchers focused on anthocyanins, a type of antioxidant found in berries such as blackberries and blackcurrants.

The researchers said trials in humans are still a long way off.

While I know it may take some time for my eyes to adjust to seeing purple tomatoes, so be it, if these little creations help with cancer, neurological diseases, and heart disease. After my little bout with my health recently, I might just offer to sign up to be a “test subject” for them! After all, I do love blueberries and blackberries, and I really do love tomatoes. So, what could be so bad about giving them a try!

What do you think? Game to try purple tomatoes?

Stayin' Alive

Do you remember the old song “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees? Maybe blogger friend Bill will feature it on his blog soon—he does love the hair days of the 1960s and 70s.

Well, the song has now been proven to be more than just a song. At 103 beats per minute, the old disco song has almost the perfect rhythm to help jump-start a stopped heart. Little did I know! But, I’m sure going to keep this in mind if I have another heart attack!

In study from the University of Illinois medical school, doctors and students maintained close to the ideal number of chest compressions doing CPR while listening to the catchy, sung-in-falsetto tune from the 1977 movie “Saturday Night Fever.”

The American Heart Association recommends 100 chest compressions per minute, far more than most people realize, study author Dr. David Matlock of the school’s Peoria, Illinois, campus said.

And while CPR can triple cardiac arrest survival rates when properly performed, many people hesitate to do it because they’re not sure about keeping the proper rhythm, Matlock said.
He found that “Stayin’ Alive,” which has a way of getting stuck in your head anyway, can help with that. His study involved 15 students and doctors and had two parts. First they did CPR on mannequins while listening to the song on iPods. They were asked to time chest compressions with the song’s beat. Five weeks later, they did the same drill without the music but were told to think of the song while doing compressions.

The average number of compressions the first time was 109 per minute; the second time it was 113. That’s more than recommended, but Matlock said that when it comes to trying to revive a stopped heart, a few extra compressions per minute is better than too few.

The study showed the song helped people who already know how to do CPR, and the results were promising enough to warrant larger, more definitive studies with real patients or untrained people, Matlock said. He plans to present his findings at an American College of Emergency Physicians meeting in Chicago this month.

It turns out the American Heart Association has been using the song as a training tip for CPR instructors for about two years. They learned of it from a physician “who sort of hit upon this as a training tool,” said association spokesman Dr. Vinay Nadkarni of the University of Pennsylvania.

So, not a fan of the Bee Gees, “Saturday Night Fever, or “Stayin’ Alive?” Well, rumor has it that a Queen song has a similar beat, but might not be as good to sing while trying to revive someone. The song? Maybe you’ve heard of it: “Another One Bites the Dust.”

Catchy beat. Just not as good to revive by.