The prompt for today: Open a Book. Choose a book and open it to a random page and point to a phrase. Use that phrase to get you writing today. Free write for 15-20 minutes without stopping.
I only have two books here in my hotel room - a Journal of Hepatology special edition - the size of a phone book full of articles about liver disease, or "taft" by Ann Patchett. I'm going with taft, which I have not yet read beyond the first few pages.
"The pain shoots all the way up into his jaw. There is a straight line of pain from his fingertips to his molars."
I have no idea what the context is, but these sentences remind me of a great youtube video I saw recently about heart disease in women and how to recognize the symptoms of a heart attack. I know that diabetics are at a high risk for cardiovascular disease, but I never gave it much thought until recently. My cholesterol levels have always been good and I've had consistently freakish ratios of the "good" to the "bad" HDL to LDL (or maybe it's the otherway round). In any case, I did start to get a little higher blood pressure and took lisinopril for a couple of years though I'm not taking it at this time. But I figured that had more to do with making sure my kidneys don't get any damage. A few weeks ago I had my eye exam, and the optomologist told me that lisinopril is good for protecting the eyes from diabetic retinopathy too. So I may ask my endo if I should go back on a low dose.
But I digress a little. Only a little. Then I find out that this whole "good" vs. Bad HDL and LDL isn't so simple because within what we thought was the Good cholesterol segment it turns out there is another subset of BAD. sigh. So who knows if my lipid profile is really as good as I've always thought. And borderline high blood pressure. And I have had diabetes for 32 years. I'm middle aged now - I knew of a woman (my ex-stepdad's ex-wife) who had type 1 diabetes and dropped dead from a heart attack when she was younger than I am now. I get stressed and anxious and overextend like a typical Type A personality - don't they also get more heart attacks?
So I'm going to post this youtube video here on my blog. Firstly, it is hysterically funny while delivering a serious message. And I can relate to this woman - though that scene usually plays out during the chaotic time when kid pickup/practices/making dinner/closing out worklife stuff happens at the end of the day rather than the character's morning chaos. Still, if you are a working mom you'll get a laugh out of this. It's called "Just a little heart attack" and it's part of the Go Red for Women campaign.
I just love this!
Wow, I sure learned some interesting things from this post. They also always tell me I have a freakish Good to Bad cholesterol ratio too, so really interesting to learn it's not so simple, and the video was hilarious, as well as informative.
ReplyDeletethanks!
I love that video! thanks
ReplyDeleteI might use that on my blog too sometime, great message and eye catching. (