Autumn Years Spring 2024

HEALTH & WELFARE

Fit for Life

Conversation with My Body By Roger Anthony There I was. I had been lounging comfortably in my recliner for a couple of hours, read ing this and that when suddenly I heard a somewhat angry voice shout “Hey! Get up and move!” I bolted. “What? Who is that?” “It’s me. Your body. I’m talking to you and I’m telling you that you’ve been sitting too long and I need to stand up and move around!”

Me: “Okay. Got it. So how do you send your messages and what can I expect?” Body: “I can get your attention in a lot of different ways depending on the actual problem. My favorite is pain. That usually works. I can use it most any where. I can also vary the intensity from mild, moderate or severe, and I can add things like throbbing, stabbing, burning, itching, etc., but I also have plenty of other signals that I can and do use. Me: “Really? Like what? Body: “Well, bleeding is a great one. Blood anywhere always gets your atten tion. Swelling works well too. Whenever things puff up, you quickly realize that you have a problem.” Me: “Totally. So what else have you got?” Body: “Wow. So many things. Here we go. There’s cough, sneez ing, breathing difficulties, sore throat, laryngitis, fever, chills, excess sweat

Me: “Wait, what? My body is actually talking?” Body: “I send you messages all the time, most of which you ignore, so yeah, now I’m talking to you.” Me: “This is crazy. What messages? You have email? Body: “No stupid. Warning messages about what’s wrong or what’s about to happen to me, your body.” Me: “I’m not getting any messages. Let me check my spam file.” Body: “Ugh. I told you, it’s not about email. My messages come in the form of what you call “symptoms.” Me: “Oh yeah. That’s really annoying. How about just unfriending me and stop bothering me?” Body: “It doesn’t work that way. My messages, okay “symptoms,” are for your (and my) own benefit. They are wake up calls that something is not right and you need to do something about it.” Me: “Come on. If I just tough it out for a while, your irritating symptoms will go away, right?”

Body: “Sometimes, yes. And sometimes they will come back later on with a ven geance that will make you wish that you had paid attention to begin with.” Me: “So why not just wait until you send worse symptoms and do some thing about them then?” Body: “Because by then, whatever I am warning you about may be much more serious or even unfixable.” Me: “So you’re saying that I need to get medical attention for every little ache and pain I feel. I would have to actually live in my doctor’s office.” Body: “No, of course not. Unless you want to become a consummate hypo chondriac.” Me: “Alright, alright. I’m listening. Help me out here. What exactly do you mean by “symptoms.” Body: “You want a definition.

Okay, a broad definition is “A phenomenon that arises from and accompa nies a particular disease or disorder and serves as an indication of it.”

ing, lightheadedness, dizziness, fatigue or

exhaustion, rashes, upset stomach, nausea, diarrhea, changes in stool, urinary problems, flatulence…”

12 AUTUMN YEARS I SPRING 2024