"IF YOU HAVE YOUR HEALTH, YOU HAVE EVERYTHING!"

I just had one of the worst Christmas holidays that I can remember. I barely managed to perform my duties and keep a forced smile on my face when necessary. I went through a minor, but distressing, health crisis. Christmas Eve may have been the worst day of the whole affair. I will spare you the details, but let's say I was really "struggling!" I was truly miserable on a day I have always felt great and there was nothing I could do about it! 

As if that wasn't bad enough, I knew I would soon be facing an unrelated over-night surgical procedure. I am talking about it publicly because an enlarged prostate gland is the most common prostate problem among men over age 50. This condition can cause embarrassing urination issues. By age 60, half of all men will have an enlarged prostate, a condition also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH. By age 85, the proportion reaches 90%. 

Why am I telling you this? For sympathy? Absolutely not! We need to be talking about this men's health issue in order to educate, encourage and share experiences. This is my effort to do just that by sharing my own experience in the hopes  it might help somebody! There is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing about it that needs to be hidden! Yes, even many priests, Bishops and Popes have had this problem. Thank God my prostate was not cancerous or needed to be removed! 

Don't wait! Check it out! Deal with it! It takes some education and a little courage to deal with a reality of this proportion among men everywhere! Don't put it off till your options are limited. Act now and know about all your options going forward. 

                          

The surgery was on January 19th at the Physicians Surgical Center in New Albany! The surgery was successful, but humbling and eye-opening on several fronts!

In just one overnight stay, they used 40 gallon-size bags of Irrigating Sodium Chloride to flush the bladder after the "aquablation" surgery to remove the debris created during that high-pressure water prostate shrinking procedure. 

I am not used to being sick! When I started feeling sorry for myself, I tried to remember and pray for those going through cancer treatments, those who cannot afford medical care, those innocent people in Gaza/Israel/Ukraine and those who are dying in various painful situations! As the good Sisters of the past used to tell us - "offer it up." The word "compassion" comes from two Latin words "cum" meaning "with" and "passio" meaning "suffer." "Compassion" means "to suffer with." That Christmas Eve was a deliberate effort on my part to try to experience "compassion' for others much worse off than I was, rather than focus on myself! I don't know whether it did them any good, but it did me some good because it gave me a possible meaning for what I was going through and woke me up to the fact that I am certainly not immune to the health crises I hear about all the time from others!

Most of my life, except for the flu and a night-marish rotator-cuff surgery episode, I have been healthy. I realize that I am lucky not to be "used to it." In fact, my health until now has always been "good." I have no high blood pressure, no dangerously high cholesterol, no diabetes nor any joint, heart or back problems! This Christmas I learned what the expression "If you have your health, you have everything" really means! That expression, for sure, means very little to the young and those who have never been really sick! When I get through this, I promise to try my best to never complain again!

As one who has been able to be in charge of his own life, I have learned a very new and important lesson - the day has come when there may be times when I will be totally powerless and will have to surrender control to those around me! I have finally realized in a very personal way what the chronically ill go through every day! I am reminded to remember them and pray for them much more often than I have in the past! 

One good thing did come out of the time in which I was waiting for my surgery and staying away from crowds so as not to expose myself to flu, COVID and RSV. Being home by myself most of the time, I had loads of time to write. I have homilies written and posts on my blog ready for weeks to come. Of course, I will go back over them as the dates get closer and touch them up to hopefully make them even more effective! It proved to me once again that good things can come out of bad times! 

Until Christmas of this year, turning 80 in 2024 did not phase me! Now I have a whole new appreciation of health and I have decided to make that my central focus in the new year! Once I get through this present episode, I have promised myself that I would do all I could to try to preserve my health going forward!