Not Too Bad

I finally made it to see Paul, my physician, this morning, after an unnecessary postponement last Thursday. While he was using his “doctor’s thing”—i.e., his stethoscope—to listen to my heart and telling to "take deep breaths" so he could listen to my lungs, Paul said, “Good.”

“Good?” I asked. “Is that good because of what you heard or is it good because I can still ‘take deep breaths’?”

“Good because of what I heard,” he said. "You still have emphysema, but it’s no worse than that of anyone else who lives in the Ohio River Valley.”

Over all I was pleased with my visit, My lungs are as OK as they were, my blood pressure is close to perfect, and everything that I feared was wrong with me turned out to be untrue.

Paul did say I’d be much happier if I lost about 150 pounds. I agree whole heartedly! Still, that does not sound too bad for a dude who will be 60 years old in three days!