changes over a year

This past Tuesday I went for my annual physical. The last time it didn’t turn out so good. Well, this time had some nice surprises. Firstly, the CBC looked great. Everything was in normal range, still. Amen! Last year my cholesterol and triglycerides were not in such good shape though.

Well, since July 10, 2007 my bad cholesterol has gone from bad to the low end of the recommended range. That’s awesome! And, the triglycerides are back in the normal range. I would say that this is all attributable to a consistent healthy diet and plenty of exercise.  

So, I just wanted to share the good news and who knows, maybe if you need to make some adjustments in your life this may inspire you to take better care of yourself. By the way, I have felt better over the past few months than I’ve felt in years. To me it’s proof that succumbing to quick fixes such as candy bars most of time does much more harm over the long haul and replacing it with good diet and exercise has benefits far beyond the physical state in the interim and over your life.

All the Best,

Chip

Happy Birthday!

Well, it’s actually a one day late birthday greeting to myself in this digital world. I turned 38 yesterday. I adopted a new philosophy about five years ago in regard to birthdays. I am now a firm believer in celebrating your birthday no less than five days. Why? Because it’s the only time of the year you can dedicate this much time to yourself and get away with it. Think about it. When else can you take that amount of time and celebrate you existence on this planet and do all the things you want and it still fall within the boundaries of acceptance? Well, that’s the theory I preach and embrace. Don’t get me wrong, if anyone else takes the time to celebrate themselves then I’m on board with it. Live! Have fun and celebrate all the wonderful things about yourself!

My birthday was nice. Got a haircut. Had the car washed by someone else for once. (There was a lot of bug guts baked on the Subaroo from my trip last week…more about that later). Had many bday greetings at our Rotary Club meeting and then was officially offered a job at WeSave.com. Had dinner with Kate at Tidewater and was showered with my favorite type of gifts. One’s with function and purpose! Check out this dream list: a dry bag (for kayaking), a flexible and adjustable knee brace (helps with a winter hiking injury), a book on fresh water fishes (yes, I know it’s not plural but I like to say it), an iPod wall charger, a big package of fishing bobbers accompanied with two packages of #2 hooks (for medium to large size bass!) and a great card. Kate did GREAT and made my birthday dinner special. You would think that would be enough for any birthday but it instills me with a passion do other things that I love. Such as, a sunrise mtn bike ride at Kanawha State Forest immediately after this post, a 5am fishing excursion tomorrow with my friend Thomas, still planning Thursday. Friday it’s either going to be a birthday dinner with many friends or Kate and I will leave for Arizona for five days. ARIZONA?! Yep, my good friend Tom offered us free lodging in Oak Creek Canyon just outside Sedona, AZ. If we don’t go to Arizona then it’s off to Morgantown to see our #8 ranked Mountaineers take on Easter Carolina University on Saturday at Mountaineer field. So, when your birthday comes around please remember to take the time to celebrate your existence and thank God for all the blessings in your life. It’s my hope that you take your celebration and learn more about how to appreciate every single day of your life. None of us knows how many more birtdays or even days we’ll get to celebrate so it’s better to make the most of it now and not wait for the bad news that our time is up. May each day you live be a celebration of life and how you can make the lives of others better.

God Bless and Happy Birthday,

Chip

more summer fun….

I find myself in total amazement at how nice the weather has been lately! Total amazement! Usually, August in Charleston is choked with high heat, high humidity and a general “ugh”. It has been in the high 70’s for about two weeks steady with little to no rain. So, go figure, I’ve spent a lot of time outside. Mostly on the bike. Unfortunately, the first week was spent mostly indoors as I have had a fairly aggressive sinus infection. Since the Gleevec is so hard on the digestive tract already I don’t take antibiotics anymore unless I absolutely have to. So, the sinus suffering still lingers. But that’s ok. Docs now say that you should wait 7-10 days to see a Doc about a sinus infection because it is most likely viral. Did you know that nearly 50% of antibiotics prescribed are for sinus infections? We demand more energy so we really can’t complain about the poor air conditions that contribute heavily to sinus problems. Anyway, back to biking. I am proud to announce that my new cruising weight appears to be about 161 lbs. I am definitely lighter on my feet and none of my clothes are fatigued as they had been in the past. Hard to believe I weighed 175 lbs. at one time. Biking and good diet seems to be the key. I try to put at least 12 miles in or as many hills as possible in an hour. It seems to be working good for my legs, heart and lungs. Maybe I should ride in the MS 150 again? It’s been exactly 10 years since I rode in it last. Anyone willing to sponsor me?

Summer Fun

I’ve had so much fun lately it has been tough keeping up with myself. Like the pic of some of the friends at the 20 year of reunion? Since I last wrote the latest PCR-ABL test came back at 0.000 yet again. This is a habit or pattern I could and am working on getting used to. What really sent this one to my heart was the fact that Kate and I were in one of most favorite places in the world, Stonewall Jackson Lake, when I received the news. Kate was sunnin’ and I was catching lunkers out of a kayak in the early am. I LOVE TO KAYAK! I’ve got the fever so when the paychecks start rollin’ in again I hope to be the proud owner of a fishing kayak. Just like Cuzn Tommy’s. My hero. So Kate and I went on a whirlwhind of a 9 day vacay around the mountains. First two days were at Deep Creek Lake. The Beachlers were fantastic hosts, the lake was gorgeous and the kayaking was fantastic. Took a short whiterwater kayak out about 3-4 miles at 7a one morning. Talk about a beautiful experience. Got to see Mom while I was in the area. Their new home is quite nice.

Then it was camping at Broken Wheel Campground for two days to visit our “other” family and the new baby Brody Shreves.

Had everyone over to the campsite one night for a campfire dinner and we all slept soundly.

Then it was off to Stonewall Resort. Kayaking, eating, visiting, big dinner with friends and more kayaking. Saw some incredible wildlife but didn’t have a camera with me when I happened upon them. Good thing WalMart is close by. I chased some beavers then spotted some birds of prey about a quarter mile off and paddled up to two red tail hawks that were in a stir. Just as I got about 20 yards from shore I shifted my eyes down out of the tree tops to find a doe and her fawn just emerging from the brush for a lakeside snack. That was peaceful. While paddling back to the resort I snuck up on three turdey hens clucking and cooing along the shore of the lake. That was probably a 4-5 mile day.

Well I got so hopped up on that experience that I decided it was definitely bass fishing the next day out of the kayak. So I got the live bait bucket, with handy portable areator pump attached, and loaded up on shiners. I paddled back into a cove in a bit of a tight fit and proceeded be patient for a big one. Sure enough, I landed a biggin’. I pulled me and the boat around a little and it was a battle because there were so many sticks and limbs under the kayak that I didn’t want to lose my lunker in that tangled mess. I got it in the boat and took the best pic I could….it’s legit…no photoshop.

More to come…I have to catch up on some business…..

Test Results

Got the latest test results back. Liver good, CBC good and there are still no signs of Leukemia. Amen!

Stay tuned as I am writing a big post or series of posts about my adventures lately. Catching BIG bass, kayaking, vacationing in WV, high school reunion and much more.

My love and thanks to all for your continued support and prayers. By the way, looks like I’ll be returning to work in the near future so that’s a BIG blessing as well.

Chip