THE ORIGINAL AND MOST NOTED SPEAKERS' CORNER is located in the north-east corner of Hyde Park in London, England. It is, simply, where public speaking is allowed. In our reformatted WELL newsletter, we want to give you, our readers, the opportunity to contribute to the body of knowledge concerning health. We want people to share our newsletter with friends and we want you and your friends to share with us, thereby, sharing with each other. Please keep your thoughts under 750 words, if at all possible, include your name and city and email it all to peter@speakwell.com ».

Dancing in the Rain

IT WAS A BUSY MORNING, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80s arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound.

On exam, it was well-healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry.

The gentleman told me 'no', that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's Disease.

As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.

I was surprised, and asked him, “And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?”

He smiled as he patted my hand and said, “She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is.”

I had to hold back tears as he left. I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, 'That is the kind of love I want in my life.'

True love is neither physical, nor romantic.
True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

With all the jokes and fun in e-mails, sometimes there is one that comes along that has an important message. This one I thought I could share with you.

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, its about learning how to dance in the rain.”  

[Hat tip to my brother, David, for passing this along.]

US Docs Dismiss Disability Claim for Obesity to Avoid Litigation?

 by Dr. Arya Sharma
» Dr. Sharma's website

AS I HUDDLED with the former, present and incoming Presidents of The Obesity Society and other Council members in a hotel meeting room just minutes from Washington DC's Reagan Airport, to help select the next Executive VP for the Society, the American Medical Association, at its annual general meeting in Chicago, overwhelmingly and bizarrely voted to reject obesity as a disability.

In the argument I gleaned from the various press releases on this issue, it appears that the docs were afraid that if obesity were recognized as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, then raising the issue of weight with a patient who did not want to hear about it could be interpreted as discriminatory and would potentially open the gate to litigation.

Thus the docs argue, that not recognizing obesity as a disability would only be in patients' best interests, as it would allow them to address this issue and continue offering obesity counseling and treatments to their obese patients.

Critics however say that all the doctors are afraid of are lawsuits by people who "chose" to be obese and don't want to hear about having to lose weight.

Not being a legal expert, I can only hope that I am missing some nuance here which explains this seemingly bizarre decision, as there is no doubt that severe obesity can be extremely disabling and I have yet to meet a patient for whom severe obesity is a consequence of simply making poor "choices".

I definitely know that the 1000s of patients currently on a waiting list for our bariatric program are desperate for help and that most would probably consider the fact that they have to wait longer for help than patients with other "lifestyle" diseases like heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, chronic lung disease, or joint problems, as blatant discrimination and perhaps a far better reason to call on the courts than potentially being labelled with a disability.

I truly wonder whether, with the new-found confidence about not being sued, US docs will now roll up their sleeves and aggressively treat obesity in patients who need treatment — I am certainly not holding my breath.

National Friendship Day

THE FIRST SUNDAY IN AUGUST is designated National Friendship Day. It was originally proclaimed by the U.S. Congress in 1935 as a time to recognise your friends and their contribution to your life, and remains a tradition observed in many countries and cultures.

Faithful
Reliable
Interesting
Everlasting
Nice
Different
Sharing
Helpful
Incredible
Polite

At some point in time, the following anonymous piece became associated with the day:

To Be Immortal

Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to 'cut back the calories'. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible !!

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you?

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Who wants to be a millionaire' on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain." And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.

Because we cram so much into our lives, we tend to even schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!

We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-Decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.

Now ... go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to ... not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask 'How are you?' Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.' And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift ... Thrown away ... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.

My 'when we were kids
  we played outside' rant

 by Yoni Freedhoff
visit Weighty Matters website

OFTEN I'LL HEAR the ridiculous argument, 'When we were kids we played outside' thrown around to explain childhood obesity. Presumably proponents of this argument believe that the answer to our childhood obesity problems lies with getting kids to build treehouses and play tag. In fact PartipACTION was recently revived (at taxpayer expense) for this very purpose, this despite the fact that during the 30 years of ParticipACTION's reign childhood obesity rates in Canada rose by roughly 300%.

So why don't kids play outside anymore? Have kids changed? Of course not. Kids, just like adults, are consumers. If they've got a few free hours they'll weigh out their options and choose the one that's most enticing. I think people tend to romanticize our heady days of cops and robbers and forget that when we were kids the only alternative to playing outside was staying inside with our parents. We didn't have XBOXes, the internet, cable television or text messages. We had parents who wanted us to do chores, clean our rooms, or worse yet, talk — go figure we played outside. 

And could playing outside really make a difference to weight? For me playing outside often involved lazy bike rides to parks where I'd climb a tree and sit for a while, or building a fort in the backyard, or spending literally hours on a swing. It certainly didn't involve high intensity exercise. Sure, I played baseball and football with my friends — but then so do kids today as organized sports have taken off over the course of the past 20 years. 

Sadly even high intensity exercise doesn't burn nearly as many calories as would be fair and consequently if we do in fact get kids outside to play leisurely outside, it's not as if their pounds are going to melt away.

Getting your kids to play outside is a fantastic idea for their health, but please do me a favour and stop explaining away childhood obesity with whimsy. 

If you want your children to play outside and live an active lifestyle, the best thing you can do is lead by example and live the life you want your children to live and then hope for the best. 

The only other option would be installing XBOXes in our parks but I think that might defeat the purpose.

Autumn Amble Time!

 by Tim Lane
subscribe to Tim's newsletter,
FITnet: join-fitnet@lists.ia.gov

“One should always have a definite objective, in a walk as in life.” :: Alfred Wainwright

IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON WALKING from coast to coast, England is a good country to start with. That would allow you to make the trip in about 200 miles. If that idea appeals to you, let me introduce you to Alfred Wainwright. Mr. Wainwright found such joy in waking across England that he created a series of guidebooks for wandering through the British landscape. An accountant by trade, Mr. Wainwright found joy in walking and became a passionate advocate. This passion certainly contributed to his living into his 84th year.  

I think this month will be a great one to get passionate about some well-planned treks!

But as we head into autumn our available light is waning. Please do take strides to also remain visible to drivers. I know you could be wearing a neon sign and not be seen by some texting teens, but do make yourself visible anyway.  

“It is so much more satisfying to reach a target by personal effort than to wander aimlessly.”
  :: Alfred Wainwright

Smokers' Lounge, Looking Up!

Actual ceiling painting in a smokers' lounge