Wednesday, May 29, 2013

At Least One Reason This Dad Can Be Labeled "Stupid"

By B. Gregory Sloan


When my wife and I were going through the portion of life in which we were raising young, impressionable offspring, our 3 were not permitted to utter the major "S" word. Nope, the big "S" word simply wasn't allowed in our home. Our children were not allowed to call each other or anyone else-"stupid." Yeah, one may well think that there are plenty of other words that ought to be disallowed in a household before that particular one, and there actually were, but "stupid" was certainly one that was not tolerated.

So, that's one particular reason that I got to thinking about that word in regards to my own way of life and discipline practices a a week or so ago. At 54, there happen to be several prescription medicines that I take as needed. However, the most important one, the medication that I am actually instructed to take on a daily basis, is the one that I am the most inclined to forget. It's called Amlodipine, which is quite commonly prescribed for high blood pressure(hypertension) .

Here's the deal. My level of hypertension is not exceptionally high, or in the typical "dangerous zone," however, for the "Silent Killer' that we know high blood pressure to be, it's nothing short of "stupid" for a guy like me not to put an extremely high priority on swallowing that tiny pill to ensure that my BP levels continue to be at a safe level. Hypertension may cause many dreadful things, including stroke, heart attack, and much more. We simply can't ignore those facts.

So, why am I more likely to forget that medication than other medications? Well, those hypertension symptoms aren't crying out. I have an aggravating disc issue in my lower back for which I take medicine, and when it flares up, it certainly lets me know about it. But, this is not necessarily so when it concerns my blood pressure. It's a sneaky condition. With many conditions, the symptoms are going to scream to you that it's the appropriate time for your meds. But nope, my hypertension doesn't pull on my shirt sleeve and remind me.

So, duh ... how stupid am I? How hard would it be to put a reminder on my phone or something like I would do for various other essential tasks? That way I will likely not forget that very important medication. It just ain't that difficult! But, it's absolutely important.

So, okay, I still hope that my kids do not call one another stupid. However, this is one case in point in which I suppose their dad has certainly drifted into that category occasionally. High blood pressure is dangerous. Let's follow our physicians' directions and do the deal. Let's save our lives.




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