Making Yourself Sick

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     It is easy to make yourself sick.  Drink ground water without filtering it.  Eat food prepared in unclean utensils.  Fail to wash after passing wastes.  It's easy.  I had a homeowner make herself sick by eating a lovely dinner out with all the things her doctor told her NOT to eat over five years ago!  She had fried clams, french fries and a fried onion appetizer dipped heavy ranch dressing and a slice of chocolate cheesecake for dessert.  Sick, sick sick!  She greased her pipes then acted all surprised when it leaked!   Oh, did I mention she is 68 and diabetic?  Well, she is and why she complained about the diarrhea and nausea the next day is beyond me!  She made herself sick.  

    
     Last week, I received a call from a long time client asking me to go by her house and check on her husband who couldn't seem to wake up fully, while she had a doctors appointment.  I went and while I am NO doctor, I can recognize diabetic complications and I forced a glass of orange juice down him and called his wife to come home.  911 was called and two days later he woke up at the hospital wondering how he got there as he had no memory of the last three days.  Dehydration and a complication of not checking his sugar levels for over two months.  Caught ya!  Made himself sick! 

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     Dehydration is one of the easiest ways to get yourself some nasty symptoms like dizziness, spotty vision, Stroke, heart failure, and all while giving off symptoms fro other illnesses.  Imagine, my homeowners' husband had no recollection of having a glass of water for over a year  (since he was last in the hospital).  He was taking his medication but not checking his levels.  He was virtually pumping sludge through his veins and wondering why his meds weren't helping. hmmm! 

     I am not putting down the soft drink industry in any way.  It is not the fault of the makers of Mountain Dew or Dr. Pepper that their customers are making themselves sick.  Don't you remember when we were young and we thought soda was a treat?  If we got good grades on our report card we might have been taken out for a small soda at the drugstore to celebrate!  Maybe if we did more than just the chores we were supposed to do, we got a treat of a soft drink.  

     I never liked the taste of coffee so when I became a grown up, I, too, poisoned myself replacing water, tea or lemonade with soda.  Then I remembered Water!  I lost forty pounds that year and it's off for good.  That was soda weight that could have killed me, and I was drinking Diet soda, and no water.  So, I know how these habits form.  But, the first time you get yourself so dehydrated by drinking soda thinking fluid is the same as water, should be the last time it happens.  


     I once washed my face in the sink of a rest area that was fed from the unfamiliar lake nearby.  Never again!  That lake was surrounded by large tracts of upscale homes, it could have been half fertilizer from run off, and it was the dry season, so the levels were low.  I had the runs for a solid day, but the cleanse for a colonoscopy was less harsh.  I learned to filter water and that water should have been boiled before going near any openings like eyes, nose, mouth.  I don't know if I have ever gotten sick from eating from unclean utensils, because I am sure to clean what I use.  However, I have worked in the restaurant industry and I am a total drill sergeant when I see lazy work habits that can make someone sick.  

     Making yourself sick is easy.  It is mostly a matter of being lazy, unclean, foolish or just not paying attention.   It is also a life choice.  Keep clean and stay well, or don't wash your hands and wonder where you contracted e coli.  Drink clean water or pray to God you survive Montezuma's revenge.  Be responsible with your medications or health initiatives or drop dead.  Easy!  Choose one!