NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT

It has been a time of reflection during this Lenten Season. I haven't had much time to write besides my weekly column and one health column. The past few weeks have taken me to Hollywood for the Global Diabetic Foot Conference and to Nashville to visit my oldest daughter, who is away at school.

Daily life leads to many challenges with children in school, work, writing, and finally fitting in a chance to exercise. Health has taken on new urgency with the onset of high blood pressure, which lead to some personal changes in habits and diet. No more sodas, no more caffeine, minimal white flower or white sugar, more fruits and vegetables and water. Exercise has again become a priority. In the last three months I've seen a drop in weight of almost 25 pounds, a reduction in body fat of 5% and 3" in waist size. The extra benefit has been a drop in blood pressure to normal levels without medication. I've been extolling the benefits of this combination for years, but then I "fell off of the wagon" for enough years to see the waistline expand, the breath become shorter, and the cholesterol and blood pressure go up.

Oddly enough, after watching the movie, "Super Size Me" and then the television show, "The Biggest Loser" in addition to having an antihypertensive suggested... well let's just say that it was the culmination of several things that lead to returning to a healthier lifestyle.

Back to the Global Diabetic Foot Conference: Diabetes is becoming a worldwide epidemic as more people abosrb the Western, fast-food diet. The increase in diabetes is leading to more diabetic-related foot problems and in that vein, we have a senator from Wyoming, Mike Enzi-R, who in his infinite shortsightedness, suggests making podiatric services less available to the general public as a means of reducing the budget. His sugar-coated description of making health care more affordable for small businesses doesn't tell the truth behind the deregulation of making services available. This is another case of our government reducing services under the guise of covering more people with insurance.

I urge readers to write their congressmen and congresswomen to vote against Senate Bill 1955 in order to preserve your state and federal rights to affordable and available foot care.