Consider rest if you are in a position to do so

(Today's column is dedicated to Kathryn Foster Perry, who died on July 28. She was the mother of one of my dearest friends, Lisa Ann. Mrs. Perry was intelligent, kind, gracious, gentle and generous, attributes possessed by her daughter. All who knew her will miss her. We will also rally around Lisa.)

It is said that sporting events are metaphor for life.

But when's the last time a ref granted your request for a time out after you flubbed a presentation or said something off-color to the boss or colleagues? Many of us wish we could stand up in the cubicle and call "Time Out" to devise a winning strategy during a TV commercial break.

Well, you can, formally or informally, force a time out by just walking away from the job. Of course, you should let your boss know what you're doing. Just don't walk away...

If you need time to recover from serious illness or injury you should take it. It is easier said than done. It takes planning and determination - it is hard to sit idle while your contemporaries are continuing with careers - but it might be necessary.

A doctor at Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation in Chicago said to me that it "would be a good idea" for me to take off the rest of the summer in light of my bout with lung and heart sarcoidosis. We are trying to see if a course of drugs - prednisone, methotrexate, other stuff - will stem the tide of the disease. We keep checking the heart, which shows evidence of weakness, to see whether it can recover/rebound from the illness. There is improvement. If it does not get stronger, docs want to install an implantable cardioverter defibrillator in my chest to guard against sudden cardiac arrest. But as I just wrote, the heart is improving, so I want to give the drugs and exercise a little more time to work.

When it comes to rest, I'm taking the doctor's advice. I am interesting in getting well for the long term, not pleasing a boss in the short term. I have learned first hand that no matter how important you are to an organization and hire ups, you are replaceable. Heck, they just might fold your job to save money.

Your first loyalty is to yourself and your loved ones - family and friends. They are going to miss you when you are gone. And we don't want to leave sooner than later. So, if you need time to heal, consider a strategy that allows you to rest so you can be here as long as possible:

• Get financial affairs and health care in order - and adjust your budget to live on less

• Develop or find a support network. It might be family and friends. It might be a support group at a hospital or place of worship. Do not just sit alone or with people who do not understand or are unsympathetic to your situation.

• Really rest. Get to know your body, when it needs sleep, when it needs fuel. Limit alcohol consumption, quit smoking (I did. Finally took the Chantix. Cold turkey is too much, especially with so much going on right now). Exercise, but check with your doctor before you begin a regiment.

• Help others. Volunteering at a pet shelter, soup kitchen, tutor children; find an activity in which to participate so you stay active - remaining connected to community is important. Avoid becoming a recluse. Such a state is difficult from which to return

• Learn a new skill will recouperating, if health and strength and allows. When you re-enter the workforce, you can show potential employers you were not idle.

I thought long and hard about the pros and cons of taking a time out for health after reading that Scottish golfer Stephen Gallacher is seeking an exemption from the prefessional golfers' European Tour so he can rest and heal from a serious flare up of sarcoidosis.

Good luck, Stephen, and all the others brave and fortunate enough to take a time out to better their lives...

Taking advantage of the home field

By the time you read this, I will have kissed the New Jersey Parkway. I will have walked a beach and stared across the Atlantic to the horizon. I will have eaten a handful of the best cranberries in the world.

I am home. New Jersey. The Garden State. ‘Jersey.

For the record, no one I know from here says the line made famous by "comedian" Joe Piscopo: “I’m from ‘Joisey. Are you from Joisey?" There’s more to the state than The Sopranos, the oil tanks and chemical refineries along the northern corridor of the Turnpike, the crook politicians (Illinois, you've got nothing on the Garden State in that department)...

If you’re an out-of-stater, believe what you will. New Jersey has enough people anyway. Stay wherever you are. The mob or the smell might get ya!

I’ve always loved New Jersey, but I have not lived here since the mid-1980s. However, in my fight against sarcoidosis, I have made a tactical decision. I need and want the home field advantage. In sports, the homies have followed their team for years and the crowd is always loyal. Even when they are booing you for doing bad they are waiting for you to do well – and then they cheer loud and hard.

The hometown crowd’s support can spur a team to victory. It can inspire a battered boxer to get off the ropes and dig deep into his reserves to knock out his opponent.

Right now, I need my biggest cheerleaders, my mom and dad. They were eager to have me close so they can monitor my progress and help me in anyway possible. I am grateful – no, I thank God – for my parents. Not everyone has a rewarding relationship with his or her parents. Some folks have no one at all.

I began thinking about this in March after a 10-day hospital stay to deal with flaring pulmonary and cardiac sarcoidosis. I flew home so my folks could see that I was OK.

Everything about my ‘Jersey stay felt right. More than right. It was invigorating, rejuvenating. For the first time in more than 20 years, home was more appealing to me than the open road and new places to live in and see.

I'm tough and have always been able to handle life's challenges. Isolation, illness, pondering career options. Handling each problem on its own? No sweat. Bundle any two together, Bring ‘em on.

The three together? No thanks. Too much. It took me a while to realize it, but there's no shame in needing help and letting folks know it. Especially when you have people who are waiting for you to say the word so they can get involved. Word!

Now, I am no more than an hour or two from my loved ones in the Tri-State area. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with everyone. New York City and Philadelphia are an hour north and south of me, respectively. Greater New Haven, a 2-1/2 drive along tree-lined highways (Take the Garden State Parkway, go across the Tappan Zee Bridge and grab the Hutch north. Don't take the New Jersey Turnpike-Interstate 95 if you can avoid it. Ugly).

I lived in Chicago for the past year. My friends there, especially Megan Cottrell, Felicia Yonter, Steve Barrett, Tyler Via, Tim Yager, Fernando Diaz, Adrian Uribarri, Peter Sachs, Alex Parker, Kim Barrett, Matt Schad, Patrick Boylan (there are others but I hate Academy-award style thanks-yous, so thanks to everyone!) helped me during the most challenging time of my life. I was terrified, confused and alone in March when my sarc went berserk. My friends in Chicago checked on me daily and kept buoyant my spirit. Some drove me around when I could not drive myself. Some made me laugh.

They encouraged me to walk when I wanted to sit and sulk. Especially Megan and Felicia. They made me walk my ass off. I am definitely better off because of that.

They inspired me to recommit to my fiction and this write this blog (but my mom had the idea first, I must say).

My Chicago peeps, I am forever indebted to you and I will be back to visit as often as I can. I want you to visit me, too. The door is always open. You'll always have a place to crash.

But I am excited to be home. I liked kissing the New Jersey Parkway. I like hearing, seeing my mother and father at ease.

I love being home. I feel 10 years younger.

Saying yes to walking opens up possibilities

(Hi, readers. Enjoy the blog. And tune in Friday for a special announcement. And remember to consult with your doctor before exercising to see what routine might be right for you. Enjoy and peace.)

Every drug I take in my battle against sacroidosis warns that it makes you drowsy or dizzy. I admit that since April, five months into this pharmaceutical regiment, I have been tired and listless. I just want to lie down, pull the blankets over my head and sleep until…whenever. Just sleep.

Instead, I just say yes.

No, silly, not to drugs and certainly not to the side affects of prednisone, methotrexate, Carvedilol, hydralazine , lisinopril and the others.

I say yes to movement, in this case walking. When I do not feel like moving, I move. And when asked to do something physical, I do it.

I am in Lakewood, N.J. with my parents. It took 14 hours to drive here. The morning after the drive, I was beat. Almost beyond exhausted. My dad had energy and invited me to join in on a routine: walking the dog. It is a two- to three-mile walk through a wooded area. Hills, mud, dirt. Challenging for someone who is re-learning how to breathe.

Wanna come? He asked.

No, I admitted to myself. But I said yes as soon as I was asked, jumped up and we hit the trail.

And it was great. Another bonding moment with my dad and the family dog, Tobie, a golden retriever. We walked, talked, laughed. I realized that while I was winded – country walkin’ is sure more challenging than city walkin! – I was going to be better off for it.

Later that day, my mom got home and we walked 1-1/2 miles with Tobie (This dog gets a serious workout. He has legs of steel!). That was a great bonding moment, too.

I took ill in mid-March in Chicago and spent 10 days in the hospital. After I was released, two friends of mine who were also co-workers, Megan Cottrell and Felicia Yonter, made me move. I told them the drugs made me listless, so they had me take baby steps. Let’s walk two blocks to the coffee shop. Megan would say. Let’s take Guinness – the Shepard-mix that belongs to Felicia and her finance, Steve Barrett – for a quick walk.

Baby steps, but always moving. Because the small, unsteady steps can develop into a strong confident stride. Evidence that one is getting better. Stronger.

I say yes to movement because I want to go forward and not backward.

Waning Moon (face)?

People this week are telling me that moon face (the swelling and roundness of the face caused by long-term prednisone use) might is shrinking. Really, I can’t tell. It looks like a big, brown full moon to me…but thank you. I remain hopeful that the condition will soon abate because my docs are reducing the amount of the corticosteroid.

We’ll see how things go.

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It's never to early to prepare for looming pandemic

(Today is my birthday. I usually don't make a big deal of it, but it is especially sweet considering everything I went through these past few months. I am not celebrating it so much as using it to reflect on the past and plan for the future. I will treat myself to a moment at the beach. I hope your day is a good one, too - David)

Summer has finally hit the East and Midwest. This week, forecasters say we’ll be basking in the bright sun and enjoying temperatures in the mid-80s. Thunderstorms are on the horizon, too.

Between rain drops, we’ll be playing in the parks and beaches and grilling, all under a blazing sun.

Good time to look forward to flu shots. Seriously. There may be big problems looming just over the seasonal horizon.

The annual flu vaccination season begins in September or as soon as vaccine is available and continues throughout the influenza season - December, January and beyond.

The Centers for Disease Control recommend flu shots for the following:

• Children aged 6 months up to their 19th birthday

• Pregnant women

• People 50 years of age and older

• People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions

• People who live with people with certain chronic medical conditions

• People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities

I decided to get vaccinated for the first time back in 2006 after a health scare. I did not get the flu in 2006 and 2007. I am currently taking predinsone to fight a flare up of pulmonary and cardiac sarcodosis. I had been experiencing a serious sarc flare up for about a year before it was properly diagnosed in March (I was first diagnosed in 2005 but it was deemed dormant).

Prednisone is helping with my symptoms, but it and another drug I have been prescribed, methotrexate, suppress the immune system, making the body vulnerable to infections, including the flu. I am particularly concerned about H1N1, the swine flu, which reared its head in April and is expected to return with a vengeance this fall.

I am happy that my docs are reducing the amount of prednisone I am taking, but I want off completely so I can get a flu shot. I am going to talk to them about alternatives just in case and will share that information when I have it.

Health experts fear that H1N1 might spread to nearly every corner of the globe much like the Spanish flu of 1918. The Spanish flu hit in two waves, first in March of 1918 and then in August. By then, it had mutated into a deadlier virus that ultimately killed an estimated 50 million to 100 million people. Most of the victims were health young adults, experts say. That pandemic ended in 1920.

H1N1 is expected to make a return early this fall. In time for school.

The World Health Organization predicts that some two billion people will catch H1N1. The outcome is unpredictable because the strain is new. The healthy, the sick; all are vulnerable to this new strain of flu. If, when, H1N1 returns and if people start to drop like flies, there will be a panic run on vaccine. That will make it more difficult to get shots.

Vaccines will be available for H1N1 and other strains of flu, so more than one shot may be necessary. In layman’s terms, predicting flu outbreaks is tricky, so a couple of vaccines are being prepared.

Do yourself and your loved ones a favor: Get your shot as early as possible. Go to your doc, a clinic, Target, Wal-Mart or wherever shop is set up to administer vaccinations.

Check with your doc to see if you are allergic to egg products – used to make the vaccination. Double-check to make sure there aren't other complications that might prevent you from getting the shot.

But if nothing but planning stands in the way of the shot, mark a calender to get the a flu shot as soon as possible.

While you're at it, remember to wash your hands and cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. That’s how the deadly virus is spread.

For good of country, embrace debate sparked by prof's arrest at home

(This will be the routine for now on: Health blogs Mondays and Wednesdays.

Free-ranging observations on pop culture, politics and news media on Fridays.

Actually, there is a health-related blurb at the end of this essay.

Read the Friday Special and have a great weekend. Monday: The flu and autoimmune disease)

I applaud President Obama for taking to task the Cambridge, Mass., police officer who arrested Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates after a neighbor’s call about a man breaking into Gates’ home.

It turns out the man was Gates. Guess the neighbors don’t know each other very well.

The cop, Sgt. James Crowley, is white Gates is black (Note to news media: Gates is not just a prominent black professor as so many TV news reporters described him. He is one of the most prominent professors in America and is black. He is one of the best, period. Look him up.

Also, according to published reports, he was able to show ID proving that he was at his home. The prof was arrested for allegedly sassing the cop. The charge was eventually dropped.

According to a Boston Globe report, Obama said race “still haunts us. And even when there are honest misunderstandings, the fact that blacks and Hispanics are picked up more frequently and often time for no cause casts suspicion even when there is good cause. And that’s why I think the more that we’re working with local law enforcement to improve policing techniques . . . the safer everybody is going to be.’’

As a reporter, I covered police in Michigan and New York. As city editor and deputy metro editor, I coordinated police coverage in New Haven and Greater Lansing. I count a couple of police officers as friends and they told me, not for attribution, that cops engage in racial profile. They see it as a necessary evil to get bad guys off the street. Need proof of the racial disparity? See this example. There’s more out there, too.

Crowley’s supporters argue that the cop is not a racist. He taught racial classes on racial profiling at the academy. Cops who are black even vouch for him.

One thing I learned very young is cops are not black, white, red are yellow. They are blue, gray or whatever color uniform they wear. They stick together. They rarely say anything against their brethren even if their brethren are wrong.

Not all, but many hide behind a thin, blue wall of silence.

Obama, who lists Gates as a friend, did not characterize Crowley as racist. Neither would I. But I know that racist acts can be committed by people wearing smiles and speaking in whispers.

At the very least, arresting a man for “breaking” into his home is bad police work. Cops have wide latitude when making arrests. But why not also teach a cop to treat with respect a wrongly indentified “suspect.” Crowley says Gates yelled at him. The instructor did not try to slug the officer. I could understand the arrest if that had occurred.

Perhaps this incident will lead to a bigger and long overdue debate about American racism past and present. Yes, Obama’s election to the White House is a big step in so many ways in this country. But racism and discrimination still exists and they are not going anywhere until we as a nation finally do something about it. The nation has to stop treating it like the ugly family secret that might be forgotten if no one talks about it and openly deal with it.

I wonder: The neighbor who called police on Gates…Would he or she have dialed 9-1-1 if they saw a white man trying to find a way into the house? Or would they have helped him?

Karen Duffy’s rebound

This is a short and sweet salute to Karen Duffy (I had a crush on her back in the day), whose career is proof that people with sarcoidosis can overcome the disease and thrive.

Duffy, a former MTV VJ and Revlon model, was diagnosed with sarcoidosis in the mid-90s. Now she is back hosting a new TV show, Surprise Vacations, on the Fine Living Network at 8 p.m. ET Sundays. Duffy's show gives deserving people a surprise free vacation. She tells USA Weekend that she has been filming the show for the past six months while also studying to be a chaplain at the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. “One of the things we learn is care-taking for the caregiver,” Duffy says, “people who are taking care of a loved one or sick child.”

Duffy, 48, has her own illness to deal with - sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease affecting her nervous system. It caused partial paralysis. She helps others who are less fortunate. “My parents have always really led by example, (showing) that the only thing worth doing is what you do for others,” Duffy says in a recent interview with USA Weekend.

“I think that has really helped me through my hard times. I mean, my life isn’t perfect and I’ve got to deal with this big lump in my head all the time and deal with chronic pain issues, but I’m so grateful for the days that I feel good,” Duffy says USA Weekend. This fall, Duffy has a small role in Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, which also stars former boyfriend George Clooney.

Here, she discusses her fight with sarcoidosis as written in her book, “Model Patient: My Life As An Incurable Wise-ass.”

Dropping weight to be a healthier, better 'dancing bear'

I consider myself a dancing bear, but my doctor and the CDC say I am obese.

OK, I am trying to drop weight. I will drop weight. However, I love being a "dancing bear." Football coaches use the term in describing big offensive and defense linemen who have strength, power and agility. Much like the famed dancing bears exhibited at carnivals back in the so-called Good Old Days.

Big signifies strength. Power. Carry the weight well and you will rarely be tread upon. I am a writer and truly believe the pen is mightier than the sword…but...Well, let’s just say there are a few occasions in life where I was grateful that I was big, strong, quick and able to handle myself.

Never as a bully, mind you. Simply protected myself and friends.

But, 321 pounds was way too much for my 6-3 frame. I gained that weight during prednisone-fueled feeding frenzies after my March hospitalization to treat heart and lung sarcoidosis. Prednisone and methotrexate are reducing the inflammation

Americans are the fattest they have ever been at any point in history and black folks lead the way in this startling category, according to a recent report for the Centers for Disease Control.

The CDC says 36 percent of African-Americans are overweight. Blacks and whites in the South and Midwest are fatter than their blacks and whites in the West and Northeast. Hispanics in the Northeast had lower obesity “prevalence” than Hispanics in the Midwest, South or West.

The study, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, examines data from 2006 to 2008.

“This study highlights that in the United States, blacks and Hispanics are disproportionately affected by obesity,” says Dr. William H. Dietz, the director of CDC′s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, in a press release. “If we have any hope of stemming the rise in obesity, we must intensify our efforts to create an environment for healthy living in these communities.”

Disproportionate amounts of African Americans are poor. Fatty, unhealthy fast food and snacks are cheap and abundant in neighborhoods. Fresh produce and other good foods are scarce.

My situation is driven by prednisone. I know how to eat right, exercise, watch the consumption of empty calories (soda, sweets, chips, etc). For the most part, I stay away from them. I just have to ignore the side effects voice in my head and do the right thing for my health.

I'm rededicating myself to watching what I eat. Friday, I weighed in at 297.8 pounds. I’ve dropped 23.2 pounds – yes. I am claiming the .2! It’s mine! – since the end of April. Not bad if I say so myself. I'm on the right path.

The goal is 250 by the end of the year. A lot of weight to lose, but, according to body-mass indexes, still obese for my height. However, the BMI’s do not take into account my big boned frame. So I must protest.

I’m dropping weight to reduce stress on my lungs and heart, to lower my blood pressure. I have always been big guy, but I admit I need to shed pounds.

Still, I want to be a dancing bear. Just a lighter one.

"Process Not Product"

(Yes! My pulmonologist cut my prednisone from 50 milligrams a day to 40. That, in turn, is helping reduce my blood pressure. My BP readings now are in the 130s/90s (normal BP is less than 120/80)instead of the high 140s/100s when I was on the highest dosage of prednisone (60 mg). We’re controlling the BP by maxing out on Carvedilol, lisinopril and hydralazine. Can’t wait to finally reduce those drugs, too)

Facebook.com applications are silly fun. One of my favorites allows people to share their “library” with friends.

I put together a Top 11 Favorite Books List (two James Baldwin books are on the list; could not choose between the two). Also on the list are works by E. L. Doctorow, H.G. Wells and Howard Zinn. Eclectic.

Zen in the Martial Arts by Joe Hyams is also on the list. Strictly speaking, Zen is the Mahayana Buddhism belief that enlightenment can be attained through meditation, self-contemplation and intuition rather than through faith and devotion. My mind reconciles and dovetails both.

I bought a copy of the book when it was published as a paperback in 1979. I was 15 and studying karate at the time. I wanted more than a physical experience. I was studying the martial art to sharpen my mind, to transcend the possible.

I have read that book one thousand times. It is yellow from the sun and elements, its spine is split in two now, as if it is the slimmest two-volume set ever published.

I still pull it out when I am troubled or in need of righting my course. I have been frustrated with what I have characterized in my head as the slow progress of healing. I should be grateful, though. My pulmonary sarcoidosis is abating (the way I breathe, the way my breathing sounds indicates that, my docs say.)

My cardiac sarcoidosis, which is affecting my left ventricle, is improving, too, but at a much slower rate. The option is to place a defibrillator in my chest to guard against abnormal heart rhythms that could cause cardiac arrest. I am not interested in having a machine installed in my chest. Just can’t do it. Not right now anyway.

So in my frustration, I turned to Zen In Martial Arts. The author uses the backdrop of the martial arts and experiences to show a way to a better, more rewarding life. Each chapter focuses on Hymans’ learning a valuable life lesson through his martial arts studies.

He uses a cast of characters – including martial art legends Bruce Lee, Ed Parker and Bong Soo Han and Hollywood stars - to explain how Zen principles can lead to greater control and inner peace.

The chapters are short, some only one-page long. A two-pager called “Process Not Product,” is just what I need. In it, Hymas writes about the frustration he felt when he was learning Hapkido. He was an older, stiffer man amongst younger men who seemed to be picking up the moves with ease. Hymas was ready to quit and his master, Bong Soo Han, recognized that and spoke to him.

You will never learn to do any endeavor properly unless you are willing to give yourself some time. I think you are accustomed to having everything come easily to you, but that is not the way of life or the martial arts,” the master says to Hymas.

“I am patient,” Hymas replied.

“We are not talking now about patience,” says the master. “To be patient is to have capacity for strong endurance. To give yourself time is to actively work towards a goal without setting a limit on how long you will work.”

That, to paraphrase Hymas, touches the core of my problem. I keep setting hard deadlines for health results. I want off prednisone and methotrexate in August, six months after being hospitalized.

However, that is not going to happen. What I need to do is focus on the process, take the meds, exercise, eat right, stay positive, and the “product” – getting well and off the meds – will take care of itself.

I have to remember the fight will be long and I have to stay focused to win it.