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Jewish World Review July 10, 2008 / 7 Tamuz 5768 Reflecting on good health By Ed Koch
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
On July 3rd, I was in my law office on the 37th floor
looking across the city thinking about my pending trip to Chapel Hill,
North Carolina, to celebrate the Fourth of July with close friends when
the phone rang. It was my secretary announcing that my friend and
doctor, Joe Tenenbaum, was on the line. I picked up the phone and said,
"Hi, Joe, what's up?" He replied, "Good morning, Ed. I'm calling to
tell you that your coumadin (a blood thinner) level is right on target;
continue with it for a month and we'll test it again." He went on,
"Nine years ago, (1999) on July 4th you were in the hospital [I had had
a heart attack a few days before and was recovering from an angioplasty
to open two blocked arteries]. And here you are, a healthy man. Have a
good holiday."
Dr. Tenenbaum's call made me reflect on the fact that I am
indeed relatively healthy, lucky and appreciative to the Almighty for
having protected me over the years. I am 83 years old and, like many at
my age, I read the obituaries in The New York Times, which I first
started to do about ten years ago. It appears to me that as many people
are dying in their 70s as in their 80s. I've noticed that many of my
conversations with friends - most of them are in their 70s - are about
ailments from which we are suffering. Looking back, I think to myself
that my medical incidents have been few and far between.
My scariest major medical event took place in 1987 when I
suffered a stroke. My overwhelming fear was that I would be paralyzed.
God was good, and I walked out of the hospital four days later without
any motor impairment. I recall the following weekend going for a walk,
being recognized by a New Yorker who clearly had had a stroke and was
being assisted while walking. He came over to me and said, "Mayor, can
I have the name of your doctor?" Of course, I gave him Joe Tenenbaum's
name and silently wished him well. I hasten to add that Dr. Jay Mohr,
neurologist, was actually in charge of my treatment.
In 2000, I had surgery to deal with an enlarged
non-cancerous prostate. That condition, while the least dangerous, was
the most bothersome. It affected the frequency of urination and
required the insertion of a catheter. It was relatively easy to remedy
with what many refer to as a rotor-rooter operation to reduce the size
of the prostate.
For the last year and a half, I have had a painful back
condition. Millions of American men and women suffer low back pain. My
condition is called stenosis, a narrowing of the spine that impinges on
nerves and causes pain. In my case, the pain appeared in my left thigh.
It was, on occasion, very intense. On a scale of one to ten, the latter
being the worst, it was an 8 at times. I finally concluded there was no
alternative but to have an operation, and I announced to the readers of
my weekly commentary that I would not be writing for a couple of weeks.
I received a note from an old friend to the effect, "Don't
have an operation. Wendy [his wife] had a similar condition and
received total relief from a chiropractor using a stretching machine
called the DRX9000. Try it before you are operated on."
My friend provided the name and phone number of the
chiropractor, Dr. Alex Eingorn. I called, and ultimately scheduled 20
visits. The DRX9000 is a table attached to a machine that with pulleys,
I think, places a weight of 110 lbs. (measured for my condition) on my
spine and over a 35-minute period, stretches it. There is absolutely no
pain in the stretching. There is a moment of pain when the stretching
stops and, I assume, the spine collapses to its original position. When
I first saw the device and was strapped to it, I told the doctor, "The
last time I saw this machine was in 1492. You've improved it." Twenty
visits later, I felt a lessening of the pain and a gain in walking
ability of about five to ten percent. I said, let's continue. After
the 23rd visit, I was literally shocked on awakening that day to find
the pain gone. It came back the next day. It now comes and goes, but I
have no doubt I am getting better.
During the Fourth of July weekend, I enjoyed walks with
friends. I don't know whether my apparent change in condition is real
or due to a placebo effect, which in different settings including the
taking of prescription pills for other conditions, can exceed 30
percent. But who cares, certainly not me, whether real or placebo.
Since the stretchings, I am walking more and more without pain, even
though the pain returns. G-d is good.
As the song in "Follies" by Stephen Sondheim goes, "I'm
still here."
While spending the long weekend in Chapel Hill, I learned of
a danger to the health of all of us. I learned from media reports that
lab experiments have shown the chemical tetrabutyltin, a component of
plastic cups and bottles from which we drink soda and coffee, leaches
into liquids and is carcinogenic. I believe it is also a component of
the plastic piping currently used to bring water into our homes. Some
historians believe the Roman Empire was ultimately destroyed because
they used lead pipes in the aqueducts bringing water into their homes
which reduced their IQs. It is not my intention to alarm, since the
negative reports are preliminary, but there have already been
announcements in the media not to use plastic bottles when feeding
infants.
You can be sure the plastics industry will fight any
restrictions tooth and nail. Remember how the CEOs of cigarette
companies came before Congress and answered "No" to the question, "Do
you believe cigarette smoking causes cancer?" No one was punished for
that testimony and cigarettes are still lawfully sold and are still
causing cancer. The real villains are the members of Congress in both
parties who permit the abuse of the public in so many areas to continue
unchecked.
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JWR contributor Edward I. Koch, the former mayor of New York, can be heard on Bloomberg Radio (WBBR 1130 AM) every Sunday from 9-10 am . Comment by clicking here.
© 2008, Ed Koch |
Mitch Albom | |||||||||||
