Six Sentence Story: Every Year

Each year around the time of my own annual physical i post a reminder, my own personal PSA if you will, that everyone needs to get all their recommended screenings and tests because the long and short of it is, it's easier to prevent disease than to treat it.

Last week i went in for the ecg, blood tests, eye and ear screening, pee in a cup, spirometry, axial blood flow and other such parts of the yearly exam, and yesterday i went in to talk to the doc about the results and let him give my heart a listen and do the whole lady exam thing, as well as ask me the questions that make sure i'm not showing the earliest signs of dementia.

According to him, my fasting blood sugar is 86 and my five week sugar is in the 50's, i have totally normal results for everything, i have a less that 0.5% chance of having a heart attack in the next five to ten years, and my brain seems to be in order and working for the moment; in other words, i'm basically healthy (yes, i know what a blessing that is!).

He is concerned about my ratio of body fat to lean tissue, as i'm short and rather thin (now) but not as fit as i could be, so he wants me to exercise more since hard work might keep my muscle mass where it is, but it won't create more, and i'm going to need more as i age.

It was also a bit past time for my mammogram and i needed another DEXA scan to see if my bones are in good shape, so i took the bull by the horns and went into the hospital proper and asked if they had time for me to be a walk in, and i got it done and over with, no need to come back later (results will be provided to my doctor in a few days).

Ladies and gentlemen, don't put these things off too long, please, because even though the exams we need are not fun to go through, they can help us catch ourselves when our habits need changing, and catch diseases in the early stages when they are easier to treat.

Linking up with Uncharted Blog and Six Sentence Stories, where the cue is Long.

Today is:

Accession Day -- Jordan (King Abdullah's accession to the throne in 1999)

Community Day -- LO, MU, Spain

Donald Duck Day -- his screen debut was today in 1934

June Bug Days -- Baldwin, WI, US (music, tractor pull, free outdoor movie night, and more; through Sunday)

La Rioja Day -- La Rioja, Spain

Levitt Pavilion Performing Arts/Music Festival -- Levitt Pavilion, Westport, CT (50 plus nights of free or low-cost high quality music and performing arts)

Murcia Day -- Murcia, Spain

National Heroes Day -- Uganda

National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day

Profess Your Love Day -- promoted by ecard companies which think you need to say "I love you" more often

Purple People Eater Day -- Sheb Wooley's hit reached #1 this date in 1958

Remembrance for Sigurd the Dragonslayer -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan (in some traditions called Siegfried)

Sjalvstyrelsedagen -- Aland Islands (Self-Governing Day)

St. Columbia of Iona's -- Celtic Christian, today is one of the luckiest days of the year to superstitious Highland Scots, especially propitious if it's a Thursday (Apostle to the Picts; Patron of bookbinders, poets; Ireland; Scotland; Pemboke, Ontario, Canada; against floods)

St. Ephraem's Day (creator of hymns; Patron of spiritual directors, spiritual leaders; Syria)

Winnipeg International Children's Festival -- The Forks, Winnipeg, MB, CA (a premier family festival with incomparable entertainment and activities; through Sunday)

World APS Day -- spreading awareness of Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome 


Anniversaries Today:

Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito marries Masako Owada, 1993
Nero marries Claudia Octavia, 53

Birthdays Today:

Natalie Portman, 1981
Johnny Depp, 1963

Michael J. Fox, 1961
Dick Vitale, 1940
Jackie Mason, 1928
Les Paul, 1915
Robert Cummings, 1910
Cole Porter, 1891


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Congo(Film), 1995
What's Love Got To Do With It(Film), 1993
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier(Film), 1989


Today in History:

Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide, 68
Odo of Aquitaine defeats the Moors in the Battle of Toulouse, 721
Jacques Cartier is the first European to discover the Saint Lawrence River, 1534
The Harvard Corporation is established as the first corporation in the Americas, 1650
James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia, 1732
The Congress of Vienna, forerunner of the League of Nations and the UN, ends with much of Europe's borders redrawn and settled, Switzerland's neutrality confirmed, and free navigation guaranteed on many rivers, 1815
Five hundred Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa and head west for Salt Lake City carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts, 1856
Alexandra Palace in London burns down after being open for only 16 days, 1873
China agrees to lease Hong Kong to Britain for 99 years, 1898
Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22-year-old housewife and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, becomes the first woman to drive across the United States, 1909
Queen Elizabeth II officially opens London Gatwick Airport, 1958
Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria, 1967
Secretariat wins the Triple Crown, 1973
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) opens its priesthood to black males after 148 years, 1978
The British lease of Hong Kong expires, 1997
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO sign a peace treaty, 1999
In Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, six women were arrested for practicing driving in an empty car lot; women are banned from driving on the road, 2011