(01:22):
All right, my friends. So today is Monday, welcome to another working week or non-working week as the case may be. So a lot is changing in the world. A lot is changing in our country. More and more States are opening.
(01:46):
I wanted to just talk a little bit about the fact that if you feel like you’re losing your mind a little bit, that probably means that you’re not losing your mind as much as you think you are. If you feel like you’re losing your mind, that means that you’re probably perfectly sane and in good mental health because quite frankly, I feel like I’m losing my mind. And it’s not that I’m necessarily the picture of mental health per se, but it’s hard not to feel like you’re going insane. And you know, if we talk about why, I’ll tell you, you know, kind of some of the things that I find the most frustrating about this situation besides the fact that it’s a dangerous situation. It’s a deadly situation. It’s a scary situation. But I’ve never seen a time in our country in which the people and the leaders have been so completely divided and a time in our country when we essentially argue the very presence of facts.
(03:24):
That we look outside and say it’s a sunny day and we see the sun shining, right? And then somebody else says, no, it’s not. It’s a rainy day. Or somebody says it’s a rainy day and we can feel the water coming down. And the other half of the country says, Nope, it’s a sunny day. And the thing is, you know, not that it was funny before, cause it certainly isn’t funny. Like we are the United States of America. And for those of you listening in other countries, I’m sure you’re seeing this from the outside. But the thing is in situations like this, and you know, I can tell you from situations that I’ve been in, in various times of my life, the response is really important. So you know, there’s always going to be emergencies. There’s always going to be crises or crisis or cry. I think it’s crises that we as human beings and the world are going to have to deal with. And sometimes, you know, when it’s more personal, when it’s our family, our friends or coworkers our community, our city or state
(04:51):
Sometimes seconds can be the difference between life and death or minutes, hours, days, weeks, depending upon what the situation is. And what concerns me the most is that we don’t have a coordinated response and that no matter what somebody says, there’s going to be at least 40 or 50% of the people that don’t even consider the reasoning behind it. The logic behind it,
(05:33):
It’s almost like you, you go to a restaurant and you, you get to order side a or side B and if you order side a, you get the appetizer from side a, you got the main course from SIDA, you get the side order from side a and you get the dessert from side a or you order from side B. You get the appetizer, the main course, the side order and the dessert from side B. And then there’s going to be somebody who says, Hey, you know what, can I get the appetizer and the main chorus from side a? But I really want the side dish and the the dessert from side B, right? Because that’s how most of us think about most things, right? We want what we want when we want it, how we want it, except that the way our country thinks at this moment is side a or side B.
(06:29):
And that’s dangerous because the assumption is that if this person is saying it, it’s gotta be a lie. And if this person’s saying it, it’s gotta be true. And the other side believes if this person’s saying it, it’s gotta be a lie. And if this person’s saying it, it’s gotta be true. So it’s easy to lose your mind because depending upon which channel you flipped to, what newspaper you read, what blogs you read, which Facebook profiles you follow, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, you can actually get information that is completely contradictory. And it’s all supercharged by people who know how to write by people who know how to present media by people who know how to influence you, right? Because that’s the big job that kids want these days. They want to be an influencer and it makes it tough for you to make the right decisions for yourself.
(07:29):
So why am I talking about this? I’m talking about this and now I’m going to bring it back to the cardiopulmonary community. There are decisions being made that you have no control over whether or not your state reopens, whether or not the governor says it’s okay and your mayor says it’s not okay, like Atlanta, Georgia, right? But I want to just remind you that you do have control over many things. So there are many things we have absolutely zero control over. Okay. And you could make the argument that yes, we can control it with our vote, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But on a day to day basis, we have less control than we have more control. But within your home, at least for now, we have control over certain things. We have control over how often we wash our hands. We have control over whether we wear a mask when we go outside. Although in my opinion, we should all be wearing masks when we go outside. Not just for our own safety and protection, but for the safety and protection of the community. Right. Because it doesn’t just affect us whether or not we wear a mask, it affects the people around us. So I guess that’s my biggest issue with a lot of these things is that, you know what, it’s, it’s one thing to, well, you know,
(08:59):
I can make a choice for myself and I will be the only one who suffers the consequences of that choice versus you know, making a choice that affects other people. So the thing I, I would say to you for yourself, because you’re my people and you’re my community and you know, you are the people that I look to protect first are make smart choices. So, you know, when somebody tells you, Hey, guess what, you don’t need a mask. If your gut is telling you, Hey, I do need a mask, or I’m at risk, or why am I at risk because I’m 75 years old or because I have a respiratory condition or because I have diabetes or because I’m overweight or obese, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Listen to that little voice inside your head. And you know, different people have different reasons and motivations and agenda for telling you this, that the other thing.
(10:02):
But the bottom line is you are responsible for your own safety and in terms of being responsible, okay, we talk about rights and responsibilities and there’s many people who are acutely aware of their rights but acutely blinded and compartmentalized when it comes to their responsibilities. But the thing is that, you know, in the same way that we have responsibilities, we have rights. Okay? So in other words, if somebody goes to a, you know, go someplace and you know, it’s, it’s, it’s unfortunate that there’s going to be people who decide to make bad decisions. But the bottom line is I encourage you to stay the course. I encourage you to make decisions that are good for you, that are healthy for you, that are safe for you, and don’t let the things that you cannot do interfere with the things that you cannot do, that you can, that you can do.
(11:03):
So there’s still a lot of things that we can do to protect ourselves. There’s still a lot of things we can do to you know, to keep ourselves safe. And I encourage you to continue to do those things with the recognition that the world is changing and we’re going to see a lot of things. Some we are going to agree with, some we’re not going to agree with. But again, I encourage you to take good care of yourself. I encourage you to take good care of your loved ones, although even that is not always something that we can control, right? Because if we have adult children, if we have adult parents or brothers and sisters, et cetera, et cetera, we can’t always, you know, make them see eye to eye with us and they may make decisions that we don’t agree with. Okay.
(11:53):
But again, stay the course. You know, again, with this, with this virus, there are still so many more unknowns than there are knowns. And with that in mind, I would say if you don’t know if the, if the pond is frozen, you stay off it until, until you’re sure, okay. Or you inch out. Okay. If you don’t know if the pond is frozen, you don’t go out and do a Swan dive into the pond. If you don’t know how deep the water is, you don’t do a Swan dive into the pond. A lot of people have broken their necks and that way, okay, so the point I’m telling you is literally one step at a time. Don’t rush all out and say, Hey, guess what? It’s May 15th, therefore I’m going out to eat at the restaurant or this, that the other thing, especially if you know you have some conditions that puts you in a compromised position, by all means, take it one step at a time and we say this word over and over and over again. One step at a time, one step at a time, one day. At a time, one day at a time. But in this case, even more important than most other times in our lives. Because in this case, a misstep can really be harmful to you. Take things, slow my friends, take it slow, throw the, throw the stone, wait for the pool to ripple, and then make your decisions based on that.
(13:26):
Stay strong, stay vigilant, stay healthy, keep yourselves well, continue to exercise. Keep pushing your diet and your nutritional efforts in the right direction. Meditate, attend support groups, educate yourself. But again, keep in mind that our community has been, our community has been preparing this, preparing for this for many, many years. Okay? We’ve always been
(14:01):
On the lookout for the flu. You’ve always been on the lookout for pneumonia. We’ve always been on the lookout for the common cold
(14:10):
And to prevent an exacerbation. So we are uniquely prepared for this in ways that others may not be, both physically and emotionally and intellectually in some ways. So stay the course. Okay. Stay the course. And again, I encourage you to use this time to do things that will enhance yourself, that will enrich yourself, that will make your life better. It’s true. There’s a lot of things we can’t do, but there’s a lot of things that we can do. So keep doing those things in the same way that I’ve always said to you, people often become their disease. They get diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, they get diagnosed with COPD or pulmonary hypertension or bronchiectasis or NTM or cancer, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And they become this black and white monochromatic version of themselves that is completely devoid of any type of art, fashion, music, style, culture, nature, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
(15:22):
And it doesn’t have to be that way. So take this time, think about when you had no time and when you were too busy to do the things you want it to do. And the thing you said, Oh, are you doing this? Are you exercising? No. Why not? I don’t have any time to exercise. Are you eating healthy? No, I don’t have any time to cook healthy meals. Are you meditating? No. Have no time for meditation room to stress, to meditate. Right? That’s like saying I’m too poor to save money. But the thing is, think about what those things are and were. And now more than ever, there are resources available in every single aspect of things that we do. And I encourage you to take advantage of them. And just because our communities are on hold does not mean that your life has to be on hold, nor should it be.
(16:19):
Okay. So have a great day. My friends today is Monday. Okay. Today is Monday. So let me, let me, and I say that for myself and I often ask what day it is, but let me tell you what’s going to go on this week. So tomorrow, okay. There’s not going to be alive at 2:00 PM. There will be a support group at 7:00 PM. Okay. And that will get posted. Okay. That link will get posted. That’s a zoom meeting. And those have been very, very nice and very valuable to some people. Wednesday there will be alive at 2:00 PM and Wednesday night we will be doing a presentation with Paul monarchs and that presentation will be on endobronchial valves for COPD and emphysema. Okay. and then Thursday will be no live at 2:00 PM. There will be a support group at 7:00 PM Friday. There will be alive at 2:00 PM Saturday.
(17:21):
There will be a support group at 2:00 PM. Okay, so have a great day. I also want to say to those of you that have donated to the pulmonary wellness foundation thank you so much. It is so greatly appreciated and it is what allows us to do many of the things that we do and allows us to provide many of the offerings that we provide to you. So for those of you that have already donated, thank you. We are grateful for the support. For those of you that have not donated and would like to donate to help keep this mission going forward. You can do that at http://www.pulmonarywellness.orgbackslashdonateorjustgotowww.pulmonarywellness.org and you’ll see the donate link. And what else do I want to tell you? I want to tell you one more. Wait. There was one thing that just went in my head and went out of my head.
(18:26):
Oh yeah. Two things. My book will soon be available in Spanish. Yes, my book will soon be available in Spanish. So there’s that. And the next thing I want to tell you is that pulmonary wellness foundation is now beginning tele-health. So you will be able to have consults, ask questions, do exercise and nutrition, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. With our team members, Marianne [inaudible], ASTA way, Patricia Mackenzie, Marco classes, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So, you know, you’ve asked for it. We heard you. We want to do it too. Is it ideal? Is it better than coming to the pulmonary wellness and rehabilitation center? No, it’s not. It’s not better. It’s not better for us either, but it’s something, and again, when life gives you lemons, you know what to do. People have a great day. Have a great day. See you tomorrow at 7:00 PM support group. Have a good one, my friends. Bye bye.