For What It’s Worth

“You are the most precious thing you have.  If you don’t take care of yourself, who will?”

Francois Henri “Jack” LaLanne

The late Jack LaLanne had a simple life philosophy, but an effective one, because he lived to be 96, exercised to the end of his life and died in his sleep.  He has been a model for me in my life and I am grateful to him for putting me on a positive path.

When I had heart surgery for aortic stenosis at Cedar-Sinai in Dec. 2010, I was encouraged to use a Voldyne inhaler to strengthen my lungs and prevent infection.  It worked!  My caretaker at the time, Glenn Malapit, thought I should continue using the inhaler at home.  He encouraged me to do at least 100 inhalations at 1250 ml. before moving to the next 1500 ml. level.  Once I had done 100 inhalations at the 1500ml. level, I would move to the next level, and so on.  Now I do from 40-60 inhalations at the 2500ml. level level.  What is my point in all this?  My point is that for years I had severe allergies during March and April in Southern California, and since I’ve been doing the inhalations, they have mostly disappeared.  Now, I’m just one individual, and there may be other contributing factors.  However, for what it’s worth, at least you could blow out all your birthday candles with one hearty puff!