CHARLOTTE;  (00:06):

This is the X B H S Radio Network

SKIP OREM;  (00:10):

From the Nashville Studios of the XB H S Radio Network. I’m Skip Oram, and this is the Anchor Point Podcast. Hey, everybody from the X B H S radio studios on Printers Alley here in Nashville, Tennessee. Welcome to the Anchor Point Podcast, your faith and fitness podcast for us older folks in our fifties, sixties, seventies, and beyond. It’s been over three weeks since we last talked, meaning this will be a very full episode of the Anchor Point Podcast today,

(01:05):

And I’m so happy that even during our break, new listeners are continuing to join the podcast listening to episodes we’ve already produced. And by the way, every Anchor point episode since the very beginning is available in the Anchor Point Podcast feed and on the anchor point.com website. Anchor Point has listeners from everywhere, not just in the United States, but all over the world, listeners looking to increase their faith, fight disease, get and stay healthy, and live a long, active, healthy, and happy life. Originally, this was going to be a SL and rans episode, but as I started to put the episode together, I realized two of the topics I wanted to discuss with you were pretty important in our battle to stay healthy and fight off disease instead of slants and rants. On today’s episode, journaling for Good Health and a Battle plan that you might be interested in that I used for fighting and winning a cancer battle. You’ve been diagnosed with the disease. What’s the plan going forward? And we have four Anchor point episodes to go before we end season one of the Anchor Point Podcast on May 12th. I’ve already started to make plans for next season’s episodes, which will begin in September and wanted to share some of my thoughts about Anchor Point season two with you on the podcast today and perhaps get some feedback as I began to set the direction for season two. Before we get to all that though, let’s start today with anchor points medical news for seniors.

(03:12):

New research from the University of Edinburg in the UK has discovered specific areas of the brain that may be damaged by high blood pressure and linked to the development of dementia. The studies have shown that high blood pressure hypertension can severely impact the blood vessels in your brain leading to those vessels being reshaped. Those studies have shown that high blood pressure hypertension can severely impact the blood vessels in your brain leading to those blood vessels being reshaped. High blood pressure also causes hardening and then the development of clogged arteries within the brain. When blood pressure is elevated, the increased pressure is transmitted from those larger blood vessels to smaller ones in the brain causing them to not function properly and creating a condition known as small vessel disease and dementia. High blood pressure damages the white matter in our brains. This all continues to highlight the importance for us older folks to monitor and manage our blood pressure levels to prevent damage to the white matter in our brains associated with dementia. Some of the factors increasing your risk for developing high blood pressure and unhealthy diet, obesity, inactivity, smoking, alcohol, the anchor point, medical news for seniors. Headline for today, no, and monitor your blood pressure and take action to eliminate your risks.

(05:05):

Those actions to keep your blood pressure under control are all within the seven elements of the anchor point, disease, fighting and fitness model, faith, diet, exercise, attitude, positive imagery, music and research. Know your blood pressure, everybody monitor it regularly and using faith, diet, exercise, positive attitude, positive imagery, music and research. Actively do everything you can to keep your blood pressure under control. You need to work those seven elements, everybody you need to work ’em every day for a healthy, happy and long life. And just a reminder, there is a great deal of information about health and fitness for us, baby boomers available@theanchorpoint.com website. All of the past and current podcast episodes are available at the website. And then there’s the AudioBurst page containing short AudioBurst with really good faith and fitness information, as well as links to other important faith and fitness information on the internet.

(06:23):

By the way, there is also a transcript available for each and every podcast episode as well as the audio burst. Get into the website. Remember, we spell Anchor Point with an E, so the website address, T H E A N C H O R P O I N T e.com. Speaking of the seven elements of the Anchor point disease fighting and fitness model, I’m thinking about changing the name of the positive imagery element. I’m thinking about changing that name to guided meditation. I think guided meditation is a more appropriate and descriptive name for what that element’s all about. I wanna do just a little more thinking before I make any final decisions. I’m working on a new positive image recession, which is gonna be released as an Anchor point podcast episode on May 5th. Keep an eye out for the SOEs, an anchor point guided positive image recession on Friday, May 5th. A couple of years ago I started journaling. I had been researching how journaling can really help you to boost your mood, enhance your sense of wellbeing, reduce depression, improve your memory, and bring you closer to God.

(08:09):

Those five things I mentioned, boosting your mood, enhancing your sense of wellbeing, reducing depression, improving your memory, and bringing you closer to God. Those five benefits of journaling can help you to get that positive attitude that’s so important as you’re starting your day. It can help improve your overall health and fitness. If you’re fighting a disease right now, positive attitude is a must in your healing. We’ve talked about the importance of a positive attitude on several previous anchor point episodes, and I know for a fact positive attitude destroys cancer cells enlightens the load on your heart.

(08:59):

In addition to all those big health benefits, journaling can help you keep your thoughts organized and improve your writing skills. Journaling can help you set and achieve goals, and I really think that’s important at our age. Journaling allows you to self-reflect. Journaling can boost your memory, it can inspire creativity. Writing in a journal daily can help keep our aging brains in top shape. And not only can journaling boost memory, it can actually increase your memory capacity and that memory capacity often starts shrinking as we get older. Daily journaling, and you know what else? Daily journaling, it can bring us closer to Jesus. When I started journaling, I kept it real simple, just dealing with three things, one sentence each. Number one, what will I focus on today? Number two, one sentence, what am I especially grateful for today? And number three, one sentence, what will I let go of today?

(10:27):

One of the things that helped me accept the idea of doing journaling every day was to think of it as not being anything permanent. Nobody’s gonna read it but me. It’s boring stuff to other folks. Only important for me to use today. I’m writing these things down because it helps me get my day organized and it might be fun at some point to go back and see what I was thinking over time. But everybody don’t be intimidated by journaling, nobody’s archiving anything. As I continue to journal each day, I actually increase the amount of stuff I’m writing down each day. I’ve added my detailed to-do list for the day. I’ve started to brainstorm podcast ideas and write them down in a journal, and I’ve started to include my thoughts about how I would apply my Bible lesson for the day to my life on that day.

(11:37):

I’ve started to make that Bible study application a to-do list item for each day. I can honestly say journaling has increased my already positive attitude and it’s given me a feeling of accomplishment, a feeling of accomplishment. You just don’t notice and unless it’s written down right there in front of you, there are programs on the internet and and phone apps that are available to help you with journaling. I think it’s really more fun doing it old school, taking a pen and writing it down on paper. If you’re writing down on paper, it helps you make sure that you don’t lose your ability to write cursive or script and you know the way things are going nowadays. It’s up to us older folks to keep cursive or or script writing alive. Nobody’s doing that anymore. Everybody’s either printing or or inputting words into their device. The increased benefits of journaling adds your attitude, your productivity, your health and your happiness. All those benefits make it well worth the time you give to yourself to sit there, think and write down your thoughts. I mentioned as part of my daily journaling, I had a little note in my journal about how I would apply what I’d learned in my Bible study that day. I hope we’ve made the case. Faith is so very important in leading a happy, a healthy, productive, a meaningful, a good life. That’s why faith is the number one element in the anchor point. Disease, fighting and fitness plan.

(13:44):

And speaking of things which can help you maintain a positive attitude. Well, faith is a wonderful driver of attitude. Knowing that everything’s in God’s hands, knowing he’s always there for you, he answers your prayers, he’s your creator and he loves you.

(14:12):

What an uplifting and positive feeling to have every day when it comes to really grounding your faith. Bible study is so important. Daily Bible study is where God talks to you. Parts of the Bible are really easy to read and understand God’s message, but other parts for me, especially the Old Testament, I need help. I’m constantly searching for quality Bible courses, especially focused on the Old Testament. But if you’re just getting started with Bible study, especially if you didn’t have the benefit of going to Sunday school, Bible school, church camps as a youngster, and even if you did all that, you still need to read and study the Bible.

(15:13):

I feel closer to God and learn new things every time I open my Bible and read His word. Even if I’ve read it so many times before, I love reading the gospel. The story of Jesus’s life is told in each gospel in a slightly different way. I think Luke is a good gospel to start with if you’re just beginning to study Jesus’ life. Luke, in addition to being a doctor, he’s a historian. He’s writing the story of Jesus’s history. I find the gospel’s easy to read and understand because of my early experiences in Sunday school, do you really want to get seriously into Bible study? I would first and foremost recommend group Bible study. It’s the absolute best way to study and understand and learn from God’s word. There are also some good Bible study courses available that you can do individually. However you choose to read and learn from God’s word, won’t you make it a part of each day, even if you think you don’t have much time in your day, just 10 minutes a day, read and think about what you just read. Write down your thoughts. I promise as you continue to study your Bible each day, you’ll start making more and more time each day because your curiosity about it and your love for Jesus will just grow and grow.

(17:06):

Let’s take some time on today’s episode to develop a battle plan. You’ve been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. You are in a battle the day you receive that scary life-changing news. Shots have been fired, you’ve been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. You finish the call with your doctor or you leave the doctor’s office after hearing this terrible news. What now did the doctor say what I just thought I heard, and then what else did he say after that? I’m confused. I’m scared I might actually die. What am I gonna do now? What usually happens you don’t believe what you just heard. Did you just really hear what you thought you heard? You’ll be sort of in shock. You’ll go through all the stages of grief and loss, denial, keeping everything to yourself, anger, laing, depression, and then finally acceptance. Those stages could happen quickly or they might occur over a couple of days, even weeks. However, this is important for your survival. You need to skip ahead in that process, that denial part, deal with it

(19:03):

Immediately accept you do in fact have this disease. You don’t have time for denial because there’s a fire in your house. There really is no time for these crazy stages of denial and all that to occur. You need to get the family, your pet and yourself out of the fire to safety. Go into action immediately after you get the diagnosis. Put your battle plan in effect, get moving. Time is of the essence. Step one, take control of the situation right now. Of course, you’re in shock, but you need to take control immediately. It’s your only priority. Your only job right now take control of this disease or it’s gonna kill you. And then step one a, ask for God’s help. He’ll be there for you. Don’t leave him out of this. You need God more now than ever. God’s not been in your life. Or if you are like I was a backsliding Christian, this disease is coming to destroy you. It will bring you back to God.

(20:32):

Involve him in your battle with this disease. Pray for his help and guidance. Ask others to pray to him on your behalf. There will be a tendency as you’re going through all this, you might start to isolate yourself for a while. Take some time to get your act together. Well understand this. You don’t really have any time. You don’t have the time to isolate yourself and get your act together. There is a disease in your body. The goal of that disease is to take you out and it’s growing every day. You need friends and family. You need people and you need to act immediately and you need a partner, someone who loves you and can provide constant help. Usually that’s a spouse, a partner, an older child or other family member or close friend. Your partner needs to be someone you can be totally honest and open with about everything.

(21:42):

Someone you don’t need to protect from what’s going on. This person doesn’t need any medical training at all. However, they are now the head of your medical team, your medical director. My wife was my medical director. From the day of the diagnosis forward, we made a decision. She would know everything I knew and actually more about my medical situation. And this is so sad, but it’s true and it’s important for your survival. You cannot be your partner’s protector right now. You’re sick. You’re looking at death in the face for your partner’s sake as well as yours. You need to get well. And the best person to help you do that is your partner, your new medical director. You need to be able to count on your partner to go on the medical appointments with you. Two people listening to what the doctor’s saying, two people taking notes, two people asking questions.

(22:57):

You need that. Some of this stuff you’ll be going through, it’ll be gross. It will gross you out and it will also gross out your partner for, forget about being private or embarrassed. This is life and death stuff and you control freaks out there. It can’t be just you in control. Everything needs to be shared with your partner as your medical team. If you feel you need to protect your partner from some of this stuff, perhaps your partner needs to be someone else because there can be no secrets or hidden information. The in sickness and health clause is being invoked.

(23:55):

Step three is to get organized. Start a notebook or file or whatever the a digital equivalent might be. Medical team, phone numbers, notes, test results, treatment options. That information needs to be kept together in one place, easily accessible by you or your partner. That ongoing and constantly expanding. List of questions to ask your doctors right at the time you think of a question, write it down. You don’t wanna forget about it. Just write everything down. You will not be yourself mentally, especially during the early parts of this battle. Your partner’s there to help you pick up the slack. Step four, become an expert in your disease and its treatments. Get informed. There’s a natural reaction to Google your disease. I did it immediately after I got off the phone with a doctor and I could tell you from experience, if you Google your disease and then start randomly reading about it, it will freak you out. I did that big mistake. It made me even more depressed and scared. I thought I was a garner after randomly reading stuff on the internet about prostate cancer.

(25:30):

In reality, though, you more than likely won’t be able to stop yourself from going immediately to the internet. My advice is to try and structure where you go on the internet for information about your disease. Try this the very first thing, write down a list of questions you have and hope to find answers to on the internet. The first things on that list of questions will probably be things you wish you thought to ask your doctor. Perhaps you should hold off actually ask them the next time you meet with your doctors. Don’t worry, you’ll be in touch with your doctor a lot during this battle. If your doctor doesn’t give you the time you need. Force them. Start your list of questions and then think about credible sites on the internet, the Cancer Association, the American Heart Association. Every disease has a credible association on the internet. Go there first. Then you have all these very credible hospitals with full of information. I found great information on the Mayo Clinic website and for me, the Prostate Cancer Foundation was an amazing help still is. Make sure your consulting only unbiased, trustworthy sources when you do your research. For instance, if it’s cancer, start with the American Cancer Society or the National Cancer Institute. Stay out of chat rooms. They can be confidence destroyers and you need all the confidence in positive attitudes you can muster right now

(27:26):

As well as becoming an expert in your disease. Learn everything you can about treatment options. More than likely, you and your partner will need to make decisions about treatment options. Many insurance plans cover a second opinion if yours does use it. Even if you totally trust your doctor, there’s no reason not to get a second opinion. It’s another source of additional information and another source of valuable time with a healthcare professional. If you’re choosing between radiation or surgery as a treatment option, talk to the physician and healthcare workers in both of those areas. Find out as much as you can about the different types of treatments available to you. If you have treatment options, which option to go with will be the most important decision you’ll make during your fight against this disease. And one other thing from my personal experience, be careful with statistics. They can hell, but they can also mess with your head. Some people like lots of numbers, lots of statistics. I know I do. But then with this medical stuff, the numbers, they start to get real complex. And if numbers mess with your head, ask your doctor if they could use words like most or some in place of an actual percentage number.

(29:15):

There you have it everybody. Immediate first steps after being diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. Take control. Ask for God’s help. Find a partner, your personal medical director. Get organized and become an expert on your disease. Get these steps underway on day one immediately. My other advice would, well, as much as you can, my other advice would be to try to live your life as normal as possible. And remember this, you are so much more than just someone who’s now defined by your disease. You’re still who you were before the disease. Don’t lose who you are. It’s important and getting well as you’re able to lower stress. Take time to enjoy your loved ones. Listen to music, exercise in any way you can. Continue to enjoy your life, your family, your friends. Stay positive. Learn to rely on others even if that’s kind of different for you because you need people now. And then just two more things I want to talk about as it regards to staying healthy and and lowering your stress level. When you’re fighting a disease, the financial cost of all of this and to worry about it can actually negatively affect your ability to get well. It’s best to get the financial situation all squared away as much as you can right at first. This cost of this disease is gonna hurt you. Even folks with insurance. The deductibles alone could bankrupt you if you’re not too careful. There are sources of financial help out there.

(31:32):

It’s a real help to deal with and accept the financial burden and the consequences of this disease as early in the process as possible. And if you can leave a lot of that to your partner, I’d sound selfish, but you’re trying to get well for them as well as yourself worrying about the financial impact your disease is having can negatively infect your attitude and actually work against you getting well.

(32:06):

This financial situation is one of the greatest causes of stress when you’re fighting a disease. Yes, the disease may end up having life-changing effects on your financial situation except that this disease gonna change your life forever anyway. You’ll be a different person. But here’s the good news. I promise you this. I’ve been through it. The change this disease is gonna cause your life. It will be a a change for the better. There’s going to be pain, physical and mental for sure, but overall it’s going to be worth it. You’ll be a better person when it ends. However it ends, I don’t even know you, but I pray for you. I pray for your partner. I pray for your family and I pray for your medical team. I pray that God will help and guide them as they provide your medical care. Your relationship with God will be the key to you becoming healthy again. I hope you’ll ask him daily for his help and protection and for the comfort of being able to lay down at night, put your head on the pillow and go to sleep in peace knowing God has your back. It’s all part of his plan. He’s known about this since the day he created you. He’s got this. He’s got your back. He will protect you.

(34:03):

This episode is, is running way longer than I intended it to. I think it’s best if I save my thinking out loud about the future direction of the Anchor Point podcast segment until next week and I’ll share those thoughts with you at the very beginning of next week’s episode. Thank you so much everybody for joining me on this week’s episode of The Anchor Point Podcast. Remember, if you subscribe to the Anchor Point Podcast, you’ll receive every new anchor point episode right there in your podcast feed as soon as those episodes are released. We are on all of the major podcast platforms, apple, Google Podcast, iHeartRadio. We’re there wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for the Anchor Point Podcast. And don’t forget, we spell Anchor Point with an E, or you can search on my name, skip Oram. I look forward to talking with you again next week for the XB H S Radio Network and for the Anchor Point Podcast from Nashville. I’m Skip Oram. Bye everybody.

CHARLOTTE: (35:32):

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