A Garlic Necklace

I have to admit, I was slightly smug about my healthy eating habits.For years, I read all the latest nutritional information to keep my body cancer free. Well, in all honesty, I can't deny the fact that I did drink diet sodas, so my first sentence is not entirely true. But the second sentence certainly is! I considered myself an expert on nutrition. Then I got breast cancer. It was detected early, I had a pretty easy course of treatment, and at nearly two years out, I appear to be cancer free. When I hit the five year mark, I'll have the same chance of finding cancer that everyone else has. So...what about all that broccoli and asparagus I ate? Wasn't that deterrent enough? Just call me the queen of vegetables. Evidently, we can't really control our health destiny. Evidently there is some rogue thing out there ignoring our efforts.

I had a lot of trouble with my back during my childbearing, and particularly my child carrying, years. But I have been getting lots of good exercise, and considered myself to have worked past that vulnerability. I felt good about remembering to stretch, to keep my core strong, and to nourish my body with lots of...vegetables. Maybe I even felt smug. I hope not! I hope I would not feel smug! But I did kind of feel like my excellent care of my body was the secret to avoiding back pain.  Then, this morning, I did the unthinkable. I bent over to get a plate out of the dishwasher! I felt a small click, more like a little thunk,in my lower back. Suddenly, standing up seemed almost Herculean. Grabbing spasms, those familiar and thoroughly disgusting sensations, took over my lower back. Hijacked it. From strong and flexible to quinky and weak in one little second. One blink of the eye. And after a breakfast of snap peas, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, too! Where is the justice in that? Eh?

Well, I am lucky that Bob has a IFC unit (like Tens) and I am writing this from the relative comfort that comes from having your spasm out-spasmed by electrical impulses. But I have to tell you, my faith in vegetables is beginning to wane. Whatever that rogue health smasher is, lurking to hook us in when we least expect it, it clearly does not respect green as it should. Please understand if the next time you see me I am wearing a garlic necklace. I hear they are very effective!