Translate

Powered By Blogger

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

POST 704: DECEMBER 12, 2012 (12/12/12); BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON

Happy 12/12/12...the last such we shall see in our -normal- lifetime.

Lunch made and packed, uniform clean and neat, shoes / boots shined...awaiting the telephone call from UPS...which has again, not come.

Interesting yesterday during my 18-mile walk; I met up with five UPS delivery trucks, four of which were carrying Driver Helper.  Was tempted to walk to the Northwest part of Bellingham to see if "my" route truck also carried a Driver Helper...decided I am better off not knowing.  UPS knows what they are doing...perhaps I am, after all, deemed unfit or too old.

Wonder how many - if any - such could or would attempt to duplicate what this old man did yesterday.  I know, I am being unfair and a bit arrogant...but dammit, I can do the work and I need the work...my optimistic nature will make certain I am again ready with lunch, uniform and shined shoes tomorrow morning when the call will certainly come.

Am reading a superb book...MORGAN'S RUN...by the author of THE THORN BIRDS, Colleen McCullough.  Superb in that it details the first settlement of Sydney, Australia by convicted felons...

Sydney, Australia...a city I have had the good fortune to visit and admire.

Yesterday, I wrote a bit about muscle / tendon safety as I have experienced it.  I have also learned something which I have come to identify as the third most important system of the human body...at least to me...after the Brain and Blood Circulatory System:

The Lymphatic System. 

In past updates, I have alluded to the Lymphatic System now and again, but have not been brave enough to stick my neck out, as I am about to do.

To begin:  I am not a doctor or anything near being an expert on anything...I write of what I have learned and know.  My entire life I have admonished my employees - from 1962 through 2011 - that any information given be in one of two categories:  This is what I THINK;  or,  This is what I KNOW.

Rational decisions can be made on what is known...

Risky decisions are made based upon that which one thinks.

This is that which I have come to know of The Lymphatic System...

The Lymphatic System is the CORE OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM.

A system much like the Blood Circulatory System; i.e., fluids run through it from every part of our body.  Whereas the Blood Circulatory System takes nutrients outbound to the body AND returns materials to / through various organs, the Lymphatic System is a one-way system...ONLY returning materials.

White Blood Cells - our immune cells - are manufactured within the thousands of Lymph Nodes lining the Lymphatic System.  White Blood Cells are also manufactured within the Morrow of our bones.

Lymph Nodes within the Lymphatic System identify ALL materials flowing through the Lymphatic System...flowing from all parts of the body...identifying "invaders", and killing them.  Even cancer cells are killed off by lymph nodes.

The Lymphatic System, reaching into the extremities of our body, collect by-products of cellular manufacturing, bacteria and virus entering our body, and excess liquid...why do some folks have "bloated" extremities and others do not ? !

Passing through the thousands of Lymph Nodes,  materials are identified as safe or not safe...the not safe being killed. 

Pus forming in and around cuts is nothing more than dead white blood cells delivered by the Lymphatic System in defense of invaders.

I do not pretend to be all knowledgeable - or even partially so -; but the professional folks (doctors, nurses, etc) with whom I have shared my observations of the Lymphatic System, have not alluded that I am wrong.

The main point I suggest here, is that the Lymphatic System is indeed our primary Immune System...essential to our overall health. 

The missing element here, is:

 THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM HAS NO PUMP

There is no way for the Lymphatic System to do it's job unless materials flow through it...and, how can that happen...in only one way:

MUSCLE CONTRACTION...

which essentially squeezes the tubes of the Lymphatic System, pushing the contents through...much like squeezing milk out of a cows teats.  (I learned to milk cows at a tender age on our stump ranch back in the 1930s).

Well guess what:  we often hear our "professionals" advising to get some exercise...a few minutes a day a couple days a week...etc. etcettra.

In reality, they should be advising us to get STRENUOUS exercise EVERY DAY for at least a couple hours.   In this way...and ONLY in this way is muscle contraction brought into play squeezing the Lymphatic System pipes.

Without continuous and constant exercise, our Lymphatic System simply cannot do it's job...it's job being:

TO KEEP OUR BODIES HEALTHY

It is my experience that when exercising EVERY DAY, I am not afflicted with sickness or injury.  When not exercising every day, bad things begin to happen to my body. 

When I feel a sore throat or a sinus congestion coming on...I go out and hit the road. 

When my thumb and finger arthritis begin to stiffen up...I go out and hit the road.

When my belt gets tight...when my feet start to swell...I go out and hit the road.

I know from chatting with lots of folks, that perhaps one in 100 know anything about the Lymphatic System...indeed, most do not even know such a system exists within our body.  This may not be an accident.

If we all excersize daily to keep our Lymphatic System functioning as designed, I "THINK" (see above) there would a significant decreased need for medical attention...a situation that would wreck havoic on a vast industry.

I have come to understand that our medical industry sincerely wants us all to be "treatable";  furthermore, I have come to understand that our medical industry sincerely does NOT was us all to be healthy.

Why else, I ask myself, are we not taught from early on the existence of the Lymphatic System...it's importance to maintaing body health...and the need for daily extreme exercise to keep it doing its job.

Since I am not wanted to move boxes,  will put on my walking duds and hit the road...



No comments: