6 | www.Ups tatePhys i c i ansSC . com | www.Hea l thL i nksUps tate. com As a senior at McDaniel College, a small liberal arts school in Westminster, Maryland, I received an apt superlative from my peers, mentors and teachers in the English Department: Most Likely to Risk His Life for the Sake of a Story. At the time, I thought: “What the hell? I’ve spent years pouring myself into these people and this department, and that is the best they can come up with? Most Likely to Win the Pulitzer Prize and Change the World is more like it!” Long story short, since college, I’ve risked my life for the sake of a story more times than I can count, but I’m still without a Pulitzer and haven’t, to my knowledge, saved the world. Those academics are so damn intuitive. Aside from a demonstration of my lack of self-awareness and foresight, this story also sets the stage for my recent visit to my primary care doctor. It was an early spring Monday morning when I stumbled into my doctor’s office for my annual physical. Dry mouth and forehead percussions – remnants of the previous “Sunday Funday,” still lingered. My doctor and I discussed my mental and physical health, and we both agreed that, overall, I am quite healthy for 33. “But wait, when’s the last time you had any bloodwork done?” my doctor inquired. Not completely sure how to answer, I simply shrugged. He suggested that I stick around for some bloodwork, and, with my first meeting of the day still 30 minutes away, I agreed. “Cullen. Your cholesterol is up a good bit. You need to make lifestyle changes or go on a statin.” My blood test was back, and I just kept reading the doctor’s words, which didn’t make any sense. I work out every day and have a metabolism faster than Usain Bolt. Here I am thinking my arteries are flowing stronger than the Mississippi, and he’s telling me I could be at risk for a stroke or heart attack? It’s quite disarming when you are so confident in something like your health, and you learn that there’s a major gap between your perception and the truth. My biggest frustration is that I’ve become an example of exactly what I preach to others to avoid: Don’t wait until you are diagnosed with an ailment or disease to start being proactive about your health. I’ve been shouting this from the rooftops since the inception of HealthLinks, and here I am, the hypocrite with a 177 LDL cholesterol level. I hope my words aren’t too high in cholesterol, because I surely will be eating them. I began to discuss my cholesterol issue with those closest to me. My wife said that I needed to make dietary adjustments. My golf partner/good buddy, laughed, handed me a beer and told me “welcome to America.” She’s a doctor, and he, well, he’s certainly not. My wife also assured me that small changes could make a massive difference in cholesterol levels and that I was, most likely, not going to have a stroke anytime soon. Enter fish, grains, nuts, veggies. Exit alcohol, pizza and butter. Turns out, I guess I can still risk my life for the sake of a good story, but no chicken wing in hand this time. Cheers to Good Better Heath, Cullen Murray-Kemp, Publisher Cul len Murray Kemp UPSTATE Publisher CULLEN MURRAY-KEMP [email protected] Managing Editor LISA BRESLIN Assistant Editor MOLLY SHERMAN Copy Editor BRIAN SHERMAN Art Director KIM HALL Webmaster GEORGE CONKLIN Sales Manager MANDY WILLIS [email protected] Photography Partner CARIN SCATES carinscates.com Writers Media Consultant BRANDON CLARK [email protected] Distribution Manager Latrale Gunther – [email protected] Distribution: C&R Marketing Administration & Bookkeeping GINGER SOTTILE Distribution U.S. Post Office, Harris Teeter, Ingles, CVS, Food Lion, Medical Offices TO ADVERTISE IN HEALTHLINKS UPSTATE PLEASE CALL 864-612-7694 MEDICAL MARKETING GROUP HealthLinks Upstate reserves the right to refuse advertisements. Acceptance of advertisements does not imply the service or product is recommended or endorsed by HealthLinks Upstate. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from Medical Marketing Group, LLC. Medical Marketing Group 4 Carriage Lane, Suite 107, Charleston, S.C. 29407 843-732-4110 • [email protected] Issue 6.2 MAY-AUGUST 2023 JANET PERRIGO L.C. LEACH III AMY GESELL COLIN MCCANDLESS ISABEL ALVAREZ ARATA MOLLY SHERMAN LISA BRESLIN BILL FARLEY CATHERINE KAUFMANN LINDA ESTERSON LISA WACK PUBLISHER'S NOTE Scan to discover our other HealthLinks platforms!
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjcyNTM1