So I understand that it should come as no surprise that drinking soda, cola or pop (if you're from the south) isn't exactly healthy. Soda is loaded with sugar, empty calories, sodium, caffeine, Aspartame (particularly in diet soda) and all sorts of other artificial sweeteners and preservatives, many containing known cancer-causing agents. (For fun look up the ingredients in High Fructose Corn Syrup, a commonly used preservative that's used in just about everything, particularly soda). As a matter of fact, diet cola, which contains no calories, is far worse for you than drinking the regular stuff. Aspartame, an artificial sweetener used primarily in diet sodas, is known to be addictive, actually increasing hunger and can be very bad for you if consumed in larger quantities. Ever heard that cola can be used as a household cleaner? Look it up. Dirty toilet? Clogged drain? Grab that can of soda and get to work. Now drink up!When I tell you that I drank a lot of pop in my day, I mean I drank A LOT OF POP in my day. There was no substitute for that sweet infusion of sugar and water. Friends actually commented, with an air of astonishment, at the sheer volume of soda in my home: 12 and 24 pack cases stacked high along the wall, 2 liter bottles arranged in rows like soldiers eager for battle. I consumed it morning, noon and night for nearly 30 years. But in that time I seemed immune to the common health hazards associated with heavy consumption of soda such as: rotten teeth, kidney stones, ADHD, hyperglycemia, diabetes, hypertension, etc. Yeah, I've always been big, and obesity and soda consumption go hand-in-flabby hand, as its packed with sugar and metabolism-busting preservatives, but I had always been an active big guy, playing my fair share of sports throughout high school and college. I had settled into a sedentary lifestyle following graduation, a desk job, fast food every day for lunch and a constant intake of sugary beverages. The first signs that my consumption of soda had finally caught up to me happened during a routine dental check-up. I had cavities. For the first time in my life, I had cavities! I actually laughed when my dentist informed me, thinking he was joking. What? Me? Cavities!? I had several in fact. The years of drinking soda had finally worn the enamel off of my teeth, leaving them exposed and vulnerable despite my being someone who brushed daily and took great pride in my dental hygiene. This led to drilling, fillings and needles. I barely avoided a root canal. The next sign occurred a couple years later and in a most painful way, in the form of a kidney stone. What a morning that was! First I was confounded by the fact that I couldn't pee. Yeah, that simple, rote gesture that defies functional explanation. I couldn't do it, and I desperately needed to. I tried to force it. I strained. Nothing. Then came the pain in my back. I'd never felt anything like it, and it only grew worse. I arrived at the E.R. via ambulance and was rushed back and immediately given an injection of some wonderful drug that instantaneously washed the pain away and replaced it with an indescribably comfortable numb. I met with a urologist in the days following my release from the E.R. and right away he laid blame for my kidney stone squarely at the feet of my lifestyle: too much soda, too much bad food, too little exercise. I'd been a bad boy, and I was paying for it. I now had a mission. Eating right and exercising came surprisingly easy. But quitting pop, now that was tough. Believe me, I gave up smoking so much easier. I kicked a pack-a-day habit that I'd had for years cold turkey and never looked back. Giving up soda was far more difficult. Food tasted different. I was sluggish without the constant infusion of caffeine. And water just didn't hit the spot. Yeah, I was hydrated, but I wasn't satiated. I longed for that cold, thick drink of sugary water with its addictive additives and carcinogenic sweeteners and preservatives. It became a process of simply drinking so much water that I would eventually get used to it, trick my system into actually preferring it, craving it. Matter over mind. For the first time in my life I was using...will power?! And eventually it worked. Now I won't lie and say I haven't fallen off the wagon from time to time and indulged in a sugary beverage here and there, because I have, but my intake of water to soda today is easily 100 to 1. So I stuck to my diet for several months, lost a bunch of weight and felt pretty good about myself. I continue to try and eat healthy to this day and exercise regularly, though I'm not quite as rigid as I had been. Beginning sometime earlier this year I began to have re-occurring pain in my side, around my rib cage, occurring only at night. It was a stabbing pain that made it difficult to breathe and sleep was out of the question. I thought it was just gas. I'd take over-the-counter medications and walk it off. Eventually the pain would subside. A couple weeks ago the pain was unbearable, sharp, stabbing, throbbing, radiating, awful. This wasn't just gas, I concluded and presumed there were far more devious forces at work. I scheduled an appointment with my family physician and the first words she uttered upon hearing my symptoms were "gall bladder". I underwent an ultrasound, a test that typically determines a baby's sex while in the womb. Imagine eager parents-to-be gathered round the display monitor gazing upon an amorphous shape on the screen that is their offspring with wonderment and pride in their eyes. The test revealed that I, too, was pregnant...albeit with gall stones.
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