By Ralph Seeram The call came on my cell phone around 9 pm; James is in the emergency ward at the hospital,[url=http://www.nfljerseyscheaponline.us@#$%&/]Cheap Jerseys Online[/url], and he may die during the night. The doctors suggested that his family come down to Orlando to see him if he survives the night.James (not his real name) is a family friend, who recently retired and moved to Orlando. Besides his wife, he has no family here; I am the closest he has for family in Florida.I was already in bed as it was an unusually cold night in Orlando temperatures in the mid 30s F. I pulled on some sweats and headed to the hospital. He had just come out the Emergency Room and was in the Intensive Care Unit. His distraught wife was relieved to see us. James was semi conscious with all sorts of equipment and tubes attached to him.I knew ever since that he was not in the greatest of health; he and his family were our guests last Christmas and I detected that he was not well.His wife started to relate the series of events that led to his hospitalization. It turns out he has blood pressure issues and was diabetic. But worst of all, he had failing kidneys and was advised to start getting dialysis.In the week before his hospitalization his health began failing; he was in constant pain, suffered fainting spells,[url=http://www.wholesalenfljerseyssale.us@#$%&/]Cheap NFL Jerseys[/url], and could hardly move around. Despite appeals from his wife he stubbornly refused to see a doctor or go to the hospital. Every day as he got worse he resisted even more, saying he was going to be okay.Eventually a neighbour came across and forced him to go to the hospital. By this time he was dying. To make a long story short, his kidneys collapsed, his body was poisoned with impurities and he was within hours of death. It was a miracle that after six hours in Emergency the doctors and nurses succeeded in stabilizing him.Now here is the ?kicker?; here?s where the macho man denial steps in. ?As his wife related what the doctors said, James said, ?It has not reached the stage for dialysis yet.?Unbelievable, he just passed through ?death?s door? and still can?t bring himself to admit that his kidney is not functioning anymore and he would have to spend the rest of his life on dialysis. It was hard for him to accept this fact that his health has entered another phase.I told him I had relatives who lived for more than 20 years on a dialysis machine; he seemed surprised to hear that most people live out their natural life without a functioning kidney.That?s the problem with most men; they feel they are invincible, that they are immortal, that nothing can happen to them. But in reality it is only a front; they are in denial because they are afraid of the truth.Most men know they have to get prostrate screening to prevent cancer; prostate cancer to men is like breast cancer for women. Most men resist prostrate screening,[url=http://www.salecheapjerseys.us@#$%&/]NFL Jerseys Cheap[/url], because they are afraid of the results.I have a friend who is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. He related how for years he kept postponing the simple test, until he got the symptoms. His urologist told him that had he come earlier they would have caught it in the earlier stages and got rid of it.Happily he said the doctors? treatment is working well.Men,[url=http://www.wholesalenfljerseyssale.us@#$%&/]Wholesale Jerseys[/url], on the whole, if they want to admit it, are afraid to go to doctors; they interpret that as a sign of weakness. There are so many illnesses like heart attack, prostate cancer, and stroke that are preventable by way of routine check ups,[url=http://www.jerseysthrowback.us/]Throwback Jerseys[/url], but don?t tell that to men.They reason that it only happens to other men but not them, until it?s too late.I have a friend who regretted not paying attention to symptoms of a pending heart attack. He suffered a massage heart attack a few years ago; his heart is now functioning at 50 per cent, and he is lucky to be alive.He was getting chest pains, pain in his arm, nausea and other signs of an impending heart attack. For four to five days he resisted going to the doctors. To make matters worse, his wife who a Registered Nurse,[url=http://www.cheapjerseysauthenticonline.us@#$%&/]Jerseys China Wholesale[/url], told him what he was experiencing. He still did not want to seek medical attention.Despite the pain he went to a party the Saturday night, where he collapsed and had to be rushed to the hospital. Today he has stents and a pacemaker implanted and is limited to what he can do. He tells me he wished he can take back the days before his heart attack; that he would have been in greater health.The problem was in the days leading up to his heart attack, he could not accept that his health was failing,[url=http://www.nfljerseyschinaauthentic.us]Cheap NFL Jerseys China[/url], he went to the party to show he still ?got it?. Like most men he was in denial.I think most men believe it?s a sign of weakness if they go to the doctor, even for routine physicals. The truth is most of them are afraid of what the results could be, so they continue to be in denial until it?s too late. We men are afraid to admit that we are not immortal.Ralph Seeram can be reached at email: [email protected]