Tag Archive for: Buffalo Bills

Have a Little Faith

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The Buffalo Bills were losing 21-0 in the second quarter this past weekend, and I had that sinking feeling that this was not going to turn out well. I told Paula I was going to do something else; I was recording the game so if they won, I’d watch it later. I recalled what quarterback Josh Allen said in the first game of the season when they came back to win late in the game: “Have a little faith.”  I had my doubts, but I kept watching. And that’s really what faith is: it’s not having no doubts but believing in spite of your doubts.

As the new year approaches, I’d guess you have some health goals for 2026. You may have set those same goals before, and they just fizzled out after a few weeks or months. I understand that because it’s happened to me more than once. Don’t let that stop you from trying again. You’ve got to believe you can do it and make that your anchor.

You already know that you’ll have days where everything goes to plan whether it’s with what you ate, how much you exercised, and did all the other things that were consistent with your goals. But you also know that some days will just not work right. Even something simple like misplacing your car keys can throw off your timing to workout before you have to be at work. You may forget your carefully planned lunch and have to wing it. You may find that your weight loss or blood pressure is not changing the way you expect. That’s when you’ve really got to believe in yourself. You will overcome as long as you keep the faith. The path may be different than you expected, or longer than you hoped, but you can do it in 2026.

The Bills came back and won 35–31. You’ll win, too, as long as you have faith.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

A Little Good News

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On January 2, 2023, the Buffalo Bills were playing the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night football. A Bengal caught a pass, was tackled and fell into one of the Bills, Damar Hamlin, hitting him in the chest as he fell. Both players got up, and then Hamlin fell down again. What we didn’t know for a while was that he had a cardiac arrest and was clinically dead. Through the efforts of the training staff, they got his heart started and they headed to the hospital. He recovered, but the story didn’t stop there.

Hamlin began a mission to work with the American Heart Association to educate the nation about how to do CPR. If you don’t remember, check out this Memo. There’s no question that because of his misfortune, hundreds of thousands of people know how to save someone’s life with CPR.

Hamlin has come full circle as well. He was cleared to play football and began the long trip back. The good news is that he’s not only back but he’s a starter for the Bills this season; he got his first interception ever in a game a week or so ago. Just a little good news to begin the month.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://www.heart.org/en/damar-hamlins-3-for-heart-cpr-challenge

Another Buffalo Bill’s Cardiac Arrest

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I hope that you took 60 seconds to watch the video from Tuesday’s Memo and learn CPR. As I said, it’s simpler than when I taught it, and it may just save someone’s life—someone you love or maybe a stranger.

In the close, I mentioned another Buffalo Bill who suffered a cardiac arrest several months before Damar Hamlin’s on-field experience. The owners of the Bills and Buffalo Sabres and CEO of the Buffalo professional sports teams are Kim Pegula and her husband Terry. One night last June, Terry was awakened by Kim going into cardiac arrest. One of her grown daughters happened to be staying with her parents and performed CPR until emergency services arrived. She saved her mother’s life.

In an open letter in The Players Tribune, Kim’s daughter Jessica, a top-ranked tennis player, told the story of her mom. This time, without the immediate attention from a couple dozen experts, Kim’s brain was without oxygen for longer. While she continues to improve every day, she suffers from expressive aphasia. She can probably understand almost everything, but she sometimes can’t get the correct words to communicate well. No one knows whether she’ll regain lost function, but she’s alive to make that journey because of CPR. It’s a very moving story and I urge you to read it.

Who can do CPR? Almost anyone. The American Heart Association has no minimum age for learning CPR. They say, “The ability to perform CPR is based more on body strength than age. Studies have shown that children as young as nine years old can learn and retain CPR skills.” Now—are you going to take the time to learn CPR in 60 seconds? Just click this link.

Aging with a Vengeance

After the Super Bowl Webinar on Taking Back Your Muscle last Sunday, I had inquiries about the prior Super Bowl Webinar Reclaiming Your Power. I’m happy to let you know you can purchase both replays in the Store at drchet.com. If you order one or both, make sure you use the correct email address; it’s the only way you can get the link to listen to the replay. And if you want to gift the replay to someone, you can; when you’re checking out and get to the billing details page, enter their email address instead of your own.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. https://www.heart.org/en/damar-hamlins-3-for-heart-cpr-challenge
2. https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/jessica-pegula-tennis

Happy Heart Health Month!

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Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone! February is American Heart Month; it also has an emphasis on women’s heart health with Go Red for Women. That’s symbolized by wearing red as often as you can during February. I can’t think of a better day to do that than today—Valentine’s Day. There’s a lot that we can do for our hearts with diet, exercise, and more, but that’s not what this memo is about. It’s about responding to a challenge.

Whether you’re a football fan or not, you’ve probably heard about Damar Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills safety who had a cardiac arrest on the field in January. He has recovered and is doing well, and he hopes to get back to playing football. But he’s alive only because the immediate training staff responded by doing CPR on the field.

Damar is part of American Heart Month with #3forHeartTM CPR Challenge. The first part, and probably most important, is to learn how to do CPR in 60 seconds; follow the link to watch the video. Even though I’ve taught CPR, it was a good refresher and, wow, it’s a lot simpler than it used to be. Take a minute today to be prepared in case your Valentine or anyone else has a problem.

There is another part to this story about another Buffalo Bill who had a cardiac arrest. I’ll tell you about her on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://www.heart.org/en/damar-hamlins-3-for-heart-cpr-challenge