To be sincere, I have been a candidate of negligence when it comes to my personal health checks. As much as I don't play with my children's health care, it's a totally different thing when it comes to my personal health checks. Perhaps I feel like, oh, I am an adult; I can take care of myself by visiting a pharmacy store if I feel any symptoms. After all, it shouldn't pass malaria or typhoid, as it's one common illness in this part of my world.
Most of us in Africa are actually victims of assuming that every illness is malaria or typhoid, and that's why you will find a lot of people self-medicating, and of course it doesn't always end well.
Being intentional about my health was one of the gifts I promised myself at the beginning of this year. This is because I have played so much with my health, especially in the past year, acting too busy to do some diagnosis but rather visiting a pharmacy store and kept acting like a self-doctor. I did experience the negative effects of my actions concerning my health anyway, and that's why I promised myself to improve for better well-being and for better productivity as well.
I can say that this prompt is a big coincidence, as I am currently typing from the hospital waiting for my turn to see the gynecologist. Two weeks ago, I started feeling this unusual pain in my abdomen. It was severe to the point that I was literally crying once the pain starts. Even if I am in a call with someone and the pain starts, I wouldn't be able to talk again. Unlike me, who would have run to the pharmacy to buy pain relievers or all these stomach upset drugs, I quickly went to a nearby hospital and registered there for a proper diagnosis by the doctor.After a series of questions from the gynecologist, she sent me for a scan in order to clarify her assumptions. The cost of doing the scan she requested was unbelievably higher than what I knew before, maybe because of the lab center she sent me to being far away from the hospital with a high standard, I don't know, but I didn't bother... I was determined to be fine at all costs because I was losing it already. I couldn't take care of my children; I couldn't do any chores at home or even do my work at ease.
After the scan result was out and it showed the particular thing that went wrong in my body system, treatment commenced immediately, and before the evening of that day, I felt so much relieved from every discomfort I had. I was just thinking, what if I didn't make this trip to find out the real source of the severe pain? Maybe the illness would have escalated when it shouldn't have if handled rightly by the health professionals.
The positive aspect of this whole experience is that I now have a positive shift in my mindset when it comes to things relating to my health. I really don't know when next I will visit the hospital after I leave from the hospital today, but the decision is that once I notice anything unusual, I take a trip to the hospital for a better diagnosis and proper treatment and for a more healthy living.
This post is in response to the #hivelearners community contest on the topic titled, Health Check.
Image one is mine
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