March 31, 2008

Get checked!

One of my increasing concerns nowadays is about my health. Yesterday, my siblings and I celebrated my dad's birthday together and one of the things that we talked about was health issues. I am fortunate to have a brother who is a doctor (a radiologist) and a sister who is a registered nurse as well. One of the benefits of having siblings in the medical profession is that you don't need to set up an appointment to get a medical opinion for simple coughs and colds or get practical pointers on caring for sick family members at home.

A couple of years ago, I visited my brother's ultrasound clinic to check some pain I had on my left side. I was feeling some tension in my muscles around the armpit and chest area and quite frankly it caused me a bit of anxiety. I have two very young kids and any health uncertainty especially when unknown can be very stressful. Days before the check up my mind just kept going through all the "what if's" and all these thoughts were like a spinning around in my head - "What if I had the big C? or lymphoma? or fibromyalgia? or something more complicated?" I couldn't wait for it to be over and done with. Finally, we were in my brother's clinic and he did an ultrasound not only on my left side but everywhere else he thought that there could be a potential risk. I was so relieved to hear him say that there was nothing he could find. Thank God, for that! So if you have a health concern that is bothering you, don't take it for granted, have it checked, go get help. You might be losing sleep and worrying yourself to death over nothing.

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