Get Your Self to a Doctor

The beginning of the new year is a time to get things in order. Most of the time we are thinking of things like going to the gym more, eating better food, drinking more water, spending more time with the family...those kind of things. But I bet you didn't think about things like getting to the doctor to get your annual checkup.

Nobody likes to visit the doctor. but some things are just necessary. I always tease about how they can send a man to the moon, but not make a visit to the dentist pleasant. We always have anxiety when we have to go to the dentist. And let's not even talk about the pap. Or even a mammogram for that matter. Ladies you know how we talk about the old smash and grab. But unfortunately these things are necessary for us to keep good health.

So I am always amazed when I speak to people who have issues, a hurt here, a twinge there...and they refuse to go get it checked out. They make up excuses why they can't go. Some of the excuses are just ridiculous to me. "I don't have time" "I need a babysitter" "I already know what they are gonna say" "I don't want to know what they are gonna say" "I know what to do" "I can just buy such and such from the drug store" Really? and what medical school did you graduate from?

I am real serious about this. People get yourself checked out, and if you are experiencing problems now, really go. I always find it so sad when people allow a small issue to become a bigger issue. You noticed the cough, the pain, the bump...but you thought it was nothing or that it would go away. Sometimes it is nothing and sometimes it is something But you won't know if you don't get it checked. . Be on the safe side and go find out for sure.

Years ago, I was experiencing symptoms that I thought was a heart attack. I was working at an after school program. When I got off I started to put it off, telling myself that it was just indigestion. That I could just take some Tums and be okay. But as I drove out of the parking lot of the school, I found myself heading to South Suburban hospital. Feeling foolish I walked into the hospital and when they asked me why I was there, I told them I thought I was having a heart attack. I felt real silly and the clerk looked at me and said, "well you look good to be having a heart attack" But they took it seriously, They rushed me to the back, into a room and started hooking me up to machines. It ended up being nothing, but they told me that it was better to come get it checked out and let it be nothing, rather than to sit at home and have a heart attack. My husband teased me and we kept the electros that they had used to hook me up as a reminder to take any kind of pain seriously.

Over the holiday I spoke with three people who were experiencing pains and had health concerns and yet they were putting off going to a doctor. Please, don't wait until it is too late. Let this be your 2020 goal...to get all of your annual checkups done, and if you are having problems, get it done...SOON!

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