Check Up: The Cost of Neglecting Your Health
Felicia sat impatiently waiting at her doctor’s office on a Wednesday morning. She had been there for almost an hour. For many months, she had been feeling fatigued, and continued to get recurrent infections. Felicia hated going to the doctor and chose to treat those things with home remedies. She also lost a noticeable amount of weight without trying. Finally, at the urging of her best friend, Sara, she reluctantly made the doctor’s appointment.
As she sat waiting, she flipped through the pages of about nine magazines, scrolled through her social media accounts, and even counted the lines in an abstract painting on the wall. Just as she was getting up to inform the receptionist that she would not be able to wait any longer, and was getting ready to leave, the door flung open.
“Felicia Brown,” the medical assistant called out while holding the door open for her.
“Hi, how are you?”
“I’m ok. You just caught me. I was just about to leave, “ Felicia replied.
“Oh no, I apologize for the wait. I’m going to take your vitals, gather some information from you, and I promise the doctor will be in very shortly.”
“Thank you,” Felicia said.
As promised, the doctor was in the room roughly five minutes after the medical assistant got the information she needed.
The doctor examined Felicia. He noticed swollen lymph nodes and tiny red spots on her body. Since she hadn’t been to a doctor in so long and had all of these alarming symptoms, he ordered an extensive amount of lab work to be completed, and said he would call Felicia with the results as soon as they were in.
Sara called Felicia to ask how her appointment went. “Hey girl. What did the doctor say?”
“He just looked me over, and did a lot of tests. I’m kinda feeling like it was a waste of time.”
Sara replied, “It’s never a waste to make sure everything is alright. Besides, you hadn’t seen a doctor in three years! That’s too long!”
“Yes, but I had been fine for a very long time,” Felicia reassured her friend.
“Okay girl. Well let me know what the doctor says.”
Felicia was at work when she received a call at 9:00 a.m. sharp on Friday morning. It was her doctor telling her to come into his office right away if she could. She left work and headed to his office. She was anxious, and began to worry on her way there.
Upon her arrival, she was immediately led to a room, and the doctor promptly walked in with a clipboard. He began to speak, and she could not believe what he was saying. She went numb. Felicia was informed that she had Stage III Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.
Although many people despise going to the doctor or would rather use home remedies for ailments, it is still important to seek professional medical care on, at least, an annual basis. Felicia let her health lapse, and could have possibly caught her illness at the earlier stages had she went in for the recommended yearly check-ups. It is unfortunate that this has happened and continues to happen out of fear or feeling like going to the doctor is just not necessary. Even if natural remedies are your preference or if doctors are just not your cup of tea, going in for testing and blood work to make sure everything is functioning properly is vital. It could very well save your life.
N7,
Candidly C