Best blessing comes in the form of good health

The first half of 2012 was not a good period of time for me especially after my trip to the US. The trip itself was fun and I met a friend (my brother-in-law’s friend) who is a very nice guy, a nice friend and was my tour guide in Vegas and LA. But still…aside from that….things were not very positive for me.

Let me summarize everything in point form:

• I was suffering from cervical slip disc. After spending so much on chiropractor….the orthopedic told me I have cervical slip disc, albeit a mild one. I did a MRI as well….and had to undergo countless rounds of physiotherapy.
• After that, my issue did not go away. My jaw is having issues as well…and has been diagnosed by the oral surgeon to have TMJ dysfunction. Jaw clicking, very stiff shoulders….those are common signs of TMJ dysfunction. So I spent some amount of money there and did a CT scan of the jaw. Nothing serious, which is good….just the annoying TMJ problem.
• Then my throat started to swell….swollen lymph nodes. This could mean multiple things, from very very serious to mild ones. Better to get it checked, and I did. Went to 1 ENT….who said A….then GP told me to seek second opinion and I did. I went to another ENT who said B. So…who to listen to? Then my GP told me….maybe better to go for 3rd opinion. And I went to the 3rd ENT who requested me to do a neck CT scan (which shows nothing malicious) and told me the issue is A. At least, now I can confirm the diagnosis of the first ENT to be the correct one. But in total, I’ve been in and out of hospitals for more than 15 times in the past 6 months. Not fun. But just glad I didn’t get anything serious.
• Unfortunately, my US friend is not as lucky. He started coughing when I was in LA…and even until few months later, he was still coughing. The doctors suspected pneumonia. But it’s not. He has been diagnosed with early stage lung cancer. He’s not a smoker. Nobody in his family is. In fact, his family and him are very healthy. They sleep early, eat vegetarian food and exercise regularly. I don’t think he has any family history of lung cancer either.

Aside from what I’ve experienced and what has happened to my dear friend…….there were numerous news about friends’ friends suffering from cancer. Perfectly healthy people living healthy lifestyles and yet, cancer hits them.

For me, the problem is not very serious but it sure is frustrating. It’s really not fun to go in and out of hospitals so many times. Some people think I’m paranoid, but I know there’s an issue with me and I’m not leaving it to chances. That’s why I rather check and check, until I’m sure everything is okay. And at least, the final answer I get can reassure my loved ones who are very worried about me, that I’m fine.

But from all these things happening to me, my friends, and my friends’ friends…….I know one thing – having good health is one of the best blessings one can get. Even if you are rich, even if you lead a healthy lifestyle, even if you are the world’s smartest genius……it doesn’t mean you can be healthy.

Sometimes, it depends on luck.

So to those people who are ruining your own health by drinking tonnes of alcohol, smoking, working too hard, sleeping too little, constantly taking unhealthy food………try to cut down on those. I’m not asking you to stop everything immediately but really, take one step at a time. Start cutting down on those things and start making changes to your life.

And cherish your life. Cherish the good health which has been given to you.

Always remember……...having good health is really one of the best blessings ….if not THE best. There are many people in this world who would exchange anything for good health, but they can’t. So don’t waste it.