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At he age of eight I remember walking through the hospital corridors to see my aunt as she lay in her hospital bed hooked up to a ventilator. I remember the beeps from the machines, and the voices of the hospital staff caring for her, it was a sad and somber place. I remember seeing the adults around me in tears because they weren’t ready to let go of her. No one knew what caused her to have cancer, but as a kid I convinced myself that I would always eat my vegetables, because I thought it had something to do with food. I figured if I took better care of myself I would not end up in the hospital like they did.
Before I was 12 another one of my aunts had passed away from of cancer. I miss my aunts a lot, they both set good examples for me of how to be a good caretaker and mother. However, looking back I wonder if they set a good example for me in terms of managing my health.
As a kid I convinced myself that I would always eat my vegetables…
After I became a mother, I have stopped following some of the lessons the lessons I learned early in life. Although I still eat plenty of vegetables, I know that at the very least, I should be visiting my doctor for annual check ups.
I hate doctor’s offices, hospitals, and clinics. There is a sadness about sickness and death that I usually don’t want to think about, so I avoid these places as much as possible. I spend so much of my time caring for my kids and my husband that from time-to-time I neglect my own needs. However, I believe wellness visits are very important and should be scheduled annually. While I make sure that my children visit their pediatrician, optometrist, and dentist on a regularly bases, I get so tired of going to their visits I subconsciously put off my own visits.
I am incredibly grateful for the Walgreen’s wellness tour. The Wellness Tour allowed me to get important check ups done quickly and easily. My experience on the wellness bus made it clear that although it had been a while, since my last doctor’s visit, because I was exercising and eating right, I am still on the right track to staying healthy.
The last time I went to the doctor before the wellness tour was about a year ago when I had an infection on my toe that kept getting worse. When the infection grew worse and wouldn’t go away I became scared and almost panicked. Thus, getting on the mobile wellness tour bus reminded me that if I want to teach my girls to take ownership of their own health, they need to see me put into practice the behavior that I want them to have. I don’t want to teach my daughters to neglect themselves, and only visit the doctor when something is terribly wrong. I believe in preventive care and I believe in wellness management programs, so I have to take advantage of these programs when I am well and able to help from them the most. Basically, staying healthy is an everyday struggle, it’s not something that we should let go and pick up only when we have a scare.
Find a doctor that you can connect with, one whom you respect and one whom respects you. You should feel comfortable being open and honest with your doctor about things you probably would only tell your best friend. Partnering together and establishing a trusting relationship could one day save your life.