Day 40 and 41 - "Take a Loved One to the Doctor!"

I have never liked going to the doctor, as I can do without all the probing and prodding.  As I get older, however, I realize that trips to the doctor are a necessity.  The last time I blogged, I blogged about being tired of dealing with selfish people.  That hasn't changed.  It really bothers me when people only think of themselves and could care less about how the next person is doing–but to be fair, I realized after I had a chance to reflect on the week and that particular blog post, that my frustration was also largely due to the fact that I had surgery scheduled for Friday and was dreading it.

I look worse than I feel:)

After a mammogram a few years ago revealed lumps in my breast, I have been more in tune with my health and have wanted to stay on top of any potential problems.  I had a biopsy and later had a lumpectomy (lumps removed).  Thankfully, they were benign and I haven't had any problems since.  Going forward, it's my responsibility to stay on top of my mammograms and pray for the best.  That's all I can do. 

I have friends and family who have indicated that they wouldn't want to know if they were sick, with cancer for example.  I can't understand that.  With modern medicine as advanced as it is, I would want every chance to live that I can get.  I think that I deserve that and my family deserves that...and to give up would be selfish.  So, I try my best to make every single doctor's visit, whether I have anxiety around the visit or not.

As you can imagine, when you are pregnant, you have a lot of doctor's visits.  During one of my visits, I had an abnormal test result.  My surgery on Friday was intended to go in and take a look.   I know in my heart that everything is fine, but I also know that if I blow off my doctor's visits, a potential problem could go unnoticed.  I always listen to the Tom Joyner morning show and sometimes snicker at the thought of trying to force a loved one to go to the doctor.  What do you do?  What do you say?  "Get dressed; we're going to the doctor!"--as casually as you would say, "We're going to the mall?"  I've always wondered how those conversations go...

No matter how those conversations do play out, the reality is that they must happen.  This year has been tough – a lot of friends and family have had to deal with tough medical issues.  I thank God that someone took them to the doctor or that they had enough courage to go alone.  Be blessed. Be informed and in the words of Kool Moe Dee, "Go see the doctor...!"