singzeon.

25 July 2017:

Health is more than wealth.

I think the phrase ‘health is wealth’ is so well-known that it’s become a cliché of sorts. Yet I never realised how accurate it was, until I was threatened with a health scare recently.

All my life, I would say that I am fortunate enough to have been fairly healthy. I do fall sick, but these are usually the flu, and it happened just before exam period. I guess it was my body’s way of highlighting stress.

Of course, as always, I would recover from the flu. The journey to recovery differed, some involved more nose-blowing than others. But I still recovered. In fact, I guess the flu is a very common and bearable illness to have, as long as it isn’t the serious type.

Then I got an ear infection, twice, in fact. In both cases, these stemmed from a yet-to-recover bout of flu, which travelled up into my ear and caused an infection there. It was painful (and slightly alarming), but not exactly terrifying.

(Although the first time it happened, I was still in secondary school and the pain woke me from my sleep. Not knowing what it was certainly made me panic. Going to the doctor’s at 3+ in the morning wasn’t enjoyable.)

~

Despite all that, I’ve never suffered from any major illness, and of course I’m very thankful for that. So it certainly shocked me when I discovered a pimple on my upper gum, which didn’t seem like a good thing.

Strictly speaking I first noticed the pimple when I put my finger on my gum and felt around whilst eating fruits. (Not very hygienic at all, I know.) But actually prior to that, I already felt pain when I touched my face at the spot.

Just that at that time, I thought it was more of a bruise (i.e. something to do with my skin / muscle) and didn’t really care about it. And since I didn’t end up touching that spot often during the day, I pretty much ignored it.

After realising the pimple, though, I went to do a search. Of course, as many memes have rightful pointed out, self-diagnosis via the internet obviously cannot replace a trained physician or a dentist. Still, I wanted answers.

Based on what I searched, it seemed to me that the most likely cause was that the pimple was actually a periodontal abscess. If so, this indicates I had severe gum disease, with the infection reaching all the way into my nerves and bones or whatever else.

Hence, according to various websites, the abscess was pus being separated out. But the website also mentioned various other symptoms, which included tooth pain, swelling of the gum, bleeding, etc.

I didn’t have any of those symptoms, though. That, and the fact that I obviously have no dental training, led me to ask D, my friend who’s studying dentistry. D was very helpful and patient with me, answering my questions.

She even roped in a friend for a ‘second opinion’. (Of course I do realise that they are both dental students hence will not hold them liable for anything, just that it’s good to have advice from a more credible source.)

Basically D was saying that, based on what I mentioned alone, it does seem like it. The worst-case scenario was that I had to do a root canal treatment. As for the fact that it’s painless, D said that some cases are asymptomatic hence pain (or lack of) doesn’t count.

This of course alarmed me a great deal. It was terrifying to think that I could potentially be suffering from a severe gum infection, one which required a root canal. To be honest I’ve previously head of the term before but never really knew what it meant.

To add on, the treatment costs a lot. Based on what I could find online, it would typically be at least $500, which is definitely not a small sum indeed. So yes, to put it simply, bad health = lost wealth.

After one sleepless night where I constantly asked myself if / how it could’ve been so bad, I booked a dentist appointment.

Long story short, after getting checked by the dentist, she mentioned that this wasn’t a periodontal abscess and that I do not have severe gum disease. She said it was probably more of an ulcer that occurred when I somehow scraped my gum.

That seemed unlikely, since I barely touched that spot on my gum to begin with. But, if anything, I was just more than happy for it to be an ulcer only. Sure enough it has since subsided, as if it was never there before.

I paid for the dental appointment, but it was definitely cheaper than a root canal would have cost me.

Through this health scare, I honestly understood how anxious and afraid patients may feel, especially those about to receive test results (like cancer biopsies). For a sudden, you feel so very helpless, since things were pretty much beyond your control.

Some people turn to religion as a result; to each his own. But this also shows that health is really so much more than wealth. Of course wealth is probably able to get someone the best doctors, the best treatment, etc.

But sometimes some medical conditions just cannot be treated (fully), even if wealth wasn’t a limiting factor. What more for those who are financially challenged? In fact, a vicious circle then forms.

Bad health -> unable to work -> lowered income -> unable to afford better drugs / treatment -> condition worsens -> worse health . . . Truly this sucks, but then again there really isn’t a quick fix for such cases.

And of course, beyond the monetary side of things, bad health also means lower quality of life. Again, this is beyond wealth; money cannot buy away pain and suffering.

Hence for once I truly see the importance of maintaining one’s health. This may sound very pretentious, almost as if plucked from some health education textbook, but it’s true. So many aspects of our lives are affected by bad health.

Also it would seem like, in our midst to enjoy life’s desires and pleasures, people tend to neglect their health. Which is ironic, since health is previously what’s needed to sustain life.

Before I sound holier than thou, I will readily admit that I too neglect my health and I’m definitely not proud of it. Back in NS, I frequently slept past midnight, especially (if I remember correctly) the last few months.

I would’ve blamed it on my insomnia, but then it may probably have been my sleeping late that triggered the insomnia after all, starting a vicious circle. And what did I do when I slept late? Very unproductive, unconstructive things.

Most of the time, I ended up watching videos on Youtube; some were educational, others mostly weren’t. Still, this wasn’t a good enough justification for sleeping late. There were a few times where I spent the time talking with the duty personnel, even some Enciks.

I wouldn’t say those times were totally wasted; some conversations were pretty thought-provoking and interesting. (Not everyone in army is stupid, okay? Some Enciks sound stupid but are actually very wise.)

But of course these meant that I usually slept past midnight; my latest was (I think) 2 a.m. The next morning, I wake at 7, latest would be 7.15 a.m. And off I went for a new day of work. In the end, though, I end up becoming very sleepy at 2 p.m. or so.

The good thing about my office was that it was adjacent to the duty rest room, hence I could always pop over for a quick nap. Of course this wasn’t allowed officially. Yet, because of this ‘arrangement’, I never really felt it was an issue.

~

At the same time as all these, however, I started falling sick rather frequently. Not sure if I mentioned it in previous posts during that period of time, but I was sick almost once every two months.

And since each time it took me about 2 – 3 weeks to recover, to others it seemed like I was perpetually sick. I even remember my Encik asking me about it once, and I even told him (funny enough) ‘No, I recovered and fell sick again.’

So yes, in retrospect, I guess you could say that my health was in pretty bad shape. And it wasn’t even because I had some disease; I just wasn’t taking care of myself. Ironic right? Some people beg for good health while others (like me) waste away theirs.

~

I guess I have digressed pretty far away from my original point; time to come back. Ultimately health is oh so important, and it took me a slight health scare to realise how much I took it for granted previously.

TTFN.

By the way I truly am grateful towards D for helping me out. Love you! (in a non-romantic way)