DEAR HARRIETTE: It’s somewhat frightening how many people I know who are having serious medical issues. I arrived at an off-site job earlier this week only to learn that a woman I hadn’t seen for a few months had been away due to open-heart surgery following a heart attack. A male friend of mine is recovering from a stroke. Yet another guy I haven’t seen for several years just told me he had had a heart attack a few months back. OMG! Two of these people appeared to be the picture of health.
I’m afraid to go to the doctor for fear of what they might find about me. I’m somewhat healthy, but I don’t have the best habits. If I get sick, I can’t afford to do anything about it anyway. I work freelance. Am I crazy to say that I will just see what happens? I really can’t afford to deal with a major health issue if it comes. -- Head in the Sand
DEAR HEAD IN THE SAND: The No. 1 cause for people to go bankrupt in this country is a health crisis. That’s true even for people who have good insurance. The cost of being ill is astronomical, so it’s perfectly understandable that you would rather not find out if something is wrong with you. That said, I do not recommend that you ignore your health. The American health care system is excellent at diagnostics -- at figuring out what is wrong with a patient. I strongly suggest that you use this to your advantage. Problems that are caught early tend to be much less expensive than ones that have progressed.
Go for your annual checkups. Get the tests that will tell you if a problem is on the horizon. Then do everything you can to stay healthy. Eat wisely. Exercise regularly. Get enough rest. These sound basic because they are, yet most people don’t follow them very well. Be proactive about maintaining good health, and do your research to discover alternative methods to boost your immune system.