Part of getting happy is getting healthy, right? It makes sense - if your body feels crummy then it's going to effect the rest of you.
Case in point, all I want to do right now is sit on the couch and eat cookies. I have little energy to do much else. That's not healthy. I should be working out, eating better, taking supplements and getting the ol' bod checked to make sure there's nothing funny going on in there. So my husband and I started working out... And then we stopped due to his work/travel schedule and various plagues that fell upon this house. But we're going to resume working out again just as soon as we can breath through our noses. Very important that, breathing through ones nose. Especially when one is about to pass out after being on the elliptical for five minutes.
Did I say five? I meant 35. No, 55 minutes. Yeah.
I mentioned before that I didn't want to start taking supplements until I spoke with my doctor since the last thing I want to do is start putting things into my body that may end up getting into my baby through breastmilk. When considering this, it dawned on me that it had been a very long time since I last had a physical. Fantastic! I'll just call my doctor and schedule a physical, have all the moles and bumps checked out, have her listen to my ticker and check my cholesterol, and while I'm there I may as well mention this journey I have started on and see what she thinks. Maybe she has some words of wisdom for me.
So yesterday I called to make the appointment.
First available appointment for a physical? April 23. Three months from now.
The opposition to Universal Healthcare in this country always uses the argument of how long it takes to get an appointment to see a doctor in places like Canada, a country who seems to have a very successful Universal Healthcare system. I wonder how the opposition would react if they were on a three month waiting list to get a freaking physical?
Three months for preventative care. If I was eady to stick my head in the oven, I'm pretty sure my doctor would fit me in to her busy schedule.
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6 comments:
That's the dilemma. I'm a Canadian, very much involved in the theory of universal health care. When we started with it, the idea was to do it in two stages: stage one, provide medical care to the sick; stage two, provide health care. That is; wellness training, prevention of illness, etc.
Some steps toward stage two are being taken; small, tottering baby steps. In the meantime, yeah, at my Community Health Centre, it's a three month booking for a yearly physical. And over two weeks for a bunged up knee to be seen, since it is not bleeding or threatening to self destruct. Or at least, not out loud.
It can take that long to get an appointment here in the states too, depending on where you go and what you need to be seen for. Eye exams especially are booked months in advance.
Good for you for wanting to do the physical though. I am terrible about doing that for myself.
Canada here... we do have wait lists, but not, generally, for getting in to see your GP. (At least not in Vancouver.) I can get an appointment with my GP in under a week. Our waitlists are more for elective surgery. Those can be long.
But none of this is to address your larger point about getting healthier. Good for you. Tomorrow I may try the elliptical machine. Maybe. Sigh... inertia can be so tempting, no?
RE: supplements---try calling your pediatrician or lactation consultant about these and getting their answers over the phone so you don't need to wait 3 months. I know my pediatrician was a big help with that, esp. since I'm on several medications regularly.
It took me almost 6 mos. to get a regular check up with a dermatologist for a skin check! Crazy! But, I'd put up with it for universal health care, if that's what it'd take.
(and 5 minutes is probably 4 minutes more than I can exercise right now; sigh)
I'm in Canada too and I've lived in the UK (good socialist medical system). In Canada I can get quick appointments to see my Dr (same or next day) and in the UK it was often days in advance. Medicals everywhere take time so slow to book - unless you go private. Ka-ching. Yes in both places there are short to medium waits for bigger care issues (surgeries/treatment/etc) but you don't have to pay out your @ss for it and the care is very, very good.
That said the reason you just want to hang out on the couch is because those cookies are sooooooooo damn good.
It makes my head spin, SPIN, thinking about how the funding works for preventative medicine. The issues that could be avoided by starting with the cause, and not the result. BIG GRUMPY SIGH.
You are going in the right direction baby and I'll be here to hold the cookies out of your reach while doing the elliptical. I will eat all the cookies for you if that's what it takes.
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