During the last few months, I have visited health care centres multiple times. Some times, it was for myself. At other times, it was for my one son or the other.
Just a week ago, I had to make two separate visits to the doctor. On Friday, I took my elder son to the hospital for visiting an ENT specialist, as he was complaining about ear-ache. The very next day, I had to take my younger one to the clinic as he got a fever.
Frequent visits to doctors have become a regular part of our routine due to ongoing health issues in our family. The first and foremost is the compromised health status of my younger son. He is asthmatic and often catches seasonal allergies leading to high fever, coughing attacks and nasal blockage. My elder son, on the other hand, has childhood myopia. He needs regular check-ups to monitor the health of his eyes.
I must admit that, in the early years of his diagnosis, we didn’t pay as much importance to regular check-ups as we should have. Nonetheless, during the last year, I took my son regularly to the eye clinic. It helped a lot in subsiding his optical allergy.
Moreover, we also found out that there was some medicine to slow down the progression of myopia. The doctor told us that she would be prescribing an optical drops for the purpose on our next visit, which is planned to have this month.
After hearing the desperate situation of a relative it was pretty relieving to know that a medicine like this, though not that readily, is available in the country. That relative of mine had childhood myopia and she didn’t have regular check-ups for the condition. Now, in her twenties, when she visited the eye specialist with intention to get laser treatment for her problem, she found out that her eye status is not in a condition to receive that treatment. Any treatment like that is likely to result in permanent eyesight loss. It was frightening for me to know this story, which led me to be more regular in check-ups of my son.
So far as my health is concerned, just like many of us, I try resolving the illness related symptoms myself initially through self-medication or home remedies. Nevertheless, if symptoms persist for a long time or worsen over time, I do visit the doctor to have a proper diagnosis.
Except having blood tests for tracking the changes in thyroxin level in my body in order to adjust the dosage of the medicine, I don’t remember a time when I visited a doctor solely for a routine check-up. Every consultation has been prompted by the presence of specific symptoms. In fact, I have delayed my regular blood test this time which I am hoping to have this month. 🙃
The truth is that seeking medical care is not only financially demanding but also time consuming. Medical consultations, diagnostic tests, and treatments often come with significant costs, not to mention the time spent scheduling appointments, waiting, and undergoing examinations.
Beyond that, several times I have come across doctors who are merely concerned with prescribing medicines without fully addressing the problems. Some of them don’t even mind belittling the patient’s worth and intelligence treating them as fools. This discouraging aspect of the health care is also a reason for me to be cautious about when and why to visit a doctor.
Unless absolutely necessary, I prefer to manage minor health concerns on my own rather than spending time and money in visits that may not be essential. Nonetheless, I prefer not to ignore the persisting symptoms especially when they are about my children.
●●●●●●●●●
This post is my participation for Hl-featured contest week 151 edition 1.
Image created by me using Bing AI