Get yourself checked

By 8:30 this morning I expect to be taped to a dozen electronic sensors, cables, and hooked up to a monitor undergoing a “non-invasive” check on my cardiac condition. I am hoping to finish the full run of the test, but having gained another year as well as some weight over the summer, I will have to manage my expectations. The test is precautionary in nature and is something I’ve done at least 3 times over a period of ten years.

I share this bit of advise with our readers out of concern for those of you who may already be looking at enough reason on the mirror to get a check-up and then get in shape. Some may even have experienced some pain or discomfort for unexplainable reasons but try to dismiss it. Please don’t do that. Pain is the body’s way of telling us or warning us that we either have to make adjustments in our lifestyle or deal with something we may not even be aware of.

To be honest with all of you, I am often guilty of “knowing too much for my own good”. For instance, I enrolled myself in a really good but tough workout program at CORE Kinesis that is a very modern day gym minus the crowds, noisy weights and sweaty “beef cakes” pumping iron. Instead, clients go through a one on one process half of which utilizes your own body weight to build up your strength. It actually makes sense because if you can’t even lift your own weight on “push up’s” and “planks”, what’s the point in having a ton of weights.

The big mistake that I made that is quite common to many people is that I or “we” ignore the recommendation to first see a doctor for a medical check up. Go figure; we spend tons of cash signing up in gyms and buying all the expensive gears, but refuse to spend an hour and a lot less money to get an accurate and test based analysis of our actual medical condition BEFORE punishing ourselves at the gym or starting on a diet or exercise regimen.

I know every argument you can raise for not going and the most common one would be: The mirror doesn’t lie and the bathroom scales always seconds the motion. Another would be: I hate lines, waiting and needles. That’s so true, but then there will be lines of people at your funeral, if you die from a self imposed lack of medical attention.

Like I said, I’m at the front of the class when it comes to ignoring good advice. But something happened to me quite recently that changed my view about who the real experts are when it comes to my health. As stated, I did not bother going to a doctor for a pre-training check-up, and luckily I never had any problems going through the workout that my trainer Aaron Ang put me through.

But after several months, I noticed how I would wheeze, cough and clear my lungs on the first 10 minutes of the warm up. Then I noticed I had a similar situation when I would do the 15-minute walk to CORE Kinesis at the Legend Hotel. Finally I would find myself driving instead of walking. All that time I assumed that it was all connected to my COPD or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease that I acquired after years of smoking.

(I quit in 1991 but apparently that was not soon enough. Yes I hate the cigarette companies and executives for aiding and abetting Filipinos in acquiring COPD, lung cancer and cardiac arrests!)

By association, I assumed (very incorrectly) that I probably had the beginnings of a lung infection that I get at least once a year. I was tempted to self medicate or ride it out and let my body fight back. Wisdom prevailed and I went to see a pulmonologist who diagnosed my condition as asthma related and prescribed some strong stuff for maintenance. I know I have a history of asthma, but for the longest time it has always been allergy related and not a “prevalent condition”. So I was quite surprised that I now needed to have a maintenance spray.

Many people don’t realize it but asthma is more prevalent now than ever before, thanks to air pollution, processed foods and allergies. One of the highest selling products in drug stores are inhalers and asthma relief medicines. What we miss out on is the statistics on asthma- induced cardiac arrests as well as strokes. Had I persisted in my training as well as the physical activities I do out of town, I can only imagine that the oxygen deprivation would ultimately stress out my heart or cause a stroke.

So here I am, going through a process of elimination in order to make sure that I pass the basic tests before going back to the gym, or engaging in any activity that could compromise my health or my life.

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I got back to Manila too late and too tired in order to make it to the Suzie Orman press conference courtesy of Bank of the Philippine Islands, which is the second time BPI has brought Suzie Orman to the country. Unlike other financial resource speakers, Suzie Orman gives very practical and very relevant advise regarding wealth and financial management regardless of culture or country she finds herself in.

Aside from being a good communicator, Orman is very observant about cultural differences, once pointing out the ocean of difference between the Philippines where God is in every paragraph versus America today where speakers can’t, won’t, refer or bring God into the equation.

What especially endears Orman aside from her “cariño brutal” in giving out financial advise is the fact that Suzie Orman has in her employ a couple of Filipina domestic helpers whose faithful and unwavering financial support for family back home has obviously impacted and humbled Suzie’s view on wealth.

As we Filipinos know only so well: If you want to know how rich you are and how much love you have, try giving it to others who can never pay you back.

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