When we think we are healthy yet we are not

“If you hunger for a deep change in your life that moves you in the direction of less stress, more health, lower consumption, more spirituality, more respect for the earth and the diversity within and among species, you are not alone.” -Paul Ray. Some severe headache, strange increased pressure in the head, blurred vision, loss of vision that comes and goes, have you experienced this lately? Then you need to see a doctor. Sometimes we get used to being healthy. Every morning you wake up and there is only a slight headache which you normally blame on your previous working late. So what do you do? You take paracetamols and the pain reduces. The next day there is a sort of a funny swelling in the eye, sometimes you feel like one of your hands is numb and again what do you do? You blame it on over sleeping. So you take a cold shower and rush to work. We have myths and taboos which really go in handy with these kinds of health misconceptions. Like in the Kikuyu community from Kenya, a twitching swollen eye is believed to mean that in the course of the week you will cry or something bad will happen to you. So most of us are suffering from ailments that we really don’t know or might not think we are capable of having. We sometimes think that check-ups are for snobs. We feel too healthy to be bothered. So, it’s a Thursday morning and my left eye is still twitching, the only difference is the slight headache has now increased. I can feel that my left side of the head is very differently heavy. And suddenly the worst happens, a sudden involuntary change in behaviour. I could no longer control the muscle twitching in my eye, had seconds of unconsciousness, my speech became slur and my vision became altered. Just like we all do, I stupidly blamed it on fatigue and went to work. I told one of my colleagues what has been happening for the past two weeks and he shocked me by saying all those are symptoms of a brain tumour. Brain Tumour symptoms vary from patient to patient and most of these symptoms, can be found in patients who do not have it. So the only way you can find out whether you are suffering from it is by consulting a doctor. It is in our nature to ignore the truth or support our thoughts with the saying that “what you don’t know will not kill you.” Rwanda eye clinic in Kiyovu was my first stop. The friendly Doctor did all the examinations needed, but according to my descriptions, she unfortunately referred me to King Faisal Hospital having diagnosed nothing wrong with my eye. Yes off course I did not go. But by the following morning I was in the emergency ward at King Faisal and one Doctor Elite Muvunyi ordered for a head scan after having reassured me that it could be the worse or just some initial stages of depression, or just fatigue so I needed not to despair before the results were out. According to Dr. Muvunyi, there is no ailment or strange pain in the body that should be ignored whatsoever. Most diseases are treatable when detected soon enough. The network of nerves in the body carries messages between the brain and other parts of the body. Basically the brain is what an engine is to a vehicle. The good bad news is that I was admitted for two nights but the good better news is that the neurologists only detected some tension in the left hemisphere of the brain due to some stress or depression that I did not even know and still don’t know the cause. However, the doctor instructed to go for further thorough medical check up in Aga Khan Hospital Nairobi where, the head and chest were scanned and the results were not very friendly. Bottom line I am healthy and active once again. The Lesson learnt was that if everything was stripped from you, what would you first like to have back? One’s health is vital and no one should assume it at any cost. Being healthy is not a day to day life thing but a blessing all together. If we stay focused on what is essential to our happiness we will find it hard to stray. Ends