I enjoy a wonderful quality of life, rarely if ever thinking about my health. Except for the knees, I'm amazingly healthy with only an occasional cold. My thinking on the subject is this: If I were to discover some disease or major illness, the rest of my days would be spent fretting and dealing with such a diagnosis (or misdiagnosis). And even if it were real, I find letting things be gets me from day to day with a great outlook on life and a feeling of peace.
It's not that I've never gone to physicians or that I have a phobia about seeing them. After all, I've had five major surgeries, the latest almost 30 years ago. And the last time I went to see a doctor, almost four years ago, I had a suspicious mole, which my GP removed. (Biopsy showed it was benign.) What I don't do are the yearly checkup and the tests that include blood work, blood pressure check and the like. I wait for something specific to occur before I make an appointment.
To set the record straight about my medical preferences, I do think that psychiatrists and chiropractors are quacks. Close family members have been treated by both and I believe the methods of such doctors are suspect at the very least. GPs are my favorite doctors, especially those who actually listen to patients. Beyond that, the more basic medical treatments the better for me. I grew up going to country doctors only for such things as pneumonia or a deep cut from barbed wire. Too many tests these days. Too many procedures.
For many years, I said that if I were to reach a certain age -- no, I won't say what age -- that everything after that would be gravy. I reached that age three years ago. We'll see what the future brings.
