check up or CHECKMATE?

" jom pegi buat medical check up la hur. i think it's something to do with your lungs la. It's getting worse".

"mama ni, you're the one with the big lump on your shoulder. mama yg patut buat checkup"

"mama dah tua. kamu tu muda lagi"

"mama pegi la check up dulu. x brani kan..... "

it seems that the idea of meeting a doctor for medical check-up is scary indeed.

for some people, what they afraid most is about getting injection. mcm org2 tua cakap,

"tak nak den dho. sakit bilo dokto cucuk".

i think it's just a mere excuse given by them.

what we actually fear most is TO HEAR THE TRUTH, from the doctors themselves.

"pakcik, pakcik disahkan menghidap kanser. ermm, sakit barah. stage 3. kemungkinan ada masa dalam setahun dua je lagi"

takut kan? takut kan?

ok. i think cancer is a little bit overrated.

what about the common health problems?

for example; diabetes, heart diseases, hypertension.. etc.

i remember when some of my relatives came to our house. since my father have this glucose meter *to monitor his blood sugar level from time to time*, most of my aunties and uncles thought of checking their glucose level.

"normal tak gulo den ni, hur? berdebar la plak nak tunggu result eh."

"mcm tinggi sikit la ni....................."

"hah?!"

"tapi biasa la, baru lepas makan kan."

"fuhhh.." *menarik nafas kelegaan*

a few days ago, when my wan had a fever,

she asked me to check her pulse.

and she was like,

"ok tak jantung wan ni? jangan la cakap tak ok. wan takut ni"

"nadi wan normal je. tapi jantung tu hur tak tau la. kene cek doktor betul. hur ni tak abis belajar lagi"

and i know, the chances are, she won't see a real doctor. not just yet.

for some, waiting the result is like your heart been ripped slowly.

if the result turns well, then it's ok.

if not, your heart will tear down in pieces.

you probably won't die for the disease that you've been recently diagnosed to,

but heart attack from knowing it will be likely to kill you, on the spot.

but as scary as it is,

the fact is many of diseases screened can be treated, if detected early.

yeah, everyone knows that. but really, how many of us are brave enough to handle the truth.

i know that most of the makciks' & pakciks', wan2 and atok2 in kampung can't.

even the youngsters, probably because they are so busy with work and stuff,

they dont have the time to think of their own health.

with all the stress and the food that we eat.

and next thing you know, when all the signs and symptoms started to appear, it was too late.

that explains the uprising number of death of young people in their 30's due to heart attack.

men mostly. those who were not yet married, or recently married, or just having their eldest child. sad indeed.

and really, was it just me, or really the number of breast cancer cases tremendously increase within these few years.

cervix cancer, not to mention all kind of cysts with different kinds of shapes and sizes appearing in variety of organs.

yeah, scary indeed. especially when those who are closely related to us already been diagnosed with certain genetic related diseases.

it kinda hits us, "bila plak time aku ni?"

in the other hand, it's true that our ajal&maut is already written, and when our time comes, there's nothing that we can do.

but we also know that, apa-apa pun, kita kena usaha dulu,

baru tawakkal.

and in my humble opinion, medical check up, is probably a way of our usaha, to keep our body healthy. especially, when we started to realise that there is something unusual about our body.

and come on la, it's not that expensive. with all the subsidy given by our government.

it's not that it has to be done oftenly.

after all, taking care of our health, is a very important ibadah indeed.

amanah dari Allah yang dipertanggungjawabkan ke atas kita.

wallahualam.

what we don't know, won't hurt us.

but i think what we don't know will only hurt us more, in addition to that,

it will also hurt those around us.

and by that, i know, there's nothing else that hurts me more,

than seeing my loved ones to be hurt.

besides, how long can we actually hide the truth? because eventually, the truth will come to light. bright light that is. :P

as strange as it is, there is also cases of munchausen syndrome. which is totally opposite of iatrophobia *fear of seeing a doctor*

p/s: i'm not afraid of check-up, is just that i know, it's nothing much. mama is always a little bit worried. that's all. maybe we, doctors-to-be need to be a little bit convinced to the patients. try to encourage the public that there's nothing to be afraid of medical check-up.

but then again, cakap mmg senang :p