Health is not an Instagram pic. It’s a lifestyle.
Everyone thought I was fine. I wasn’t.
At this point I was just ready to burst.
As I sat on the toilet, I buried my head in my hands and just cried. There wasn’t any particular inciting incident. Nothing had just happened to me. For everyone around me, things were normal.
But for me, my ribs were poking out more than usual. Whatever I did, my weight continued to fall. When I grabbed my hair, it was falling out at an alarming rate. I could hardly keep my head up.
It felt endless. I couldn’t even read my phone screen any longer. I was just too tired. Couldn’t sleep, but couldn’t stay awake.
So when I figured out what the problem was, it all made sense.
And nobody even bothered to check.
Caring about your health isn’t trendy these days. Diets and clear skin are. Taking care of your body, on the other hand, is not in style.
When I found out I had a thyroid issue, it wasn’t a surprise to me. I had already figured it out. But I was frustrated. Completely irritated that I didn’t figure out what was going on sooner. Even more frustrating was that a Doctor actually thought everything was okay because my weight was “slightly low, but in the normal range”.
Now, this piece isn’t for people with thyroid issues.
It’s a wake-up call from me to you. It’s me begging — no, pleading with you to take care of your body before something happens to it. I went years eating foods that attacked my thyroid, purposefully depriving myself of sleep and running myself ragged before the situation verged on getting out of control.
Our medical system, I’ve figured out, doesn’t keep us healthy. It fixes problems. And I don’t know if it’s always been the case, but it’s pretty easy to see. We only go to the Doctor when we’re sick, rolling the dice and hoping it isn’t something serious.
Ultimately, I’m thankful this happened. It’s teaching me to be disciplined. To be careful. To actually think before I consume something.
And now I’m recovering, thank god.
I just never want to go back.
