Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Paying for my own disease - lesson learnt from a patient

Mr. V, a 49 year old middle class, married, father of two, developed hepato-renal syndrome following chronic liver failure. He decompensated rapidly while he was admitted in the ICU and suffered a cardiac arrest from which he could not be revived. Means, he died!
His liver failure was attributed to his alcoholism. He'd been consuming alcohol in increasing quantity for about 8 years!

Sad story indeed. I was quite amused. He paid for his alcohol and that made his sick. I estimated that he spent around 2.5 lakhs for alcohol. In other words, he paid for killing himself!!

"Mr. V is the biggest fool of all time", I mused and returned to my department. As I was running up the three flight of stairs which I'd to take, I suddenly realized that I was getting a little bit breathless. It was because I was getting a bit fatter with time. In my mind I made plans to reduce my weight as I walked the corridor.

As I was still walking, a flash of realization hit my head.


"You paid for you fat", a little voice in my head whispered. 


Was followed by a flow of thoughts...


Yeah! I paid for the unhealthy food at outlets like the KFC, Subway etc. I paid for enjoying all 


I paid for the petrol, I paid for the bike and I use it instead of walking short distances.


I paid a huge sum for my smart phone which is actually preventing me from using my brain and puts me at risk of Alzheimer's disease early in life.


I paid for my laptop. I paid for internet connection. I connect with friends and relatives online instead of the good old meetings, hugs etc which reap health benefits.


I pay for the electricity and I pay for the water and I use it so lavishly. I'm endangering my planet and I'm making a worse environment for me to live.

I pay for the television, I pay for the washing machine.....I pay for many things and I am slowly harming myself.

Am I fooling myself??

Not that I'll totally cut my expenditure and live as a miser, but I understand that I've to make responsible choices.

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