The Luxury of Health

I’ve recently had some nerve pain in my hand that is likely to be carpal tunnel syndrome. It’s not that bad, very manageable, and likely to get better.

A reminder of how we take our health for granted

But it reminded me how much we take our health for granted when we are not experiencing pain or illness. My husband Ahmad, who endured significant pain from bladder cancer in the last year of his life, often quoted his deceased mother.

She had always told him that a “good body” is very important. He said he didn’t really understand that but once he got sick, he suddenly completely understood it.

Can we appreciate being pain-free?

How much do we appreciate a pain-free hand or the ability to walk around the block? Unless we’ve recently been unable to do those things, we most likely just do them without thinking as part of our rush to get through our days.

The impact of severe pain

The most excruciating pain I ever experienced was for several weeks following a shoulder surgery about 10 years ago. I was utterly unprepared for how much pain this complex joint could inflict. I had to wear a sling while sleeping because the slightest movement caused severe pain. Because I had a sling on, I had to sleep on my back, which did not feel comfortable.

My physical therapist asked me to name a goal and it was to swim the backstroke. I was utterly delighted a few months later when I was able to do just that. But would I be delighted about it if I got in a pool today? Probably not because it has again become my norm.

The ability to function pain-free is amazing

I witnessed Ahmad experience severe pain but he, unfortunately, did not get the opportunity to recover from that pain. I try to remember this when I become unappreciative of some aspect of my life. The ability to move and function pain-free is amazing. It is a gift and it is temporary for all of us.

The luxury of how we spend our time

It seems it is only when we get sick that we truly appreciate the luxury of being healthy. And it’s not just the luxury of having a healthy/well-functioning body (though that’s the most important thing). It’s also the luxury of spending our time on things other than doctor’s visits, picking up prescriptions, figuring out our insurance coverage, waiting on hold on the phone, and on and on.

The amount of energy being sick consumes

Illness begets an entire spinoff “sub-experience,” if you will, that chews up so much of your time in so many ways you never imagined when you were well. People who have not experienced a serious/chronic illness often cannot comprehend the amount of time and energy the experience of being sick consumes. And that’s not necessarily even counting the time you are at home simply feeling sick. Those without such an experience are blissfully – and often ignorantly – luxuriating in health. To them, a doctor’s visit is a quick event that happens a few times a year at most.

Appreciate what you’ve got

We all will eventually die and there’s a good chance that our deaths will be preceded by some kind of illness. But until that happens, let’s appreciate what we’ve got. If you are free of bladder cancer at the moment, I hope you relish that reality every day. And if you are ill or in pain, try to appreciate what IS working and the things you can still do.

Your health is a luxury but let it be one that you savor and appreciate every day just the way you would a delicious meal or a new car. Your health is much more valuable than those.