2 min read

Health and Wellbeing - Are Your Dad Days Numbered?

Sometimes we get a scare, a health scare that makes us wonder if we will get to see our children grow up

Keeping with the theme of International Men's Health Week: What happens if you have a health scare? Maybe you start feeling strange pains in strange places or some other more sinister symptoms. Hopefully it turns out to be nothing serious, but the time between thinking something was wrong and finding out you're ok can seem to take forever.

During that time the mind starts to present scenarios that fill one with anxiety. 'What if I've only got a few months to live or what if I have a serious condition that is going to impact my life?'

Don't want to end up here — Hospital fun

With that possibility in the front of my mind you'll start to go through a range of emotions, pretty much in this order:

Fear - What might be ahead? 6 months to live? Surgery? Suffering?
Anger - Why now? Why me? What did I do or not do to get me here?
Panic - What do I have to do to make sure my family is going to be ok if I'm in hospital for an extended time or worse? I haven't got a will, my finances are all over the place, I haven't deleted my browser history
Sadness - What if I don't get to see my children grow up? How sad will they be if I'm gone? Will they be ok?
Frustration - I'm in limbo. What are the results, I can't speed this up. My future is out off my control
Relief - I'm alive, there's nothing wrong, nothing to worry about. Just a scare

Motivation

You have to be prepared in case shit goes sideways. Start getting my affairs in order for the future. Maybe time to review your diet, fitness, financial affairs, get a will drawn up.