A Post About Health From Hawaii

So it dawned on me that I never really shared some medical news with many people in my life. Two weeks ago I was diagnosed with arthritis in my low back. I have suffered from chronic back pain and inflammation in my low back since a car accident in 2004, weeks before my 21st birthday. Shortly after my car accident, my mom flew me to Hawaii with her as my 21st birthday present. Now, nine years later, here I am again, in Hawaii, wrapping my mind around this diagnosis and what it means. I’m not even 30 yet (I have 6 more days in my 20s).

Most people who know me know that I have always been committed to a healthy lifestyle and this has never been more true since I had R. Now, I realize just how important this lifestyle is going to be to manage my pain and the deterioration of my joints. It dawned on me on the airplane yesterday: being healthy is expensive. I asked if it was possible, for future flights, with a doctor’s note, to reserve the bulk head seats. The very kind West Jet flight attendants informed me that it was, but like anyone else, I would have to pay a premium. I would have to pay to help reduce or avoid pain on my flight.

While running this morning, the same route I run every time I come to Hawaii, I realized how ridiculous this is. I have to pay to see my trainer (Kat, you’re worth every penny, I swear), I pay to eat healthier, mostly Paleo  foods, I pay to maintain the alignment of my joints, I pay to seek natural health remedies: health costs. In our Canadian Universal Healthcare System, I alone have the potential to cost the system MILLIONS of dollars. So much of this money could be saved by helping me invest in a healthy lifestyle that would keep me out of specialists offices, emergency rooms, surgery rooms and so on. My husband and I watched a documentary film last week on Netflix called Food Matters and although we see some perspectives in the film as a bit extreme, it makes sense. With healthy diet and exercise, so many chronic and life threatening illnesses could be avoided or at least managed, and yet little to no money is invested in these fields. Health doesn’t make money.