You need to take charge of your own access to healthcare
Listen, we all know that the healthcare system is overwhelmed. Your family doctor may not call you back about blood work results unless they’re really concerned, referrals may take months, if you need to get started on something, NOW is the time.
Our healthcare system was not built to support your quality of life and prevent chronic disease, it was built to treat illness.
Your quality of life and disease prevention are in your hands.
It’s SO much easier to PREVENT a concern than it is to treat it.
It’s a lot easier to treat a ‘low end of normal iron level’ than anemia.
It’s SO much easier to get your blood sugar on track when you have mild insulin resistance or are ‘at risk for diabetes’ vs. when you’re pre-diabetic.
We build lean muscle mass much easier when we’re younger.
It’s much easier to build bone density and maintain it before menopause than after, managing osteoporosis is much more difficult.
Risk of heart disease can be dramatically reduced through dietary and lifestyle changings
It is DIFFICULT to see the benefit of these things when you’re feeling okay, or when time is limited and demands are high, but we want to support you to feel your best for MANY MANY years to come.
If you don’t make time for wellness, you may be forced to make time for illness.
The best way to decrease your burden on the healthcare system is to be proactive:
Do your preventative cancer screening tests (Pap, mammogram, FIT, colonoscopy)
Get baseline bloodwork if you’ve never had your blood sugar or cholesterol or basic bloodwork tested
Get copies of your own bloodwork when you do these screenings.
While the healthcare system isn’t built for quality of life and prevention, that’s what Naturopathic Medicine is all about.