The medical personnel that attended to me is also a very good friend of mine, and since it’s been like forever I last saw him, our encounter was more of a reunion than for the medical concern that took me there. The long and short of this introduction is that the 10 minutes for which I waited for him (he was away attending to another concern before I showed up) proved to be invaluable. Unlike the burial episode, I’d my writing pad this time. In those 10 minutes, the following realizations dawned on me:

1. We must be continually thankful. UNTH is quite a massive complex, sitting atop hundreds of acres of Fr. Mbakas Ituku-Ozala. Quite massive I must repeat, housing, as it were, many departments/clinics, ranging from UNN’s Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and Dentistry, eye clinic, ENT (ear, nose, and throat), dental clinic, cardiotherapy, etc. Guess what? Everywhere was packed full with thousands of people, many of whom were sick, some of whom were caring for their sick loved ones, and, of course, the medical practitioners who are the ministers of hospitality. This was just UNTH. Add up other teaching hospitals, federal medical centers, general hospitals, private hospitals and clinics, plus all other functional medical outfits and facilities. With this, you can trust that so many people are sick and dying. If you’re not in that count, then give thanks  to God.

2. You’re possibly sick. Of the thousands of people on this medical facility I visited, UNTH, only a handful looked really sick. Others looked very much like me: hot and kinky. But, technically speaking, I was sick too. Moreover, their looks, our looks, didn’t change the fact that were sick. And then I ask you, do you rely on your looks, or even how you feel, to say whether you’re sick or well? If yes, then you’re possibly wrong. Very wrong. A woman, for instance, wouldn’t know she has gonorrhea, a venereal disease, unless a man she infected tells her. What if the man doesn’t tell her or was protected by his condom? The implication is that she will remain in that state of poor reproductive health, which will worsen and worsen by the day, until childlessness in marriage compels her to go find out why conception isn’t working out for her.

Yes, don’t rely on looks for the knowledge of your medical status; always stop at your doctors to get updates. Of course, it is way easier and cheaper and less stressful to deal with medical issues at their budding phase.

3. Take precaution. Prevention has remained the best cure. While I recommend regular checks at your doctors, taking precaution with a view to forestalling breakdown is important. Eat healthy. Exercise daily. Sleep soundly. Reduce stress considerably. Shun self-medication. Just stay healthy.