wealth and health

“Your blood pressure is back to normal, great job,” nurse says to me excitedly during my check-up last week as she prepares to give me a fist bump. I am already heaving a sigh of relief, giving her the  biggest girl grin I could muster up, yet knowing those two physical motions do not encapsulate exactly how I feel internally. Jumping around the patient room, screaming from the top of my lungs “hallelujah” in a very ‘it points to the fact that she was raised in a CAC church’ way, or giving her a ‘she never saw it coming’ big hug would have been better options. Alas, there is a time and place for everything, so I settle for the fist bump and realize this is cause for a blog post. So here we are. 

Asides from the “earning my stripes” of bruises here and there during my tomboy phase and the occasional flu-like symptoms from my heavy periods, I have been a relatively healthy babe since childhood (my most crazy health scare had to do with a contact that scratched my eye that year). Well, that is until this year. In January, I felt as if something was wrong - more than the normal weakness from it being that time of the month. I just felt generally unwell. By the second or third week of feeling like this, I knew I needed to move up my yearly checkup that I would normally do around my birthday so as to make sure all is fine sooner than later. Plus, given my already stellar health records, I felt there was nothing to worry about. 

I still remember that gloomy day in January that I went for my appointment before work. At 8:30 am I was called in for my appointment. The nurse checked my vitals as usual, but in quite unusual fashion, she said to me anxiously, “your blood pressure is very high.” She then asked me a few questions about my current stress levels, lifestyle, etc. She sat me down in a lower chair did some of other things and took my blood pressure again. Same high levels. The doctor then came in and asked a few follow up questions then put me on medication asking me to return the following week. I was to monitor my blood pressure all week. It was that high. 

She also explained the implications. To me it was just a reading on an instrument, but in reality it could be the catalyst for other future health complications including kidney failure and hypertension. You didn’t have to tell me twice to start implementing changes. 

After my follow up appointments’ results came back with still high blood pressure levels, I just knew I had to implement more changes which will be discussed shortly. I was also prescribed a higher dosage of the hpb medication. 

That was in February. By May, I am happy and healthier, with lower blood pressure levels to show for it. 

A few changes I implemented (and by no way was it easy, it just had to get done for my health) include:

• I’ll start with the bigger one - I left my big law job and took a different role elsewhere. Stress and big law go hand in hand. I wanted to tough it out for the sake of the perks that came with my role but never at the cost of my health. As long as I am practicing immigration, I am good. 
• I run every morning by 6:00 am, unfailingly. Doesn’t matter where in the world I am, I am running. It helps me not only feel refreshed for the day, but an active lifestyle helps with maintaining normal  blood pressures.
• Medication and supplements: in addition to the blood pressure medication, I also take vitamin and women’s health supplements that help calm my mind and reduce anxiety
• Beets juice: I implemented juicing into my diet and it has helped tremendously with my overall health and wellness
• Time management: I try as much as possible to sleep early and wake early, thereby getting enough hours of sleep. 
• Limiting my time on social media and opting for my hobbies in my downtime. In short I do things to calm me down after a long day. 

I’m grateful to be on the other side of this health journey and for the lifestyle changes gained along the way. Health is wealth, as they say, and long may I continue to be a rich girl. 

Funmi