Fathers - needed for health?
Health is always a worry, especially for someone who eats too much, exercises too little, and is a prime candidate for diabetes due to the sedentary lifestyle. Is it lifestyle, or hereditary, or what? Well, I just keep the blinkers on and take the line "it depends what books you read".
So the news I got last night that my father is in intensive care with pancreatitis was first and foremost met with fear, a fear for my son. The multitude of "what if..." scenarios went through my head with respect to hereditary ailments. Thankfully, it doesn't look like I have too much to worry about on that score for Junior after looking it up, but being under exercised and over weight I decided to go for a diabetes test today, mainly prompted by the news my father has been borderline for the last 2 years.
Health - don't leave
it to Chance...Lloyds pharmacies do the test for free, on a walk-in basis. 5 minutes to fill in the consent form, do the test, and get the advice was all it took. The only advice I was given was to retest every two years, as my result was well in the safe zone. Not bad for a bloater like me, so I'm happy with that, safe in the knowledge that despite diabetes being present in both sides of the family I’m not in imminent danger. I am in imminent danger of changing the lifestyle, though, to reduce the risk of that changing, which is a shame considering I’ve just bought a lovely jacket that might not fit for much longer if I do.
Now while there’s no love lost between me and my father, ie I haven’t spoken to him in nearly 2 decades and having last seen him at my grandfather’s funeral 15 years ago, the only thing I have missed out on through this is not knowing what medical ailments I have to watch out for, and that has crossed my mind on numerous occassions. But in reality I could get hit by the number 37 bus tomorrow and that worry would be removed.
While I’ve missed out on a very small portion of my life through this, my father has clearly missed out on a massive amount. Such as my coming of age, going to university, graduation, engagement, marriage, having kids, Junior’s first Christmas and everything that will follow. I’ve seen a close friend and his dad fall out (dad’s fault, as per), and he’s missing out too despite living two streets away. While it’s too late for mine, I’d say to “GB” to grovel and apologise until you’re blue in the face, hands and knees job, start accepting responsibility for your actions (who would leave his daughter-in-law just before Christmas with no water downstairs at 8 months pregnant?) before you die a stubborn, bitter, spiteful and despised man.
My guest author put it well to me in an email today, having sent him a list of my irrational worries that I have for my son’s health and the general future of the world he’ll live in.
The worries:
how much is he going to pay for gas, when will it run out, will he afford to go to uni, will the global domination of religious fundamentalists take hold before he embraces atheism, will his national anthem be the star spangled banner, will the world he lives in be waterworld or mad max or terminator
And the response:
Gas will be replaced by nuclear power and we will alll look like the ready brek advert, you will pay for uni not him, religion will be replaced by computerism and the worship of the PS9, the national anthem will be "I'm Lovin it" and feature Ronald McDonald, teach him to sail and to ride go karts.
Which reminds me, is my guest author still registered to post entries?
Comments
It's natural to worry about your health (and especially your son's) but don't overdo it!
Trying to stay healthy can be dangerous and people who die unexpectedly at an unseemly age are often fitness fanatics.
They go out for a run or a ride on their mountain bikes and finish up with two feet stuck out of a hawthorn hedge.
As far as worrying what sort of world your wee lad will grow up in - this is a universal concern and has been since the dawn of civilised time.
I can remember my mother-in-law saying, after watching the variety of crises outlined on the TV News:
"My God! I wouldn't think of bringing a child into this world."
She had forgotten, poor soul, that she had given birth to her second daughter in 1939 (i.e. the outbreak of a World War)!
The population would gradually diminish if we were all continually pondering the Ifs, Buts and What If's. It might not in some quarters I suppose since a high percentage of our peers appear not to do any pondering at all! Why else would mobile phones have cameras and music players and be proving so popular!
I'm confident that Junior will have a wonderful and exciting life in whatever surroundings and circumstances emerge. He'll get dirty, suffer some scrapes, have great adventures and suffer highs and lows like the rest of us.
I just wish I could be a born-again Christian. Not for the religious bit but the 'born again' aspect is appealing!
Posted by: An ancient GP (Geriatric Poser) | December 10, 2006 9:41 PM
I think one of the beauties of being a father would be the chance to try and make right the mistakes you or your father made when you were the child.
The problem is that you end up carrying your parents traits and so chances are you will recreate some of those mistakes.
I think that's a very funny and ironic thing about humans, we're almost doomed to create the same mistakes.
Posted by: Richard Brunton | December 11, 2006 10:29 PM