Health is Wealth!

Bismillah…

For the past blog posts, I have been talking about finance, in terms of basic money management, financial, life and estate planning. I am sure most of us have heard this line “Health is Wealth”. But do we really care about our health?

Let me share you my story…

My journey of focusing on my health starts from when I was in the banking days, where I frequently fell sick, lack of rest and high level of stress which lead to missing of periods. I start to realise that being sick every month is not normal and missing periods too wasn’t normal. At that point in time it was a turning point for me and I decided to take a step back to leave the finance industry and pursue my double degree in Murdoch University whilst working part-time in various government agencies to not lose out gaining experience which is in line to my course: Accounting and Finance. I picked up running on alternate days to keep fit and also visited the doctor to check on my missing periods. Did some diet which my dietician stopped me from doing so as it will lead to malnutrition.

Apparently in 2017 I found out that I had Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), which is common in this current era, due to the food intake we consume and the standard of living. It was my biggest downfall at that period in time, but I never failed to keep going for my morning or night runs around my estate and eating clean based on dietician’s guide. Missing periods and consuming hormone pills to induce menses is a roller coaster emotional ride coupled with abdominal pains. Not to mention the hormone pills cause a drastic weight gain.

In Jan 2020 I signed up gym membership right after my gynaecology appointment as they still insist that I need to increase my effort in my overall health and mentioned about getting married and the chances of pregnancy. Alhamdulillah that in Jul 2020, despite COVID, I manage to bring down my weight and also to get PCOS diagnosis to be removed as I was off the hormone pills for a year.

Moving forward in Jul 2021, another year off the hormone pills which is an achievement. It wasn’t easy to manage health, stress levels and work. Consistency in exercising and eating healthily is important. I am thankful that my family, husband and close friends are supportive during my tough journey.

Lesson learnt from my story is, cherish your health while you still can, by exercising and eating healthily. The trips to the hospital appointments and polyclinic appointments, frequent blood test, ultrasound scans and medicines that I had to pay, I was thankful that the amount is subsidised by the government. I am lucky that I have an insurance coverage that can cover my whole life, in the event there is pregnancy complications or health complications. My advise is, remember to go for your health checkup and also meet your financial consultant to do a financial checkup. It is never too late to do any of these.

Stay safe, stay healthy and be happy. Cheers!