Are you waiting for a day of reckoning to take control of your health?

My day of reckoning came after a misdiagnosis. I was 21, and had appendicitis, which I’ve since learned is very different from the stomach flu. But before you judge my doctor, I should admit that I was self-diagnosed because I had a phobia of hospitals so instead of seeing a doctor, I spent a week trying to ride it out, hoping the pain in my lower right abdomen would go away on its own.

In the middle of the night, on January 7th, 2008, I woke-up to the most intense, searing pain that I’ve experienced. In hindsight this makes sense because my appendix ruptured. The physical pain compounded with a radical fear that’s hard to describe. I've only experienced it one time since that night, during a bike crash where I fell into oncoming traffic. I assume it comes from the realization that you just made a mistake that might kill you.* The night my appendix burst, I remember fighting-back panic while laying in the shower, fully-clothed, still debating if I should call my dad to ask for help.

The unintended consequences of ignoring your body

I call this a day of reckoning because it was the first time I was forced to deal with the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle. Sure, it’s unclear what causes appendicitis, but we know it involves inflammation. My Taco Bell and Subway diet, poor sleep schedule, unmanaged chronic stress, and dehydration didn’t do me any favors.

In the Bible, the phrase ‘Day of Reckoning’ refers to the last judgment from God after death, where you’re called to account for all your actions in life. The image is intense, but it’s a good analogy for how most Americans are waiting for a near-death experience before they take control of their health. We’re eating, sleeping, and moving without considering future consequences.

A wake-up call isn't limited to organ failure. Other examples are the health problems that I see everyday in my practice: symptoms like blood in your stool, or lab results that show prediabetes, or a cancer diagnosis.

Lessons in sickness

After the surgery to remove what remained of my appendix, I couldn’t eat, go to the bathroom, or drink water because my large intestines weren’t functioning. There was a nasogastric tube (the worst part of the whole experience) serving as my waste removal system. I fantasized about opening my mouth under a waterfall to quench my thirst. My lips were chapped, and my hair was slicked back from many sweaty days without a shower. But I wasn’t dead.

I was too nauseous to read, or watch TV, so what else could I do but reflect? I spent the next ten days in that hospital bed considering the choices that led to my health crisis. My main takeaway from that time, and my subsequent mission in life, is that we need to take control of our health because no one is as motivated as you to keep you alive.

Options for self-care

If we continue business as usual, ignoring the signs that something is off, or avoiding doctors labs and physicals, then a day of reckoning will be as inevitable as death and taxes.

The way I see it, we have two options:

Option 1: Continue with your lifestyle until the threat of death forces you to pay attention. The main pro here is that it requires minimal effort. The main con, however, is either early death (heart attack, suicide, etc), or significant suffering later in life (stroke, arthritis, etc.).

Option 2: Take control of your health today, even without a biblical slap in the face. The main pro is an increased health span, and the only con is delayed gratification.

Final thoughts

I recently heard an interview with author and habit expert, James Clear, who said that humans are prone to bad habits because the consequences are typically out in the future. On the other hand, healthy habits come with an immediate sacrifice, which we’re wired to avoid.

It’s your choice to wait to make health changes until a health crisis steamrolls you, forcing you to open your eyes–that's what I did. But it makes recovery harder, if not impossible (because you’re dead). My hope is that you seek help while your symptoms are still reversible and prevention is still an option.

And if you're thinking that's not me–I don't have any symptoms, I eat pretty healthy, exercise, and don't drink that often. That may be true, but don't fall into the same trap I did where you become unreasonably confident in your self-diagnostic skills. Getting a second opinion could save your life, or at least prevent 10 days in the hospital with tubes down your nose, daydreaming about waterfalls.

*If left untreated, a ruptured appendix leads to peritonitis which can be deadly due-to bacteria in the blood. It’s why some people willingly remove their appendix before traveling to remote places without surgeons.