Know your own body.

I've been reminded in this last week why it is so important that you know your own body. It is so easy when you are busy with work and family, to ignore any signals that your body might be trying to send to alert you that there may be a problem. Unfortunately, you ignore these at your peril.

I have ankylosing spondilitis or AS for short. I was first diagnosed approximately 15 years ago when I started to suffer joint and lower back pain, and after eventually getting to a specialist and receiving a correct diagnosis, I was able to get on with life, and most people who know me would not be aware that I even have AS, unless they happens to catch me during one of my rare moments of inflammation.

Last weekend however, I could feel a strange stabbing pain in one eye, which became more prevalent when I stepped outside into the sunlight, or focused on something close by with my left eye. I looked at it closely in the mirror and it seemed similar compared to my right eye in appearance. I persisted with this for a couple of hours, but realised that it was getting worse, not better, so I went around to the local emergency centre in the small country town I was in at the time. I was quite certain I was getting the initial symptoms of iritis. The doctor on duty was not sure, but when I explained that I had experienced iritis once previously and also had AS, he decided it was better to be safe than sorry and gave me some steroid eye drops. Once my eye settled down a bit, I drove home, and saw my own doctor who confirmed the diagnosis.

So now I am sitting here with one fully dilated eye with 2 hourly eye drops. It's painful, but I'm on the road to recovery.

Know your body. If you want to be successful in life, and enjoy time with your family, it will be ever so more difficult if you let yourself fall into ill health through ignoring symptoms. Your health is the biggest asset and most powerful resource you have. It is really important that you listen to what it is trying to tell you, and look after it.

Later.

(Image courtesy of www.iritis.org.)