Healthy Living is three

By Olufunke

In 2012, I noticed that a corner of my left eye; inside the eye, was reddish and swollen. I visited my parents at a point and I checked on their neighbour, who happened to be an eye doctor, to get his opinion about the eye. He told me a blood vessel had burst and that I should just ignore it.

On the same left eye, I noticed a growth on the iris, which is the white part, and it extended a bit to the pupil, the black part, and I said to myself, “This must be cataract”. I was in pain and I decided to go to the hospital for a proper check. After the doctor checked my eyes with some gadgets, she told me it was just part of the degeneration the eyes go through as we age.

However, she advised me to always protect my eyes from sand – she must have seen the sand lodged in them. I insisted she should check properly and she burst into laughter and said, “Are you going for a beauty pageant?” We both laughed. Having been told that the growth was nothing to worry about, my fears were doused and all the pain I was having stopped without being given any medication. Though the growth is still there, I am no longer bothered because my doctor said it was nothing to be worried about.

Weeks ago, I said emotional pain often feels as strong as physical pain and at times can even cause symptoms of pain throughout the body. It is true I was feeling pains in the eye but the truth is that my fear about the growth aggravated the pain. I actually shared this story to let you know that emotions play a big role in our well-being. As you pay attention to your physical health, do not ignore your mental health. There is an increase in cases of depression now and a lot of people have become suicidal especially because they chose to bottle up all they are going through. Suicide cases have risen too. What are you passing through? Why don’t you seek help? Life is worth living.

Just like yesterday, we celebrated this column’s second anniversary, it is three years now. How time flies! Dear esteemed readers, I cannot get tired of thanking you all for your amazing support all through the years. Words cannot express how much you mean to me. You rock!

There are times I get thoughts like ‘what if you run out of topics’, and the next minute, new inspiration flows into my head. In fact, I have had to jolt out of the bed in the middle of the night on several occasions to write things down so as not to forget. Nature is too vast; we are not likely going to run out of topics so soon. Besides, a woman is not too old when it comes to the dance she loves, my love for nature is my driving force.

Are you a botanist or herbalist? That was the question from a reader. I get questions like this all the time. There was a time a radio station contacted me to speak on cervical cancer. I had to reject the offer because I could not assume the role of an oncologist since I am not one. Let us just say I am a health enthusiast. I am passionate about nature. I am an English language graduate with a professor of Botany as a father, and his discussions with me on nature ignited this passion.