Make an appointment with your doctor NOW for a general checkup and blood panel. It could save your life.

This isn’t the sexiest strategy, but it could be the most important point
in the whole book.

It’s advice I didn’t take and I certainly wish I had. Then I would have
known about my diabetes years earlier and I could have easily prevented a
lot of damage to my body.

I know most people reading this probably won’t go see a doctor. I know
in the past I wouldn’t. Why should I? I felt fine. If I had a time travel machine
here’s what I would tell myself:

Dear Earlier Todd,

I am Future Todd writing to you to give you some advice. Don’t
ignore it. We both know how you can be.

The stock market bubble is going to burst, sell your stock now.
Just do it. Now on to a more important topic…

You know how thirsty you get? You know how you drink glass
after glass of water at lunch? That’s a sign of diabetes.

You know how your feet and legs tingle at night? It’s not just weird,
it’s nerve damage and it’s a sign of diabetes.

You know how you think your wounds take a long time to heal?
Don’t bother with the multivitamins; it’s a sign of diabetes.

What you don’t know now is that virtually everyone on Grandma’s
side of the family has diabetes. Surprise! You only thought you had
to worry about cancer.

And there’s a problem you are ignoring. Look down. See that?
You are way overweight dude (yes, the word dude has filtered down
to middle class white guys). I suspect we were obese. Obesity can
trigger diabetes.

Do you see the theme by now? You have Type II diabetes and
you’ve probably had it for some time. Relax. It’s not a death sentence.
We’ll figure it out and do OK. But we could have done better if we had
caught it earlier, or better yet, prevented it completely.

You feel fine you say? That’s what I remember too. But look at all
the obvious symptoms. How could we have possibly known about
all the symptoms and still thought we were fine? It boggles my mind
to this day.

Go see a doctor. Now! I know you don’t like doctors or hospitals
or any sign of weakness. Just go. They’ll run a few simple tests and ask
you a few simple questions and then you’ll know. The earlier you know
there’s a problem the longer we’ll live and the better we’ll feel.

Good luck. Oh, and rely on Linda, she’ll be there for you in a
big way.

Signed,
Future Todd Who is Doing Better But Should Have Started Earlier.

You probably don’t even know if you have a medical problem. You probably
have convinced yourself you feel fine. You probably are fine. I hope so.
But maybe not.

Really good health can kill you. People in good health don’t go to the
doctor. Many of these people drop dead from a stroke later in life because they
thought they were in good health, but weren’t. Silent but deadly problems
like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, metabolic syndrome and
hypothyroid can all be found by a simple checkup.

Many medical problems can make weight loss more difficult, so knowing
your health status can help with weight loss. And many problems are simply
a lot easier to treat when they are caught early. Don’t wait for symptoms. Get
a checkup now. Please don’t wait, diseases never do.