Going to the doctor might be scary: However, the alternative often is worse

 Recently someone I know told me sort of a horror story of a relative that chose not to go to the doctor. Now, it's true I myself almost never went to a doctor (except for stitches) from the time I was 15 until I was around 40 to 45 years old and I didn't have health insurance most of the time between birth and my late 40s. However, luckily my wife insisted I have full health insurance coverage in my late 40s which saved my life and our finances when I was around 50 and got a heart virus and was forced to retire.

However, almost dying like that at 50 made me wiser than many people I know simply because I survived a near death experience and I refused to die then simply because I had a 2 1/2 year old daughter then in 1998 and I had another daughter 7 years older too and a son who was 15 years older than that. So, for all these children and my wife I chose to live on instead of dying like many people would have then.

So, the hard part of getting 40 50 60 and beyond is that if you don't go to a good doctor often enough then dying is fairly certain unless you are really rare in your physical attributes. And even then there are accidents you might have to recover from too.

So, what I tell people is "Be Sure you have full health coverage in Insurance by the time you are 40 to 50 years old. It keeps you from going bankrupt or dying.

I can remember being in my early 40s and having a panic Attack which simulated a heart attack. I went to the hospital because I couldn't speak or walk and could only crawl to the bathtub, get into it and put warm water in it to try to calm myself down enough to maybe stay alive. However, by the time I eventually got driven to the hospital they told me I hadn't had a heart attack but something they called a "Panic Attack".

However, I knew for sure something wasn't right regarding my heart and because I didn't have health insurance at the time no cardiologist would see me at all.

I felt then what many of you feel around the country and world which was: "Am I going to die now because I don't have health insurance?"

This was a valid question because even now my answer would have to be "Maybe" and this is true for almost everyone at least here in the U.S.

My neighbor who is a retired eye doctor said to me at one point: "Isn't Medicare Amazing?"

And I said "Yes!"

Because it is. 

Medicare for Americans who can get on it can sometimes increase your lifespan up to 50 years or more which is a blessing for retired Americans that most nations of the world don't have.

If you can go to a good doctor of your choice maybe you too can still be alive in your 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s or even 100s.

Something to think about.