The Editor’s Desk | Opinion Troy Dodds

troy.dodds@westernweekender.com.au @troydodds

Iturned 40 last month, which depending on who you talk to is either really old or still spring-in-your-step young.

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I chose not to be overly concerned or daunted by the number though, knowing there’s plenty of people who would have loved nothing more than to reach that milestone. Life can be short, and cruel.

Friends and family were generous with gifts, which I appreciate, but it was the present I gave myself that was perhaps the greatest of all; albeit some of it required taking my clothes off.

Get your mind out of there.

I decided that turning 40 meant it was time for an all-round health check.

Being a bloke, the stereotype generally fits pretty well as far as visiting the doctor is concerned. For some reason, we just don’t do it enough.

First step was a skin check at Medeco on High Street – my first in a good five or six years, and the scene of the aforementioned clothes removal.

All clear there – come back in two years, and keep up the slip, slop, slap routine.

It’s a check-up you shouldn’t ignore, especially if you work in the sun or spend plenty of time outdoors. A friend around my age was recently diagnosed with melanoma at a routine skin check, which very likely saved her life.

Next on the list was a visit to my GP. All the usual blood tests, urine tests and everything else you get at this new milestone age.

Not surprisingly, he told me to lose 20kgs. The only thing that has changed about that message over the years is the size of the number.

I argued that I’m just ‘fit fat’ given I do put myself through the joys of F45 most mornings of the week, but he’s probably right – the Magnum ice creams and Maltesers Gold (seriously, how good are they) are probably cancelling that out.

I had the last laugh though: all looking good with the series of tests. The relief when you get that news is like nothing else, even if you didn’t go there with any symptoms or particular reason to worry.

MISSING A FATHER OR TRYING TO BE A BETTER DAD?

Many have found the ideas in this book helpful.

The purpose and motive to live aright can be gained now. This point won, you have started as you should. You have begun at the numeration-table of Christian Science, and nothing but wrong intention can hinder your advancement. Working and praying with true motives, your Father will open the way.(SH 326:16–21)

Next up was an ultrasound, one thing I do undertake pretty religiously after my father died from kidney cancer in 2016.

This was my biennial check-up, given there’s some additional family background with the disease.

All clear there as well, and a great relief when you can finally get rid of those litres of water you have to drink in preparation.

Next on the list was the one that I probably dreaded the most: the dentist.

I last visited the dentist in 2012, to give you some context as to why I was concerned.

My 11-year hiatus resulted in a couple of cavities but not much else; apart from a stern word about visiting more regularly and a teeth clean about as comfortable as a whack across the head with a baseball bat.

Last on the list was a visit to the optometrist, to confirm what I already knew: I could get a job in the NRL Bunker.

Eye checks aren’t just about getting yourself a new pair of glasses, there’s plenty of other serious things that get checked during this process, making it an important part of a health check-up.

So as 40 sets in and the results have been generally good, I’ve made myself a promise: this needs to be a more regular occurrence.

Life gets in the way of these things. There’s sometimes a cost involved, and certainly a

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Dharug Connection........................36 time factor that can be draining and difficult to negotiate.

But imagine saying you don’t have time to check your health only to find out later that the few hours it takes to do all of these things could have given you another 20 or 30 years of life, if not longer?

Sometimes, us blokes wear it as a badge of honour not going to the doctor. “I’ll go to the doctor when I’m sick,” some say.

Sometimes, we’re just scared. It’s a strange thing really; we’re worried about what the result might say so we prefer to be oblivious to what might be going on inside us.

As part of my 40th celebrations, I recently went on a short holiday to Fiji (the trip you do when you’ve got a two-year-old in tow).

In the lead-up, I was planning on putting off some of these health checks to ensure any bad news didn’t put a dampener on the holiday.

I shook some sense into myself and ended up getting the all clear before I went: something to celebrate with a margarita or three (the GP does suggest cutting those down as well, but negotiations are continuing on that front).

So if you’ve just hit a milestone birthday like me, start planning those health checks. I wouldn’t say it’s fun, but it does feel like a bit of an achievement as you start ticking them all off.

You may just give yourself the best present of all: peace of mind.

And if there is something not quite right, you’ll be forever grateful that you decided to act when you did, and not when it’s too late. What are you waiting for?

And another thing...

I was sad to hear of the recent passing of Alan Bideleux, who was heavily involved with the Cambridge Park Lions Club for many years.

Alan would regularly get in touch with the Weekender about various Lions goings-on, and was a passionate and dedicated member of the community.

I’d like to pass on my sympathies to his family and friends.

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Protest

Teachers held a rally outside Londonderry MP Prue Car’s office in St Marys on Wednesday afternoon.

The State Government and the NSW Teachers Federation remain at loggerheads over tackling the teacher shortage in New South Wales as well as teacher salaries.

The Federation claims the State Government struck and then reneged on a one year agreement to lift wages to make beginning and experienced teachers the nation’s best paid.

“It backtracked in early August by insisting on an additional three year clause capping wage movements at 2.5 per cent. This counterproductive measure undermines and erodes the first year increase,” the Federation said in a statement.

Car – who is also the Education Minister and Deputy Premier – said the government was “constantly talking” to the Federation.

“We want the same thing – that is to deliver a significant uplift in teacher salaries so that we can address the teacher shortage crisis. We need to encourage the best teachers back into the profession,” she said.

“We agree with the Teachers Federation that teachers need a pay rise now – we’ve already busted the wages cap and the agreement we’re working towards would make first year teachers the highest paid in the country.

“There is a lot we both agree on.”