We have to talk about money. This is awkward but it is important.
Last week a new person came to the Doctor’s Report, saw the results of his initial exam and heard everything he needed to hear. His health was in a terrible state, his spine and nervous system were stressed off the charts. I sat with him knowing that the decision whether or not to accept care in my office could very well be pivotal. This was a moment of truth. I always get excited at this moment because I see his entire future change based on one decision that will influence so many new decisions about his most valuable asset, his health.
“Is this important enough to you to spend the next six months working on it?”, I asked. What would he say? The next few words out of his mouth would be so important. “It is Dr Goulx, but it is a question of cost, how much is this?” After we reviewed recommendations and schedule of care we reviewed financial details and I answered all of his questions. “This all boils down to money and I just can’t right now” was his final answer. Normally I would smile politely and let him know that we are here when he is ready and he would be welcome to return whenever his circumstances would allow. I started with that outro and it turned my stomach. For some reason I stopped mid-sentence and blurted out something like, “there is no excuse, you have the money, you can’t afford to not do this.” I seriously said that and I am not sure who looked more surprised. My statement was met with silence. Which usually means it was still my turn to speak, so I kept going, “Based on your current health and the direction you are going right now, where do you think you will be ten years from now? Two years from now?” More silence. Awkward. Finally he answered, “probably dead or very sick and nearly dead”. “Wow” I thought, he said it, and it was probably true.
I am always a little surprised at who decides to become a committed practice member in our office and who does not. People with ordinary jobs and students who commit and Rolex, pinstripe suit, Mercedes guy who says, “can’t afford this right now”. I thought there was a pattern based on socioeconomic status. There is not. It has almost nothing to do with how rich or poor you are. It has everything to do with…..are you ready for it? Your vision. You thought I was going to say it had to do with what you value. Nope. How sharp is your vision? If you keep doing what you are doing right now, how does that look two or five or twenty years from now? If you were permanently ill and someone offered you ten million dollars to stay sick and keep living the way you were would you take it? What if you were offered one dollar and you could get out of your death bed, play with your kids, go on a date with your wife, play your favorite sport again or play cards with your buddies?
Would you take the ten million or the dollar?
In 2011 I almost lost it all. I made some poor choices and let things that don’t matter take over my life. Long story short I got tired, stressed and immune supressed. A simple ear infection went bad and I ended up with bacterial meningitis. In four days I went from being a husband to an amazing woman, father of two girls, chiropractor to hundreds of Ottawa families and a financially successful entrepreneur to a man who lay dying in a hospital bed. In the blink of an eye everything changed. I was on my death bed, my wife was left wondering what the future was going to bring, two children wondering what was wrong with daddy, a practice that was closed indefinitely. I was blind as a result of the illness but my vision was never sharper. Things got really clear for me – priorities fell into the right order. Frankly though, it was almost too late.
When I hear, “I can’t afford it”, what I really hear is “I won’t afford it”.
When you look into your future, what do you see?
When you lose your health, you can lose everything. What are you willing to invest in?