Today I’m going to undergo a minor medical procedure that will affect my eyesight. I won’t be able to work for the rest of the day.
In two weeks, I’m going to have a diagnostic procedure that will become a feature of my life from now on, once a decade or so. The preparation for the procedure is messy, painful, and will take an entire day; I won’t be able to work that day either. I’ll have to miss work on the day of the procedure, because of the anesthesia; I won’t be able to drive for the entire day.
All of this medical attention is unpleasant, to put it mildly. I wish I didn’t have to do it.
But the alternatives are worse: blindness, or dying painfully as a friend of mine did.
So through it all I’ll thank the gods for giving me access to this medical care, and for having a job that gives me the insurance and the days off to receive it. It may be hard, but these are still gifts.