I’m a founder: here’s why I spend my holidays at the doctor’s office |
Fluorescent lights that softly hum. Magazines nobody reads. A television mounted in the corner playing cable news as a receptionist mispronounces my last name.
I am at my first of several doctors appointments intentionally scheduled during the winter holiday season.
Not because I’m sick. Because it’s the only week of the year when nothing work-related is fighting for my time. The office is closed. The investors aren’t emailing. The product update notifications have stopped. For seven days I can put my body first.
So I schedule the bloodwork. The dermatologist. The physical I’ve been postponing since March. The dentist I keep rescheduling because there’s always a board meeting or a customer call or a crisis that feels more important than my teeth.
I came to this ritual the hard way.
I spent my entire career building venture-backed technology companies while ignoring what my body was telling me. I did everything “right” by founder standards. Didn’t drink, didn’t smoke. Exercised when I could. I told myself the stress was temporary. I told myself I’d rest after the next milestone.
My kidneys failed anyway. Twice: once in 2016 and once in 2025. End-stage renal disease. Two transplants. A decade of dialysis and hospitals taught me something simple:........