Philan's story: a health check-up in Malaysia before turning 30

Background: family and health awareness

My name is Philan. I work in HR at a company — a marketing agency. I live here on my own, just me and my one cat. My routine is pretty much hanging out with friends, catching up with them every now and then, and I also exercise quite a bit — like running or badminton.

It actually started when I was living with my aunt — she was a breast cancer survivor. You could say she had breast cancer for well over ten years. She really became a role model for me too, how she managed to hold on, all the way until the end of her life, and still made a positive impact on the people around her. I lived with my aunt for almost 3 years, so I witnessed the moments she struggled, right up until she passed.

At the same time, my mom too — autoimmune — she relapsed last year, around 2024, so that was about 2 years ago. You could say that about 2 years ago I decided to resign and fully focus on taking care of my mom at the time, because we were constantly going back and forth to the hospital.

A little bit of background on my family: health is something we talk about quite often, because we have a history of several family members with critical illnesses — like breast cancer, my grandmother has diabetes, my parents have autoimmune conditions, and my dad had a stroke as well. So building awareness around that is pretty high in my family. So that's why — it's not a taboo subject in my family.

Deciding to get a medical check-up

Honestly, in terms of worrying, maybe it was a bit of overthinking about my lungs — because I was having a little difficulty breathing. Sometimes it felt kind of tight, simply put. And maybe that had an effect too, so I started thinking: when I exercise, my breathing feels kind of unbalanced compared to everything else. So I was pretty worried about that at first, that's why I decided to get a medical check-up.

Because it felt more thorough. If you go to a doctor, there needs to be a diagnosis first, symptoms first, and then they can proceed. But with a medical check-up, you can — say what specifically you want to check, and you can check that.

"It's like — we change our phones all the time, but why don't we ever check our own bodies? Like maybe a car or whatever — we make a point to service it before a long trip, so why hasn't my own body been checked properly in 29 years?"

So that moment felt like — oh, I think it's time, I need to start getting medical check-ups early. I just wanted to make a promise to myself. We've been living, and I'm almost 29 now. So that's why — okay, as I'm about to turn 30, I think it's time to start checking. There's no need to wait until you're already sick to get checked.

Exploring options and finding Medifly

In the end I went to Subang Jaya Medical Centre, and I also happened to try using Medifly to help with this medical check-up.

At the time I had already asked around about a few options — I was thinking of going to Penang or Kuala Lumpur. But because I also have a lot of friends in Kuala Lumpur, and when I saw the package at Subang Jaya Medical Centre it was quite comprehensive for the price being offered — so yeah, I decided to choose Subang Jaya. I also have a lot of relatives in KL, so it was fine to stay there.

Honestly, I didn't really know the details of all the tests. Because I used Medifly, I was really helped in terms of the list of things. First they asked what my concerns were. At the time I specifically told them: I want an X-ray — I want to check my lungs, because I felt like I really needed an X-ray, I really wanted to know whether there was a problem or not. I had already requested that. Then also about cancer, because there's potential from my family history, and diabetes because there's potential, and autoimmune as well.

So they offered one package option where the blood work could check for the potential for cancer and also autoimmune conditions. It was fairly comprehensive. In the end — oh okay, this can cover everything, and for my current age it's sufficient, and it was recommended by Medifly themselves.

"I actually didn't know at first what a medical check-up should even include, but I was helped by Medifly — oh, this package is already enough for someone my age and maybe for what I'm experiencing right now."

The journey and experience at the hospital

As for the experience, it's really been good so far, because I was genuinely assisted all the way from departing Jakarta through to arriving in Kuala Lumpur and getting to the hospital.

As someone who has traveled quite a lot, this was the first time I felt like I was being treated as a VIP. Because my parents are also elderly, and they usually go back and forth to the hospital quite often — so this is a really good recommendation for them too. Because since I'm still healthy, I felt a little awkward — oh, being accompanied, being assisted like that. But going forward, for my parents this is already highly recommended. Because when you're in another country you're still confused — like how's the transport going to work, what's the next step.

The whole process was really fast — arrived, an hour to get all the tests done, and it was all clear.

Subang Jaya Medical Centre is a really comfortable place. Highly recommended — there's a really proper place to eat with a lot of options. And the directions for the medical check-up were very clear: for example, they let you know in advance when there's a urine test and other things. All the nurses were overall very friendly.

Maybe for those who want to bring parents or elderly family members, you're really well looked after there. If they need wheelchair assistance or anything else, there's someone there in person who will accompany them. So don't worry about it.

Reflections after the medical check-up

From the medical check-up results, I learned quite a lot — oh, so far I've been doing the right things, what I should cut back on, and other things. So I'm just more aware of what I eat and what I do.

"Don't let it get to the point where you've already been diagnosed and only then think about how to treat it — think about how we can prevent it."

If you're not sure where to start, it's okay to look at your family history first — what the potential for critical illness is, and what you've been feeling over the past few years. After that you can try asking friends who have had similar experiences, how it went for them, and from there you can also consult — what your medical check-up should look like.

Maybe you could also save up a reward — it doesn't have to be for buying something expensive, but how you can reward yourself by wanting to know how your body is doing after however many years of living.

A message for Medifly

For Medifly, thank you so much. Because I initially explored a few packages at a few different places on my own, but the Medifly team was really quite helpful with what I requested, and I really got results that matched what I was looking for. Alhamdulillah, the results were also good.

And maybe because this was my first time, there were things I only remembered after the MCU was done — like asking for the results — and I was still helped to be able to get my X-ray results. So it was really a big help, all the way through the assisting, until I was able to get everything — including meals and also going to the dentist — it was really quite good as well.

So if anyone needs assistance, maybe needs something but doesn't have time to explore on their own, you can ask Medifly because it's really recommended. Thank you so far, Medifly, for helping me.