131!

Tuesday 06/28/2005 11:20 PM

The last couple of times I'd been to the doctor over the last 5+ years, I never followed up with the bloodwork. I had an appointment a couple of weeks ago and got it done while I was there. He told I wasn't supposed to have eaten within 12 hours, but when I told him all I'd had was half a Powerbar (chocolate is my all time favorite and is my breakfast about 80% of the time), he said, with a smile, he wouldn't tell if I didn't. We were just trying to get some numbers to see where my cholesterol was — if anything didn't look good, we'd do another round of bloodletting. So the lab girl took my precious lifeforce and I forgot all about it as I walked out the door.

The following week, Candy asked if I'd heard anything and I said, "No." She explained that if I didn't get a phone call that everything was fine and I'd get a letter in the mail with my results. Candy is the head of the member services department at my HMO, Capital Health Plan, so that's how she knows all this stuff.

Anyway, wouldn't you know it, but the very next day there is a voicemail message on my phone from Ada, the nurse at Dr. Shafer's office, telling me I needed to call her. Uh-oh. Guess all those bratwursts are catching up with me.

I called Ada, but the office was closed for lunch until 2PM. Candy was home late for lunch and I asked her to stick around while I got the news. After being on hold for ten minutes, I found out that Ada was at the dentist and she'd have to call me back later. Candy went back to work and I continued the slow burn worry warts as I stressed about what she was going to tell me.

I was thinking, "Well, Peter, it's time to cut back on the saturated fats. What you've been doing in trying balance your fats and increase your fiber hasn't been enough. It's rabbit food time. And you know... you could run a little more."

I finally talked to Ada later in the day and, as I waited for the news, I was kicking myself for gaining some of my weight back since I sprained my ankle last year. That's when she told me about my free T4 count.

Thyroxine is a thyroid hormone and it's normal level in someone like me should be 4.5 — 12.0. I'm at 12.3. Now if there is something wrong with my thyroid, we should see a change in my TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) as it tries to counteract the underperforming or overperforming thyroid, but my TSH is fine. So we're gonna check it again in 3 months and see where it's at.

Then I asked Ada about my cholesterol and she said it was fine. Specifically, here are my fatty speeds and feeds:

Total Cholesterol: 131
Triglycerides: 92
HDL: 32
LDL: 81
Ratio: 2.5

131! In your face, health establishment! My HDL should be higher, but otherwise it's all good. Woo-hoo! ("Waiter, I'd like to double up on those onion rings! And bring me a milkshake!")

Of course, Candy is pretty ticked off. On a good day she eats about 1500 calories and avoids (for the most part) fried and fatty foods, and she's a Lipitor baby! She's one of those that lost out on the genetic lottery and is plagued with high cholesterol.

So I guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing, but I will increase the daily exercise.

The best part is that all of this made my ribeye this evening taste all that much better!

g/nite

File Under: Health, My
Music: The Gorillaz "Demon Days"

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