WELCOME to an all-new weekend here on my blog. I post new blog entries on Thursday mornings, Friday nights, Sunday afternoons, and Monday nights (U.S. East Coast time). My Thursday morning blog is a free-for-all. I usually have no idea what I’ll be blogging about until I let my fingers hit the keyboard of my traditional desktop computer system. Let’s see how this goes.
Last week I had labwork done at my doctor’s office as part of an annual wellness check. I guess that’s the fancy new millennial term for “annual physical”. The labwork included blood and urine (not holding anything back here), and it checked for lots of various conditions. Today I got the results. Here’s a synopsis:
Cologuard should be arriving soon at my front doorstep in a nice white box. You may have seen their commercials on TV. Basically it’s my very first colon check – done at home. (I’m 52, and I’m somewhat overdue.) I won’t explain Cologuard here in this blog post, for some of you may be eating right now. The TV commercial does a pretty good job at that. There’s also an excellent YouTube video of the process – and it’s rather graphic.
My LDL (bad) cholesterol was a bit high – 110. That’s the highest it’s been since 2012. My triglycerides were also high – 128. That’s the highest ever recorded. My total cholesterol was 188 – the highest since 2012. My doctor told me to double my current intake of Atorvastatin (10 mg.) from every other day to every day. Fantastic. No more guessing as to whether or not any given day is an “Atorvastatin Day”. I’ll also be doubling my intake of Vitamin D (1,000 IU) from every other day to every day.
My glucose (blood sugar level) came in high at exactly 100. It should be between 65 and 99. A 100 indicates “prediabetes” which I’ve had for at least the past decade. My hemoglobin A1C has ranged from 5.5 to 6.1 for the past decade (at least). This time it was right in the middle of that range at 5.8. I need to lose weight. My weight in the mid-180s is about 20 pounds too much for my height. I should weigh about 165. I really need to eat less, eat smaller meals, and eat more nutritious foods in my smaller meals. I personally think that 165 pounds is too light. I’d be ecstatic to drop to 175 pounds instead. My diet really needs to change.
Oh yeah ! – There’s one final anomaly. My liver enzymes are elevated. My “ALT” (Alanine Aminotransferase) is above the recommended level for the 3RD time in less than a year. My doctor told me to go to the local diagnostics center to get an ultrasound done of my liver. (I don’t think I’ve ever had an ultrasound done of anything.)
So there you go. That’s what I’m dealing with here towards the end of April of 2019 – just a little over a month shy of my 52ND birthday. I need to eat better (more fruits and vegetables) – and exercise more. Oh yeah ! – Black coffee is apparently good for me in many different ways, so I should continue on with that.
This week of April marks 11 years since I quit smoking cigarettes. (I started at a very early age.) I quit drinking alcohol almost exactly 11½ years ago. Both habits came to an end forever during my 2ND year of salvation. Jesus saves.
What’s for Lunch tomorrow ?
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