Pretty, Pretty Blood
Now that I'm actually living in the same state as my primary physician, I thought I'd go see her. I had a list of things to check on, including obtaining a referral to a neurologist, etc. I think I wrote about that bit. I went back on Thursday to get the results of my blood work and follow up in general. Happy surprises ensued.
I haven't had comprehensive blood work done in at least six or seven years. And I'm "middle-aged" now at my glorious forty-five years, so who knew? HA! The results pretty much slam dunk the conventional misinfotainwisdom about food. Fasting blood work reveals...
Glucose: 98 (Normal range: 70-200)
Sodium: 138 (Normal range: 135-145)
Cholesterol: 198 (Normal range: 120-240)
HDL (good cholesterol): 71 (Normal range: 35-85)
LDL (bad cholesterol): 130 (Normal range: 62-130)
Triglycerides: 43 (Normal range: 30-200)
Total Protein: 7.1 (Normal range: 6.4-8.3)
I'm a bit anemic, so I picked up some Floradix liquid to address that. Also I'm "moderately deficient" in terms of vitamin D. How odd. So, I have a few supplemental things to address, but that's it! My thyroid is, I'm told, functioning perfectly. Dr. G says that it may be that I'd had a thyroiditis event that caused it to be low back in the mid-1990's (during which time I took Armour thyroid which did nothing).
On the other hand, I has kind of hoping for an easy answer to my tiredness. We'll see what getting the iron and B's up will accomplish.
Meanwhile, now that I've lost nearly 180 of the 211 pounds that leapt onto my body after The Big Accident, the plastic surgery steps are beginning. The plastic surgeon's office had already replied to Dr. G's with some question forms they wanted filled out. She and I did that during the appointment. The only thing that may give them pause is that I am still getting smaller. Though I've not lost tons of weight in the past year (maybe fifteen pounds, or so), my size keeps going down. I'm "compacting". My guess is that once all of the excess skin and tissue are removed, I'll be at my optimum weight, or within five pounds of it. How cool would that be? The doctor agreed that since the gain was so rapid and coincided with prolonged use of steroids, narcotics, and other drugs, my skin has less elastin than normal and that there would be little to no "snap back". What's hanging will simply hang lower.
I'm kind of psyched ot think about getting the stuff hacked off. Clothes will hang more nicely, sure, and I'll be able to buy some, knowing that I'm finally at a "real" size, instead of in flux. But more than that, the freedom of movement is the stuff of dreams. Right now, the loose tissue gets in the way of many activities and pulls on my joints and spine. I'm ready to thank it and Let It Go!
I see the neurologist next week, the ortho surgeon the following week, and the eye guy the week after that. Chop chop!
Meanwhile, in case I hadn't mentioned it, I have had confirmed that the department selected me as the candidate they'd like to hire. HR is contacting my references. Nice!
Sleepy time now.
Peace, love, and frozen wild blueberries!
~Dot
Copyright 2008 Dot's Stuff. All rights reserved. Loon calls supplied upon request (of one loon to another).
I haven't had comprehensive blood work done in at least six or seven years. And I'm "middle-aged" now at my glorious forty-five years, so who knew? HA! The results pretty much slam dunk the conventional misinfotainwisdom about food. Fasting blood work reveals...
Glucose: 98 (Normal range: 70-200)
Sodium: 138 (Normal range: 135-145)
Cholesterol: 198 (Normal range: 120-240)
HDL (good cholesterol): 71 (Normal range: 35-85)
LDL (bad cholesterol): 130 (Normal range: 62-130)
Triglycerides: 43 (Normal range: 30-200)
Total Protein: 7.1 (Normal range: 6.4-8.3)
I'm a bit anemic, so I picked up some Floradix liquid to address that. Also I'm "moderately deficient" in terms of vitamin D. How odd. So, I have a few supplemental things to address, but that's it! My thyroid is, I'm told, functioning perfectly. Dr. G says that it may be that I'd had a thyroiditis event that caused it to be low back in the mid-1990's (during which time I took Armour thyroid which did nothing).
On the other hand, I has kind of hoping for an easy answer to my tiredness. We'll see what getting the iron and B's up will accomplish.
Meanwhile, now that I've lost nearly 180 of the 211 pounds that leapt onto my body after The Big Accident, the plastic surgery steps are beginning. The plastic surgeon's office had already replied to Dr. G's with some question forms they wanted filled out. She and I did that during the appointment. The only thing that may give them pause is that I am still getting smaller. Though I've not lost tons of weight in the past year (maybe fifteen pounds, or so), my size keeps going down. I'm "compacting". My guess is that once all of the excess skin and tissue are removed, I'll be at my optimum weight, or within five pounds of it. How cool would that be? The doctor agreed that since the gain was so rapid and coincided with prolonged use of steroids, narcotics, and other drugs, my skin has less elastin than normal and that there would be little to no "snap back". What's hanging will simply hang lower.
I'm kind of psyched ot think about getting the stuff hacked off. Clothes will hang more nicely, sure, and I'll be able to buy some, knowing that I'm finally at a "real" size, instead of in flux. But more than that, the freedom of movement is the stuff of dreams. Right now, the loose tissue gets in the way of many activities and pulls on my joints and spine. I'm ready to thank it and Let It Go!
I see the neurologist next week, the ortho surgeon the following week, and the eye guy the week after that. Chop chop!
Meanwhile, in case I hadn't mentioned it, I have had confirmed that the department selected me as the candidate they'd like to hire. HR is contacting my references. Nice!
Sleepy time now.
Peace, love, and frozen wild blueberries!
~Dot
Copyright 2008 Dot's Stuff. All rights reserved. Loon calls supplied upon request (of one loon to another).