Bloodwork

Hey, got my blood work back from the lab and spoke with my doctor today. This is the first work-up I’ve had since I got out of the hospital three years ago. I’ve been worried a bit lately, and wanted to get all checked out before the Paris trip. Thanks to a grade-Z diet based on short-term emotional pleasure and a sedentary lifestyle which avoids most physical activity in favor of the cerebral, i.e., reading while lounging on the couch, floor, bed, or bathtub, I was worried about how my numbers would turn out. I was afraid that my doctor would get on the phone and yell, “How can you live with lard flowing through your veins!”

Well, it’s not all bad. There’s work to do, mind you, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.

The worst news – the triglycerides. Through the roof. A tidy 581 mg/dL, or nearly four times the maximum figure doctors – and living veins, hearts, and arteries – like to see. So I need to skip the rice, pasta, and chips (simple carbs) and up the veggies and lean protein, like fish and turkey. But this result was expected. Also, since my doctor’s appointment two weeks ago, I’ve been hitting the exercise bike, doing yoga, and throwing the weights around. All that’ll drop the triglyceride levels, too.

The good, unexpected news – my total cholesterol level. It’s 182, right smack in the zone for health, 125 to 200 mg/dL. That shocked me, and all I can say is, it must be something someway somehow due to omega-3s, which I take religiously (2 grams a day).

The expected challenges – getting my HDLs up. HDLs are the good cholesterol. Mine is sitting in the basement at 28, and that number needs to be at least 40 mg/dL to put a smile on my doctor’s face. Aerobic exercise – the exercise bike – plus losing weight, adding fiber, and eating more fish will help that.

The oddities – a deficiency in vitamin D and a slightly low blood platelet count. To rectify the vitamin D, she wants me to take 2,000 IU of a supplement for a month, then drop down to 1,000 a month. Platelets are the thingies in your bloodstream which help with clotting. A residual effect of the coumadin I was on for months and months and months? Dunno. She’s not too concerned at the moment, so we let that count slide.

So, more blood will be taken in three months time. See how good I can be between now and mid-July in terms of my diet, my exercise, and my relaxation techniques. I’m dying to know how better I can do! Well, you know what I really mean to say …