Yes, I’ve gotten old. I’m sitting around talking about health issues.
Last week I had the blood draw. The nurse was very gentle about it, and used a lidocaine cream on my arm where she was drawing blood to lessen the pain. I admit this one did go a little smoother than previous times, and I wasn’t quite as snarly, so they may be on to something with the lidocaine cream. Anyway, I didn’t bite anyone during it, so, yeah me.
The doctor called this morning with the results of my tests. For the most part I’m doing pretty good. Most levels were within acceptable limits. I need more Vitamin D so I think I’m being put on a supplement for that. That or I can get into competitive sun tanning like Zonker Harris.
My A1C was high, which we kind of expected. It was higher than the doctor would like so I’m going back on drugs for it, to try and bring it down to a more manageable level. And of course eating better and continuing to exercise are of great import. I know I have not been eating as well as I should so I need to go back to being more disciplined about what I eat. Walking the dogs every morning and getting to the pool several times a week should help. I was working out every weekday morning with weights but I stopped that. Might have to start up again.
Should all this not bring down my A1C then the next step would be insulin injections. I will avoid that at all costs so my motivation to get back to being disciplined about diet and exercise is high. There is the possibility that at my age the pancreas has just plain given up the ghost and I may need to start insulin injections anyway. I am certainly hoping that is not the case and not sure how I will handle it if I do have to start.
The doctor was surprised by my thyroid gland producing too much thyroid. He said there might be a tiny nodule that is the cause and he is putting me on meds to see if it can be regulated. If the meds do their job things will get back in balance. If not, surgery may be required to remove the nodule.
My cholesterol is also higher than the doctor likes so he is putting me on a statin drug. According to him this is to drop my cholesterol and if it goes down even a little bit, it vastly reduces my chances of having a heart attack or stroke. As I don’t want to have either of those happen I guess I must go on that as well.
And thus starts my slide down the slippery slope of having to take handfuls of pills every day. Ugh!
I’ll go back in a few months to do it all over again to see where things stand. So another blood draw to look forward to, if not more if he sends me to an endocrinologist over the thyroid thing.
Overall, though, I remain fairly indestructible.
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