All hope lies with him and none with me
Dec. 11th, 2006 03:39 pmI saw the doctor. I am, except for cholesterol, healthier than your average horse. I have no trace (so far; we do need to give it another decade to develop) of the diabetes my brother has and my father had. My BP is 116/62, which impresses everybody who looks at my weight and age; my heart rate (after a Diet Coke) was 76 bpm; my liver whatever-test whose 'normal' range goes from zero up to 4 is point-4, i.e. 10% of the normal baditude; all the signs for prostate etc. are perfectly normal.
But my cholesterol sucks. As my dad's did... and Dad had a heart attack at 53 and died of a stroke at 68. 53, as in thirteen years from now. As in the year Joshua enters college.
Diet does only a little, though losing weight will help (I'm 5'8" and just over 200 lbs). Exercise does somewhat more. Will do all three, as the doc says in no uncertain terms I must. But the doctor is also putting me on a low dose of a drug that could snarl my liver.
My mom still smokes and isn't in great health, but at 76 still lives on her own and manages to get around. My dad I wrote about above; he also smoked until he was about 40. One grandfather smoked and died in his fifties; the other three grandparents all lived into their 90s. (A bit overhopeful, perhaps, as Papa was thin as a rail and ate virtually nothing but fish he caught, berries Nana picked, and vegetables they overcooked. Still. Evidence suggests these genes won't kill me young if I don't let them.)
The context, to me, seems to be that properly managing my cholesterol, i.e. weight/diet/exercise/medication, could well make a difference of not just years but decades, given that there's absolutely nothing else on the horizon.
He says the low starting dose probably won't be enough and in six months he's likely to up the dosage.
That all depends on whether it's possible to manage with weight loss and diet and exercise and weight loss. We shall see.
Because seeing Joshua go to college is one valid goal. But seeing his children go to college is another perfectly valid goal. I'd like to.
But my cholesterol sucks. As my dad's did... and Dad had a heart attack at 53 and died of a stroke at 68. 53, as in thirteen years from now. As in the year Joshua enters college.
Diet does only a little, though losing weight will help (I'm 5'8" and just over 200 lbs). Exercise does somewhat more. Will do all three, as the doc says in no uncertain terms I must. But the doctor is also putting me on a low dose of a drug that could snarl my liver.
My mom still smokes and isn't in great health, but at 76 still lives on her own and manages to get around. My dad I wrote about above; he also smoked until he was about 40. One grandfather smoked and died in his fifties; the other three grandparents all lived into their 90s. (A bit overhopeful, perhaps, as Papa was thin as a rail and ate virtually nothing but fish he caught, berries Nana picked, and vegetables they overcooked. Still. Evidence suggests these genes won't kill me young if I don't let them.)
The context, to me, seems to be that properly managing my cholesterol, i.e. weight/diet/exercise/medication, could well make a difference of not just years but decades, given that there's absolutely nothing else on the horizon.
He says the low starting dose probably won't be enough and in six months he's likely to up the dosage.
That all depends on whether it's possible to manage with weight loss and diet and exercise and weight loss. We shall see.
Because seeing Joshua go to college is one valid goal. But seeing his children go to college is another perfectly valid goal. I'd like to.