A Trip to the Doc at 40

Last month I turned 40. Last year my sister and dad both were diagnosed with cancer. They had breast and colon cancer respectively. (Both are doing great now). Anyway, I call that a pattern so I decided I had better get over my dislike of doctors and go get a physical.

The physical was no big deal. Blood Pressure (118/85), pulse (68), reflexes, yadda-yadda-yadda. They also ask a ton of questions. It's all typical stuff used to establish a baseline medical history. I like to call myself very medically boring. I am happy this way.

One part of the physical that wasn't to pleasant was the inevitable prostate check. The NP who did the exam was a slim girl with slender fingers but *DAMN* I swear she used a telephone pole to check things. As I'm bending over waiting for the "slight discomfort" I tried to think of something funny to say. I ended up saying "I have about 20 jokes I could say right now but none of them really seem all that funny". Well, the NP picked up my slack and replied "You ought to see things from my perspective." Nice, thanks for making me laugh.

Other than that the rest of the physical was pretty normal. Since I hadn't fasted I had to come back for a full blood work-up. Jennifer and I both needed to do them so we did them last weekend. I got the results back yesterday and once again my medically boring status was reinforced. The only thing that needs addressing is my "good" cholesterol level. It's a bit low; however, my "bad" cholesterol level is in extremely good shape so it's nothing to worry about. The letter from the doc gave me some pointer on how to increase the good stuff with diet and exercise.

Because of the recent family history of cancer I will be getting an early colonoscopy at the end of the month. From what my dad tells me the procedure itself is no big deal "because the drugs you get are way better than the street stuff". lawl, thanks Pops. The worst part of the procedure is the stuff I have to do prior. From what's been described to me, it sounds like I have to basically flush myself out. Again, according to Dad, I'll have diarrhea like I've never imagined. Great. SOOO looking forward to that. Meh, I guess it's worth it considering the alternative.

pizza

NOTE: YIKES! I put my blood pressure as 168/85.. That would completly suck. Anyway, I edited that and put the correct numbers in...