Now what?

Since I work in a hospital, they're always hosting some sort of event in the common areas to promote health and fitness. This week's theme is stroke prevention so I decided to have my blood pressure checked to gauge if the plethora of pills that I'm taking are being effective. The pleasant nurse handed me a clipboard and asked me to check off my medical history and that of my family.

Prior heart attack? Nope

Diabetic? Nope

High blood pressure? Yes...

High cholesterol? Just found out...yes....

Alcohol abuse? Nope

Drug abuse? Nope

Smoking? Nope

She looked over my questionnaire and was impressed that I hadn't checked off any of the categories under Family History. I explained to her that since I was adopted, I had no family history.

She proceeded to tell me that her 16 year old daughter had just given up a child for adoption and I could see that it had been a tough decision for the whole family. I talked through it with her and let her know what an amazing gift her daughter is giving to someone who otherwise can't have a child.

She looked down at my questionnaire again and noted that we were about the same age. When I asked her when her birthday was, she stated June 28. I told her mine was July 9 and her eyes welled up with tears. That was the date her daughter had her baby. I reached for her hand and she smiled and said that I must have been meant to stop and talk to her today. I felt almost as good about that as I did about getting my blood pressure reading.

119/77!!! Can I get a "HEY....!!!!!" I can't believe it came down that much. Must have been all that tension I released over the weekend.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that in the last few weeks, I've had a few "episodes" with my gall bladder. I know! I've never had any issues with my gall bladder so when I did, my doctor ordered an ultrasound and a full round of blood tests. Apparently the nausea that I thought I was experiencing from my new meds was really my gall bladder. And the burping and farting have really put a crimp in my social life. No wonder I never get a second date.

We discussed surgery which would have me out of work for at least a week. However, with the recovery period being four to six weeks, that screws up my "look like a hot buff babe by my 25 year high school reunion" plan so I've decided to put it off.

I'm not experiencing as many of the symptoms as I was which is why I'm just going to wait and see how things go. Yes, I'm a vain narcissist, but if it was that bad, I wouldn't be hesitating. It's really sad because at the mention of surgery, the first thing I thought was, Thank goodness. I'll get some time off.

High blood pressure, cholesterol woes, gall bladder problems. I miss the old days when all of my problems were mental.