Off to the Doctor

_As I sat patiently in my doctor’s office, I read over my notes about my cholesterol numbers. I’ll admit I felt rather nervous, but still confident my plan had worked. I was still up for a fight from the doctor about taking statin drugs. I should explain it isn’t that I’m so difficult, but after reading the side effects, I’d just prefer to start out with lifestyle change and a few supplements. Funny, don’t you think, that my medical insurance will gladly pay for statin drugs, but not my efforts to take supplements or join a gym? There is something terribly wrong with our health care options (OK, I’ll get off THAT soapbox ... for now).

So, here I sit ... knowing my numbers and hoping for the best. At my last visit my numbers will explain my doctor’s recommendation for statin drugs:

• Total blood (serum) cholesterol level was 241 (acceptable level is less than 200)
• My HDL (good) was 46 (acceptable level is between 50 and 60/women & 40-50/men)
• My LDL (bad) was 156 (acceptable level is 100 or less)
• My triglycerides level was 247 (acceptable level is less than 150)

So, with those numbers ingrained in my brain, I was escorted to the examining room. A few deep breaths relaxed my shoulders and they dropped to a more normal position than up around my ears! I weighed in and found my new lifestyle netted me a twelve pound loss ... a nice benefit. I anticipated a wait in the examining room and got comfy. Still feeling a bit stressed, I assumed my typical yoga position and just breathed.

I didn’t hear the door open and the doctor found me sitting Indian-style in the chair, my eyes closed, and breathing rhythmically and deeply. I sensed his presence and returned to reality. “Welcome back,” he said with a smile, “let’s take a look at your numbers.” I stood and reviewed my chart with him. He pointed to the chart and with unexpected enthusiasm said,  “Hey, hey ... look at this ... you did it!!”  I was thrilled ... I still had some work to do and some adjustments to make, but the numbers spoke for themselves.  We went over each number:

• Total blood (serum) cholesterol level was 189 (acceptable level is less than 200)
• My HDL (good) was 38 (acceptable level is between 50 and 60/women & 40-50/men)
• My LDL (bad) was 102 (acceptable level is 100 or less)
• My triglycerides level was 189 (acceptable level is less than 150)

Now that my plan had shown such improvement, we spoke about how to tweak my plan a bit. Since I had responded so well to my supplements, he suggested I up my niacin to 1,000mg daily instead of the 500mg I had been taking.  This, he said, would raise my good cholesterol and lower my triglycerides. He was very interested in my red yeast rice supplement I discovered and I was happy to share my information with him.

As we wrapped up my appointment, he asked me if I knew of a TaiChi instructor in our area (of course, I did) .

He’s a cool doctor ... he listens ... he learns ... he admits he doesn’t know it all ... and he’s never said, “Trust me, dear.”

Stay tuned for why I had to make an supplement adjustment ...