Thanks to the miracle of the web, and some remarkably fast testing, I’m happy to report that other than slightly elevated blood pressure and slightly elevated cholesterol, neither of which is high enough to require medication, I’m in pretty good shape.
The doctor suggested that I start an aspirin-a-day regime and continue to try to reduce my cholesterol. I’m wondering just what it would take to do that since I’ve lost over twenty pounds since last year and replaced some of that fat with lean muscle. Weighing 180 pounds at six foot doesn’t leave too much more fat to get rid of.
I’m already exercising well over ten hours a week and find I sometimes have to cut back on activities because of soreness in my knees or my feet. I haven’t entirely sworn off meat, but I’ve cut back considerably and don’t really want to become a vegetarian.
I’d hoped to lose a little more weight, but apparently I’m getting more synthroid than I need now, and the doctor is cutting that back. On the positive side, that might make me a little mellower since too much synthroid definitely makes me hyper. On the negative side, it will be easier to gain weight since synthroid affects your metabolism.
Still, perhaps the most frightening medical advice I’ve heard from a physician lately is the doctor who said that although I have had three different kinds of cancer, I also seem to have a resistance that keeps it from spending, and considering how good of shape I’m in I could live to be 90.
Crap! I doubt I have the finances to live that long, particularly if medical costs continue to escalate while my pension shrinks in value every year.
Worse yet, if I’m going to live that long I am going to have to reconsider what I want to do with my life. I’m not sure that going to the Y three times a week, walking through the woods taking pictures and occasionally posting a poetry entry is going to be enough to sustain me.
Still, past experiences with cancer have convinced me that it’s foolish to spend too much of today worrying about a tomorrow that may never come. I’m not going to spend my money like there’s no tomorrow, but I hope my kids don’t expect to be left much but good memories.