March 7, 2007

• Remember last week how I went for a routine physical? Well, Monday afternoon I got a voice mail from my doctor's office saying my blood work was done and they asked me to call back. I assumed everything was ok, although they had never called before when I had a blood test. Anywho, I called them back and they said that my cholesterol was slightly high. Its 209, it should be under 200. I don't think this is that big of a deal, in fact, they just told me to change my diet a little. I figure its from all the damn cheese I eat. I don't know if you know this, but I am a cheese freak, I'm convinced that is the only reason why it was high. I have been known to have certain meals and add piles and piles of cheese. And my favorite is parmesan, I eat that stuff straight up sometimes. Ok, a lot of times. Occasionally, I will just walk into the kitchen, open the fridge and eat a handful of the stuff. I'm not making that up. So, one can see why I would have high cholesterol.

  The nurse I spoke to also mentioned a couple of other things. She said my potassium was high, as was 2 of my liver enzymes. They wanted me to go for another blood test on Tuesday (last night). I told them I could be there by 6. This made me a little bit uneasy and had me worried, after all, nothing like this has ever happened before when I got a physical. Because we live in a world in which everybody is their own doctor, I went home and looked up high potassium and high liver enzymes on WebMd. It said the high potassium could be from drinking too much caffeine. WOOOHOOO!!! My addiction is having an effect. As for the high liver enzymes...........I'm not going to pull any punches, what it said scared the complete and utter shit out of me. Hepatitis C. The more I thought about it and the more I read, the more scared I became. Now, this is totally me over reacting, but it bothered me so much, that I could not sleep Monday night. I kept telling myself that it could be anything, don't get freaked out until they do the other test, wait and see. Talk to the doctor or nurse about it, I'm sure its not as bad as you think it is. But still, bad thoughts filled my head. I spent most of Tuesday anxiously waiting for the day to end. On the other hand, I was dreading the damn blood test, afraid of what they might say. I wasn't really sharing this with anybody, because I didn't want to worry anybody if it turns out to be nothing. But, inside, I was petrified. I got to the doctor's office about 20 minutes early. I get off work at 5 and I wasn't supposed to be there until 6, but hoped to get in a little early. As it turned out, they did take me about 10-15 minutes early. I told the nurse how worried I was. I know this is probably not right, but the doctor does not know I'm gay. I really should tell him. Anywho, she explained that the high liver enzymes could be a number of things, from drinking alcohol, taking medicine or even gall stones. She said most of the time the 2nd blood test comes back and its normal. This reassured me, but I was still a little on edge. They told me I would have the results back today.  She also said if they came back still high, I would have to go for an ultra sound on my liver. I slept much better last night knowing I was probably over reacting. Today, I was more myself but it was in the back of my mind all day long. I checked my voicemail every chance I got. Nothing. When I got off work at 5, I turned on my phone hoping for a message, but also hoping that maybe they got them back and it was ok and they didn't need to call. On the way out to my car, my phone starting ringing like I had a voicemail. This was it, the moment of truth. It said I had 2 messages. The first one the nurse said they had the results back and to give them a call. The next message was her again, apologizing that she didn't realize, but she could leave the results right on my voicemail. Right at that point, I knew it was probably good, and it was, she said that it came back normal. But, it was a very trying couple of days, especially since I decided not to burden anybody with the potential bad news. I guess the lesson is, don't check on WebMd right away like that, it will only upset you.

  This just in, I got another phone call. This one from my twin brother Mark, his wife, who is pregnant with twins, is having contractions. She is not due until the end of April, but he is taking her to the hospital right now just to be on the safe side, even though they think its just false contractions. He is going to call me in a couple of hours, probably after I have gone to bed.

  • 10:23 pm
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