Yesterday was Doctor Day... a round of seeing just about everyone, I think. Only good thing about it was getting it over with all in one day... although we're having an unexpected trip to the physical therapist today.
First up was our GP, who I have to say is, on the whole, a lovely guy. BUT he's a huge cholesterol cop, and the thing that he's pushed from day one is treating Michael's high LDL. And so we did, in the days before low-carb. We tried a bunch of statin drugs that didn't do much at all but ended up causing such joint pain that Michael found movement just about impossible. This killed about a year for us. We tried some resin thing... I'm not even going to try to spell it because it's not worth looking up... with no particular effects at all. Admittedly, we did not do a good job of taking it regularly, but chugging tons of this stuff only seemed to make constipation an issue. And in the end, we decided, to hell with it. Diet and exercise will help. A low carb diet will increase HDL and reduce triglycerides, and that's the important thing, anyway.
So, yesterday, he again pushed this. I/we said, we have decided not to treat this at this time. And, wow, you could see the temperature in the room change.
Yes, I know that we all get stuck in our own paradigms. I know that he really believes that this is a mistake. I know that he is genuinely concerned about this. BUT it would be nice if he'd display a little interest in something other than this one thing. The slightly worrisome rise in Michael's A1C. Weight loss. The things he's actually having a problem with. Managing diabetes better. The awesome triglyceride drop.
We were both annoyed and dismayed.
I get a little tired of having to fight about this all the time. The most tedious thing about the whole low-carb lifestyle is that some days, you just feel like you're fighting everyone.
Showing posts with label cholesterol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cholesterol. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Back to the Doctors + Lab Work
Tuesday, we spent all day either at a doctors office or phoning doctors offices, trying to arrange appointments. Or it seems that way anyway, even with a lovely break to go to the Enormous Garden Store. Not it's name, but it might as well be. Anyway, after nearly eight months of doctor hiatus, we're back in the system! Oh joy... Next week we have two more appointments, and one the following week, and so on. And so on.
The good news x 2... the first part is the doctor (GP) doesn't think that there's any major structural issue with Michael's leg, which is very good, and referred us back to the sports medicine guy, who will undoubtedly send him back for physical therapy, which is all good. We did a round of physical therapy at that place before, and it was ok, all things considered, but at the time, Michael's head was a lot less into really working on this stuff, so with the hassle of driving back and forth and not a lot of dedication about doing the exercises at home, we quit. This time might be different, although the endless problem is trying to find a physical therapist who understands that doing exercises on a 500 lb. body is not the same as doing exercise on a 200 lb. body. But at any rate, Michael feels better for getting a little input on it and having someone say it's ok, and so now, we work on the process of getting it better.
The other good news is cholesterol tests, which were the first ones since we started eating low carb. What you'd have to call the typical low-carb result... LDL about the same, HDL fractionally higher, and triglycerides drop like a rock... from 327 to 73. Amazingly good, especially if you believe that triglycerides are the main issue, not LDL. The doctor didn't say much about it, because he was focused on a lot of other things. He's an LDL guy, but we are definitely not going back to any medication on this, so if he wants that, what I really want to see is a particle size test; I forget what that's called, so I have to research that.
Anyway, all good really, and now I have to plant the ton of stuff that I bought at the garden place!
The good news x 2... the first part is the doctor (GP) doesn't think that there's any major structural issue with Michael's leg, which is very good, and referred us back to the sports medicine guy, who will undoubtedly send him back for physical therapy, which is all good. We did a round of physical therapy at that place before, and it was ok, all things considered, but at the time, Michael's head was a lot less into really working on this stuff, so with the hassle of driving back and forth and not a lot of dedication about doing the exercises at home, we quit. This time might be different, although the endless problem is trying to find a physical therapist who understands that doing exercises on a 500 lb. body is not the same as doing exercise on a 200 lb. body. But at any rate, Michael feels better for getting a little input on it and having someone say it's ok, and so now, we work on the process of getting it better.
The other good news is cholesterol tests, which were the first ones since we started eating low carb. What you'd have to call the typical low-carb result... LDL about the same, HDL fractionally higher, and triglycerides drop like a rock... from 327 to 73. Amazingly good, especially if you believe that triglycerides are the main issue, not LDL. The doctor didn't say much about it, because he was focused on a lot of other things. He's an LDL guy, but we are definitely not going back to any medication on this, so if he wants that, what I really want to see is a particle size test; I forget what that's called, so I have to research that.
Anyway, all good really, and now I have to plant the ton of stuff that I bought at the garden place!
Monday, May 12, 2008
This week's weight
Michael: -4 lbs, 496.5, total loss since January: 47 lbs., (overall loss since 2006, 117)
Nina: -4.5 lbs, 280.2, total loss since January: 22 lbs.
A good week all around, although the weekly loss numbers are kind of magnified by the fact that we were both up slightly last week. I'm pretty happy with the way that we're eating now; Michael's blood sugar has been pretty stable except when we forget to eat for hours; the portion sizes are keeping down (the vegetable portions are going up!) and the addition of legumes in very moderate quantities has increased happiness without causing weight gain or blood sugar spikes. Hard to complain about any of that.
My big concern is that I still haven't been able to go back to playing racquetball; my hip (or thigh or whatever it is) is still really painful, off and on. We'll see the doctor at the end of the month, and see what he has to say about this and about Michael's knee. We've been pretty steady with the seated workout, and I found a bunch of additional information on seated workouts in general, so I'll be reporting back on how that's going soon.
The other interesting (I hope) thing is that Michael is having a blood test today... these will be the first cholesterol tests since we started low carb, and so it will be very interesting to see what happens.
Nina: -4.5 lbs, 280.2, total loss since January: 22 lbs.
A good week all around, although the weekly loss numbers are kind of magnified by the fact that we were both up slightly last week. I'm pretty happy with the way that we're eating now; Michael's blood sugar has been pretty stable except when we forget to eat for hours; the portion sizes are keeping down (the vegetable portions are going up!) and the addition of legumes in very moderate quantities has increased happiness without causing weight gain or blood sugar spikes. Hard to complain about any of that.
My big concern is that I still haven't been able to go back to playing racquetball; my hip (or thigh or whatever it is) is still really painful, off and on. We'll see the doctor at the end of the month, and see what he has to say about this and about Michael's knee. We've been pretty steady with the seated workout, and I found a bunch of additional information on seated workouts in general, so I'll be reporting back on how that's going soon.
The other interesting (I hope) thing is that Michael is having a blood test today... these will be the first cholesterol tests since we started low carb, and so it will be very interesting to see what happens.
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