Screw genetics
So I had my annual physical today...well sort of annual since it's been three years since i've gone in to the doctor's office. Not necessarily because I neglect my health, but because of this whole moving around thing and being on my parent's insurance plan. Good ole Kaiser doesn't quite have as much pull out here as it does on the west coast. So anyways, after I turned 26 this year, I got booted off the plan and had to find my own insurance. Not so bad, since I'm relatively healthy and I really only have to get the heatlh insurance for a year until I get into my internship/residency where that should be covered for me.
That's where the problem comes in. I got a cheap health insurance plan, cause I figure just that, I'm a physical specimen with no health problems. Enter: a few things I've neglected over the last couple years --> 1) My BP and possible my cholesterol 2) My inadequate sleep
Lets examine first my BP and my cholesterol. Over the last couple of years, my BP readings have been relatively high whenever I take them, either at school or in the clinic. My cholesterol too has been borderline...not quite high...just getting real close. I usually just attributed it to the ridiculously unhealthy food that I ate in the fraternity...cause we all know...Twig could cook...but he sure as hell could care less about cooking healthy...need I say Meatloaf grease...mmmmm. Well today, I was a little shocked, my BP was 154/110 at first try and 145/94 at the second try. That is horrible...that is something you might expect for a 45 yr old...not me. Enter...genetics. My dad has always been a healthy person, he works physical jobs, exercises and eats healthy...crap the man eats rice for almost every meal. Then again he has had angioplasty on his coronaries at the age of 50 and his blood pressure and cholesterol always run high. So what now for me? Well I have a few options...one ties into the second thing I've neglected which I will discuss below. In the meantime, I have to check my bloodpressure and record it several times a week and then follow up in a few months. If nothing changes...it looks like this bad boy will be starting -thiazides for blood pressure and -statins for cholesterol at an early age. You can't really fight genetics, but you might as well try to slow it down.
The second thing I've neglected has been my lack of sleep for various reasons. I'm always tired no matter how much sleep I get, for the most part I've always attributed it to school and the inconsistent sleep schedule. Next is my snoring...supposedly I snore a lot...i dunno....people tell me this...I think they are just sensitive sleepers. Hell, if they want to hear snoring, they need to spend a night with Brandon, they'll have better luck trying to sleep during an air raid. ANyways, on top if it all, I've noticed that when I wake up in the mornings coughing and hacking up a lung, my throat is usually sore, either from some reflux or because my nose is so stuffed up I do so much mouth breathing when I sleep. That would all sort of make sense then if I have some type of sleep apnea that can be explained with something being wrong with my nasal pasages. To top it off, in a sleep study last year, I was kicked out of the overnight study, when they informed me that my oxygen saturation levels dropped 10 times during the night to 85-89%...which definitely should not happen. Again...this defies all conventional medical stereotypes. Normally a person with sleep apnea will be overweight or a chronic alcoholic...obviously i'm neither. So what am I doing for this...I'm gonna try self medicating myself first with Nasocort which I received from Salwa, which is a decongestant. In addition to see if reflux is the cause of the coughing fits I started Prevacid which I received from my attending last month. On top of it all, I have a referral to see an ENT doctor sometime this month for a real sleep study evaluation. Pending the evaluation, if I do have sleep apnea, the treatments pretty much suck. I can lose weight...if i'm fat, I can stop drinking...if I really drink; since those two are out the door, i'm stuck with CPAP and surgery, if surgical intervention is what can fix things. CPAP is basically a mask that I would have to sleep with every night that would create positive pressure and a larger gradient so air will flow easier into my lungs. Surgery may be an option if I have some type of septal deviation in my nose or anything else that is obstructing the airflow, problem is, that will knock me out for a long period of time...that I just don't have to give up right now.
Well..that was my day. Now I sit and write my paper on Germany's healthcare system...fun stuff. Somehow, this assignment was given two months ago, and I thought it was smart to start it tonight....at least I have a full 24hrs to turn it in....ha....i'm a moron.
Whoa...two updates in two days...i've gone crazy. Maybe there will be another one tomomorrow....after I bring life into this world...boyaaah...deliverin babies...
That's where the problem comes in. I got a cheap health insurance plan, cause I figure just that, I'm a physical specimen with no health problems. Enter: a few things I've neglected over the last couple years --> 1) My BP and possible my cholesterol 2) My inadequate sleep
Lets examine first my BP and my cholesterol. Over the last couple of years, my BP readings have been relatively high whenever I take them, either at school or in the clinic. My cholesterol too has been borderline...not quite high...just getting real close. I usually just attributed it to the ridiculously unhealthy food that I ate in the fraternity...cause we all know...Twig could cook...but he sure as hell could care less about cooking healthy...need I say Meatloaf grease...mmmmm. Well today, I was a little shocked, my BP was 154/110 at first try and 145/94 at the second try. That is horrible...that is something you might expect for a 45 yr old...not me. Enter...genetics. My dad has always been a healthy person, he works physical jobs, exercises and eats healthy...crap the man eats rice for almost every meal. Then again he has had angioplasty on his coronaries at the age of 50 and his blood pressure and cholesterol always run high. So what now for me? Well I have a few options...one ties into the second thing I've neglected which I will discuss below. In the meantime, I have to check my bloodpressure and record it several times a week and then follow up in a few months. If nothing changes...it looks like this bad boy will be starting -thiazides for blood pressure and -statins for cholesterol at an early age. You can't really fight genetics, but you might as well try to slow it down.
The second thing I've neglected has been my lack of sleep for various reasons. I'm always tired no matter how much sleep I get, for the most part I've always attributed it to school and the inconsistent sleep schedule. Next is my snoring...supposedly I snore a lot...i dunno....people tell me this...I think they are just sensitive sleepers. Hell, if they want to hear snoring, they need to spend a night with Brandon, they'll have better luck trying to sleep during an air raid. ANyways, on top if it all, I've noticed that when I wake up in the mornings coughing and hacking up a lung, my throat is usually sore, either from some reflux or because my nose is so stuffed up I do so much mouth breathing when I sleep. That would all sort of make sense then if I have some type of sleep apnea that can be explained with something being wrong with my nasal pasages. To top it off, in a sleep study last year, I was kicked out of the overnight study, when they informed me that my oxygen saturation levels dropped 10 times during the night to 85-89%...which definitely should not happen. Again...this defies all conventional medical stereotypes. Normally a person with sleep apnea will be overweight or a chronic alcoholic...obviously i'm neither. So what am I doing for this...I'm gonna try self medicating myself first with Nasocort which I received from Salwa, which is a decongestant. In addition to see if reflux is the cause of the coughing fits I started Prevacid which I received from my attending last month. On top of it all, I have a referral to see an ENT doctor sometime this month for a real sleep study evaluation. Pending the evaluation, if I do have sleep apnea, the treatments pretty much suck. I can lose weight...if i'm fat, I can stop drinking...if I really drink; since those two are out the door, i'm stuck with CPAP and surgery, if surgical intervention is what can fix things. CPAP is basically a mask that I would have to sleep with every night that would create positive pressure and a larger gradient so air will flow easier into my lungs. Surgery may be an option if I have some type of septal deviation in my nose or anything else that is obstructing the airflow, problem is, that will knock me out for a long period of time...that I just don't have to give up right now.
Well..that was my day. Now I sit and write my paper on Germany's healthcare system...fun stuff. Somehow, this assignment was given two months ago, and I thought it was smart to start it tonight....at least I have a full 24hrs to turn it in....ha....i'm a moron.
Whoa...two updates in two days...i've gone crazy. Maybe there will be another one tomomorrow....after I bring life into this world...boyaaah...deliverin babies...
posted by Jimmy at
9:35 PM
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