I’m having a physical next Monday and this time I will finally be prepared to include some family history in my file, which they asked for the last time I was there but I neglected to bring in. Because I didn’t have it. This year I have it because I thought to remember to ask my mom about it on Father’s Day when we were over there. So today she emailed me the family history and let me just say: TMI! Okay, I do appreciate getting it but yowza, my mom really went into depth. Not that it isn’t important and I do appreciate it, but really, I think an aunt having sore knees is not the kind of family history the doctor is looking for. Although I could be wrong.
What was in there?
Well on my mom’s side everything looks pretty good. Must be the hearty Swedish blood. My mom and grandma are both doing great at 65 and 93. My mom’s dad, my grandpa, died of a heart attack at 67, and his mom also died of heart disease at 67. His dad died of congestive heart failure at 87.
My dad’s doing great at 65, but both of his parents died in their early 50s although the medical records are a little lacking they don’t appear to be heart related. Not too much else from my dad’s side, I guess that side was a little mysterious.
I did see a few different relatives with gallbladder issues and eye issues so I guess those are things I will have to look out for.
One thing I did note on my grandpa’s record, according to my mom he suffered from claudication during the last couple years of his life, saying he had poor leg blood circulation and pain in his legs. Reading a little about claudication makes it sound a little bit like the pain I recently had in my legs. DVT was ruled out, but maybe I have this? That’s a scary thought. I’d better be careful I don’t turn into a hypochondriac.
It’s easy to get depressed and sad when reading over this kind of history but it’s also a great reminder of why I need to get healthier. The extra 10, 20 or 30 years would mean so much to me and my family. I have to get that into my thick skull.
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