Tuesday, June 30th, 2009...7:52 pm
Doctor Visit
I had my annual physical yesterday. Well, not quite annual. It's been about 20 months since my last one - I skipped last year. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I just turned 43 and I can't be skipping these things. So the good news is that even though I haven't been feeling good about myself I did suck it up and schedule a physical. And go to it.
I have to say this was one of the smoothest doctor visit's I've ever had. I arrived about 10 minutes early and before I could even finish one side of the little health survey they give you my name was called - 5 minutes early. I had a student nurse who walked me through the collection of the height and weight data. She may have been a student but she did know to have me take off my shoes. Last time the nurse didn't and I came in at 6'1". Of course she may have been seasoned enough to know she simply had to subtract an inch to get my real height. In any case, this time I took my shoes off and I came in at an even six feet.
It's a good thing I took those shoes off too, because the scale was not kind. Of course this is a different scale than I normally use and I was almost fully clothes (sans shoes) but when I first got on it registered an even 300, something I have never seen before. Then it dropped to 299 before settling in at 299.5. THAT SUCKS!
I was ushered into the exam room and went through the normal 20 questions and assessments. The initial reading on my blood pressure came in at 132/80 and when I expressed surprise at it being so high the student nurse took another reading, saying something about how she didn't like the cuff. This time it came in at 110/72, which is exactly what it was 20 months ago. I'm going to go with that one.
After the nurse left the doctor followed within a minute. We went through all the normal mumbo jumbo. He loved the family history my mom put together for me. He wasn't concerned about some residual pain I have in my legs. We talked about some of the symptoms I have which lead me to believe I have sleep apnea and he agreed enough to give me a referral at a sleep clinic.
I had to setup another appointment for the blood work so that I could fast, I'm doing that on Monday so I should have the results by the end of next week I would guess.
I hesitated even reporting these results since they are pretty meaningless without the blood work but I didn't want to hold back. But we'll see how the blood work looks. I am not expecting it to be good and I'm hoping I can use it as the impetus I need.
Have you been avoiding going to your doctor? Stop it and make the call - you won't regret it even if the scale doesn't report what you would like it to.
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11 Comments
June 30th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Mine is scheduled for the third week in July. I can't wait to see the results of my blood tests.
Good for you!
June 30th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Don't you hate that the doctor's scale is always higher than the scale at home? So annoying.
Hopefully your blood results will spur you on in your weight-loss journey. Keep us posted!
June 30th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
John, 20 months is not bad compared to how long it's been since I've been:( lol
I'm not proud of it, and reading this has inspired me to STOP putting off going to my doctor!! thank you!!
and you're so right.It's not always about that "number" on the weight-it's about being healthy and getting checked period
July 1st, 2009 at 12:48 am
I saw my doc today. They no longer have me step on the scale, they just ask what my height and weight are. I no longer fudge!!!
July 1st, 2009 at 5:05 am
GREAT POST and reminder and loving nag, errr, prod.
(3 cheers for mamabear's doctor huh?)
July 1st, 2009 at 6:07 am
I have several friends that have sleep apnea. They now wear a mask attached to a machine at night and swear its made a world of difference for them.
July 1st, 2009 at 6:17 am
I had my appt. last week. I think I was even a month early compared to last year
)
Still waiting on my blood work to come back, hope yours comes out good.
July 1st, 2009 at 6:49 am
Here in the UK most people don't have annual physical examinations. I know I don't, I've never had one and I'm 35 I just go to the doctors when I'm feeling ill, which to be perfectly honest is stupid. We get free health care through the NHS so I may an annual physical done when I've dropped my body fat percentage a little bit more.
I totally get why you say "when I've dropped my body fat percentage a little bit more" but I really urge you to get over that - just go! You don't got anything they haven't seen before and if they are good they'll make you feel perfectly at home.
July 1st, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Hi John
My name is Camryn and I just started my weight loss journey last week-today was 1st weigh in day and I lost 7 pounds! Check out my blog, I'm 37 years old-we can cheer each other on! Check it out at drbischangingme on wordpress or follow me on twitter!
Sounds good, good luck Camryn!
July 1st, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Can't miss those doctor visits! Had mine right before my birthday. Hope your blood work turns out a-ok.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:44 pm
John, I hope that your visit to the sleep clinic will show that you do not have sleep apnea. A friend of mine has got a husband with (severe) sleep apnea, and he has to wear this quite substantial mask at night, and it is not such a great experience to go through. Good Luck!
It sure doesn't look pretty but I've heard that for sleep apnea sufferers that mask is a godsend. I actually hope I do have sleep apnea, because then I'll be able to do something about my symptoms.
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