The Sewing Mom

My tackle this week is health related. I actually started this tackle a couple of weeks ago by going in for a long over due “well woman” check up. So, this tackle is sort of to update on all the tests I’ve had done and what’s going on, sorry, no pictures!

First, the well woman check found everything to be okay, as it should be. The blood test, however, came back with high total cholesterol and high LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. So, by biggest tackle over the last two weeks has been to cut as much fat and carbs out of my diet as possible. This sounds easy, but when you really get to looking in your pantry at all your food and realize how much of it is processed foods, it’s a bigger change than you think. We eat a lot of pasta and rice in our house and most of it is white rice and white pasta. So, I’ve been switching over to whole wheat pastas and organic brown rices. I’ve also added a lot of fruit to my diet. While I am getting another blood test in a couple of weeks to see if the dietary changes are helping, I am making every attempt to make these changes life long and not just for the short term.

I also had a mammogram done and the test results came back and everything is okay. In addition, I had a bone density test done. Typically this test is done for women over 50, but, osteoporosis runs in my family, so I asked to have it done. This test showed a severe loss of bone for someone my age, so I am now taking calcium supplements 2 times a day and will be picking up a prescription tomorrow that I will take once a week.

The final think I had done was to have a small mole removed from my nose. This was done today and I’m sitting here questioning my decision to have it done. It was very painful when I received the shot in my nose to have the area numbed. I now have stitches on the side of my nose and a lovely bandaid. I’ll be heading to the drug store tomorrow to pick up some of those clear bandages!

So, the only thing left is to get stitches removed in a few days and have another blood test in a few weeks. I am officially tired of being poked and prodded!

I said yesterday that I had received the results of my blood test and they showed my cholesterol level as being too high.  I’ve since been doing a little bit of research on it and find that yes indeed, the total cholesterol level is in the High Risk area.  Everything else falls in to normal levels, LDL and HDL both are okay.  It’s all very strange to me because I’ve never had a problem before.

I don’t eat much fat in my diet, but, it’s possible that something I had eaten as a meal a day or two prior was in my system and through it out of whack.  I am going to monitor what I eat over the next several weeks before having the test done again. I’m keeping track of total fat, saturated fats, trans fat, protiens, cholesterol and calories.  I think it finally sunk in to my husband that I am concerned about this.  He fixed dinner tonight and, while it was steak, it was pretty lean.  We also had baked potatoes and he didn’t even get the sour cream out of the frig so that I wouldn’t be tempted!

I will make sure to have another test done in a few weeks.  It’s possible that it’s genetic, my sister has the same problem.

Well, at least for now, all of my health testing is complete.  I had my well woman exam on Monday, blood test on Tuesday, mammogram and bone density test today.  I’m done.  At least for now.

My blood test came back showing high total cholesterol, an in “High Risk”, and my LDL, which is the bad cholesterol, is “High”.  I’m a fairly healthy eater, so the thing that occurs to me is that, now that I’m no longer working outside the home, I’m sitting on the computer too much and my cholesterol levels are going up.

So, I’ve concluded I need more activity, at least 30 minutes per day.  I love our new Wii Fit and I’m going to make every attempt to use it daily and burn some calories.  Once it starts getting less humid and a little cooler around here, I might even go back to my morning walks.  I am supposed to have it checked again in 1 month, so I need to get down to business and get off of this computer.

TTFN