A Visit to the Vampires

As always, I had to get a blood test today in preparation for my doctor's appointment with Dr. V- tomorrow. I have a great relationship with the Phlebotomists, and upon arrival announced that I wanted a really big bandage after the draw. "For the pity factor, you see. Big bandage, lots of pity."

Surprisingly, after we were done, my blood sucker pulled out a pressure bandage for my wound rather than the normal tape-and-gauze application. A big ol' honkin' pressure bandage that was quite impressive! I reacted with happiness and glee, which seemed to tickle her pink.

So it was time to leave, it was almost 6 PM when the lab closes up, and the rest of the techs were up front chatting. I showed off my bandage, proudly announcing that I was really going to work it during class at Slimmons. They all started laughing, liking the concept. One of them applied about 90 minutes worth of parking validation on my ticket that required only 15, and another pulled out a "baby sticker" for me. A really big sticker announcing that "I did very Whale."

Wow! Give a little entertainment, get back a lot!!!!!

Assessing My Health Risk

As if I wasn't already stressed enough, HMR has issued their Risk Factor Questionaires again. The last time they did so, I looked at the questions and decided that I did not have the mental fortitude to cope with them, so I decided not to participate. Some of that decision, though, was based on a misbelief that this statistical information was only for the benefit of HMR. When I later found out that they issued Health Inventory reports back to their clients, I was a little bit sorry that I didn't partake.

So this time I decided to fill out the survey.
I don't particularly expect to live a long life. I've been sick way to long to ascribe to undue optimism. And the first page, asking about family history and personal health issues seems to bear out that belief.
However, the second page, looking at lifestyle, wasn't nearly as bad although it could have been better too.

The third page had mostly to do with addictive and unhealthy behaviors other than food. I do not smoke and I am not a drinker. That pretty-much sizes up all the answers.
I had a little trouble filling out question # 18. I would actually characterize myself a little higher than "Most from Box A" but definitely not "Virtually all from Box A" because I do eat eggs and at times, cold cuts. But the rest of it was left behind with my old lifestyle. Other Lifestyle Health Factors were a mish-mash of good and bad answers.
And the General Health questions were the same.
The surprising results were when I got my bloodwork results back today. If you recall, I had them measure them specifically during my pre-op appointment so that they were fresh for this questioneer.

Cholesterol - My overall result was excellent although my "good" cholesterol, percentually speaking, was a little low. My other measurements were within normal bounds. I was having a bad day last Friday, though, and my BP actually measured a bit high for me.

All in all, it will be interesting to see how I am rated as a long-term health risk.