Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Everything is evil

The good news is that my thyrotoxicosis is in remission. The bad news is my cholesterol level is up. And she wants me to take Lipitor 3x a week. What?!?

As I said to Alice, Lipitor is for overweight, middle-aged men; not sexy thirthsomething me! (My apologies to those reading this who are taking Lipitor.)

So here are the stats:
Total cholesterol 203; Normal range 50-200
HDL (good cholesterol) 75; Normal range 40-60
LDL (bad cholesterol) 114; Normal range 0-100

Actually this isn't the first time that she wanted me to go on statins. She prescribed it last December, but after consulting with my cardiologist brother, I decided to just change my diet. That meant eating oatmeal everyday and no more Chickenjoy (leftovers from Miguel's kiddie meal). That's because my bro told me that my numbers were not critical and that I'm better off avoiding the side effects of the drug. Or maybe because I'm the youngest in family and it's also hard for him to accept that I'm approaching middle age.

Anyway all that oatmeal didn't make a dent in my LDL (it only went down 3 points compared to the previous test). So after thinking about it, I decided that I have to take more drastic dietary measures. Goodbye evil carbonara! Goodbye pizza! Just last Saturday I had nothing but carbonara and pizza, and the following day I could swear that I could feel the blood dribbling through a clogged artery! Ack!

Goodbye Jollibee and McDonald's! Funny thing is that I really don't eat much fastfood; only Miguel's leftovers I guess. I pondered over this as I ate evil pork sinigang for lunch. Everything is evil.

But then, my blood sugar is okay. So I can still eat cake.

Also, I considered that I should start exercising. I suppose that I have no excuse anymore since it seems that my hyperthyroidism is in remission.

Oh, and I gained 4 pounds. But I'm okay with that. And my doctor tells me that it's okay too.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Sands,

What kind of oatmeal are you taking? If it's instant, it won't make a difference. Try Irish oatmeal, or any non-instant kind that needs at least 20 minutes cooking time.

Take care,
Tricia

Anonymous said...

wha? i thought i was on the wrong blogspot page. so sorry to hear about your predicament. oatmeal's easy. i used to loathe oatmeal, but now i'm addicted to it (but i add pieces of fruit, hehe). but i admit it could get very tough whenever my mom cooks tocino or longaniza for breakfast. in a book i read it advised to eat as much as possible only "food items that remember its past" which is a weird way of saying the less processed the food item is, the better it is for you.

sandygirl said...

Really, Trish? Instant oatmeal doesn't make a difference? I've been taking the quick-cook variety, Quaker to be exact. I'll check around for some other brands. For the Irish kind, I might have to down a pint of Guinness along with it ;)

And now that you mention it May, next time I think I'll put some cinnamon powder in my oatmeal.

But the good thing is that I've been eating brown rice at least once a day. I started buying it for Miguel early this year because he was constipated, and now I'm eating it too. I actually like it, and I like the idea that I'm doing something healthy for myself ("ooooh! organic!")

Anonymous said...

Yup, instant doesn't do a thing. Look for steel-cut oatmeal, or that branded kind--McCann's Irish. If you have family coming over from the States, you can ask them to get some for you. It's realy easy to find here (@Trader Joe's, Whole Foods) I'll remember to get some for you the next time we come back.

barbiegirl said...

Haaaay, sis, I told you the instant stuff doesn't work. It doesn't help either that you sweeten it with white sugar. Pure honey's better, or fruit. Why do you think I eat mine with banana or mango? :P