THANKFUL FRIDAY

I had a couple of medical appointments on Tuesday. I knew that one of those appointments would require blood work and since I didn’t want to worry about getting to appointments and work, I decided to just take the day off. Then I decided to book an appointment with the massage therapist before my chiropractor appointment. Michael and I had just returned from an extended weekend of camping in South Dakota. Tuesday would be my day of recovery. After the the first doctor visit and giving up two large vials of blood, I headed over to Heirloom to treat myself. I sat on the patio with my notebook, a cup of coffee and a large piece of toast slathered with homemade chocolate hazelnut spread, alternating bites with writing some words.

The hour I spent in that space was a slice of perfection.

The next morning, I had just started my outside walking loop at work when my doctor from that first appointment called me. She told me that she had received the results of my bloodwork and that all of the numbers looked really good. The numbers I was concerned about the most where my cholesterol numbers. It is baffling to me, and everyone who knows how I eat and exercise, that I struggle to keep my cholesterol numbers in a healthy range. Every year, I go in for these tests with a sense of dread and honestly, a bit of shame. I feel ashamed for having high cholesterol. Yeah… I get it. That’s dumb right? Except I grew up during a strategically commercialized diet consciousness of ‘low fat’ and ‘eggs are bad for you’. Everything was about lowering cholesterol and fat. FAT. FAT IS BAD. High cholesterol means I’m fat and unhealthy and I need to fix myself.

This is where my brain goes every time I think about my cholesterol numbers.

This year, my doctor told me that all of my cholesterol numbers where in the healthy range. She said “Everything looks just wonderful. Keep on doing what you’re doing.” Those words were a validation. In the previous years, I had two things going against me when it came to my cholesterol numbers: genetics and birth control. I can’t do anything about my genetics. I recently had to update my family history for my doctor’s visit and genetically speaking, I am screwed. The important thing is that I have enough information of genetic health to know what preventative actions I need to take, but there is only so much prevention I can do. The birth control thing has nothing to do with genetics and was an easy fix. Just stop taking it. I really truly believe that dumping my birth control is the thing that pushed my numbers into a healthy range, but also I needed to hear from my doctor that I am doing all the right things. I needed this win.

This has been a really good week and one filled with easy gratitude.