The World of Lucky

So last week the wife and I both went to Dr. Stocker for our initial exam. We don't have an MD in Everett (we did have Dr. Mayeda on Beacon Hill in Seattle, the best doctor I have ever had). I wont even go into too much detail of how much Dr. Stocker sucks except to direct you to imake1tgirl's post here: imake1tgirl.livejournal.com/775781.html.

I did however receive the results of my bloodtests. Evidently my overall cholesterol is just within the normal/good range. However my Triglycerides are a good portion above the norm. My bad cholesterol is only over the acceptable range by less then 2% and my good cholesteral is under by about 20%. Overall this means my cholesterol needs to be taken care of, not because its horrible, but the bad to good cholesterol ratio is too high and I need to bring it down a little. It doesn't pose any real danger at the moment, but my mother had a heart attack in her mid 50's and I don't want a repeat.

On a sidenote I am not anywhere even close to having diabetes (YAY!), my WBC count was a little low, and my liver functions were just a little high (they always are, its probably due to my premature birth and undergrown liver that kept me at Seattle Children's Hospital in critical when I was born).

I get the results on Monday from the doctor. She does this by mailing me the results. No phone calls, no come in and talk (especially since like I normally do I had HIV/Hep test done, maybe they overruled the law that states the results have to be given directly to the patient). Among the blood test results she puts a script in for one of the statin drugs for cholesterol. Along with a note that says "Its statin time". This is her way of treating my cholesterol.

Honestly this sort of shocked me. I have worked long enough in medical facilities to know how cholesterol is "normally" handled. The first step generally is to change the patients diet. Ever since the wife got diagnosed originally as Celiac, we ate a lot of meat. By going back to mostly vegetarian that would probably be enough to lower my bad cholesterol and raise my good cholesterol (just altering my diet a bit, although I am probably going to do more then just a little bit). That should be enough to easily change my cholesterol.

The second step if that didn't work would be some weight loss. Lets be honest, I could afford to lose 40lbs (possibly 60). At 6'4" an 260lbs I definitely could afford to drop some fat (or go back to weight lifting and gain some muscle). Losing that weight also should be enough to fix my cholesterol.

Yet the first thing she reaches for is a script (statin is basically a group name for drugs such as Lipitor and other cholesterol meds) that should would want me to start taking. What the fuck is wrong with her? For some reason last two days this has really bothered me (and it also just underlines why we are getting a new doc). I hate quacks like her, they give the good docs a bad name.

So, we are looking for a new doc, and I am reducing the bad fats I eat and going to lose a few pounds (I have lost 14 pounds since February 2008, just got to do it a little quicker). Fuck the doctor.