The numbers finally work in my favor

A couple of months ago, I bit the bullet and made a doctor's appointment. It has been about 4 years since my last physical and I never had my cholesterol tested. Since diabetes and heart disease are common on my father's side, I figured I should just grin and bare it and get the news over with. I resemble my father and his side of the family more than either of my brothers so I figured that I would probably be the most likely one of the three of us to have those health issues. At least as it stands now, I was wrong.

Only about 16 hours after I popped in to have my blood drawn did I get the phone call that everything cholesterol-related was fine. I still had my rubella antibodies should I ever get pregnant (I guess the expiration of the vaccine can be a concern for pregnant women). The only slight issue was a relatively lazy thyroid. It wasn't until about a week or so later when I received the written documentation that had all the numbers on it that I realized just how fine I was. Here are the stats:

* Total Cholesterol: 189
(anything under 200 is 'desirable')
* Triglycerides (whatever those are): 117
(anything under 150 is 'normal')
*HDL: 52
(anything between 40-60 is 'normal')
LDL: 113
(under 100 is 'optimal' but I fall into the 'near optimal' range)

And the fat free icing on the eggless cake: sodium level is 141 which is right in the middle of where it should be. All those years of being ridiculed for salting Chinese food and now I have written proof I can wave in their faces! Vindication tastes so sweet...or in this case, salty.

When my older brother was visiting a month ago, I brought this up when the three of us were eating lunch and lo and behold, both of my brothers have been told by their doctors to eat more oatmeal and work out more for their cholesterol levels (even though the lucky bastards are slender). I wasn't surprised to hear that about my younger brother, the boy that ate peanut butter-less jelly sandwiches as a kid and I have no idea who cooks in that household but my other sister-in-law cooks healthy meals that I've experienced when I've visited and he digs his sweets but doesn't really snack much so there must be something to that genetic factor.

For the time being, the specter of heart disease and diabetes isn't quite as close as I thought. More pizza, anyone?