My Triglyceride Story

So there I was, toiling away in my office at work, when the phone rings. It's my wife, Kasia.

Kasia: "The doctor called."
Me: "You mean someone from his office called?"
Kasia: "No, the doctor called himself."
Me: "This can't be good."
Kasia: "He wants to see you about your blood test results right away. ASAP. NOW!"

Me: "Uhh... OK, I'll make an appointment."

The day before the phone call, I had blood drawn at a local lab for my first-ever complete blood test, including full lipid panel. The day after the call, we're sitting in an exam room at the doctor's office, and he's explaining the test results. Needless to say, he didn't drag us in urgently to congratulate me on the wonderful numbers.

My Blood Pressure Story

I'm 6'2" (188cm), and I've always been a "big guy". During K-12 school, I was almost always the tallest guy in my class. In addition to being taller than average, I was also fatter than average. Dealing with weight has been a constant battle, sometimes successful, mostly not.

12 or 13 years ago, near my first of two "peak tonnage maxima", I weighed in at about 275 pounds (125kg). I worked crazy hours at Microsoft, lived mostly off vending machine crap and fast food, and was over-stressed at work & at home. It was a recipe for disaster.

One day I saw my general physician due to an ear infection. During the course of the check-in procedure, her assistant took my blood pressure: 150/100.