Well, Bless My Heart!

I paid a visit to my doctor’s office yesterday for a follow-up appointment to go over the results of my heart scan and discuss a possible treatment plan for my high cholesterol levels.

My heart scan came back as zero. At first I wasn’t sure if that meant I simply don’t have a heart anymore or what (just kidding). The doctor said a zero is the best you can have. He said that the heart scans are 90% accurate most of the time but there are a rare few people who have plaque build-up that hasn’t calcified yet. He didn’t think that was the case with me, so that’s good. 

Because my LDL (lousy) and C-Reactive Protein numbers are high and my HDL (good) are too low, he is putting me on cholesterol medicine. I’m starting out with the generic version of the statin drug Pravachol. The doctor was very good about going over potential health risks and side effects. I’ll go back in December to get my cholesterol re-tested and when I do, they’ll also check my liver enzymes to ensure that no damage is being done to my liver from the medication. The doctor acted like this would not necessarily be a long term thing, but just something to bring my levels down to a healthy range and then try to maintain them with a healthier lifestyle.

He did say one of the side effects could be memory loss. I told him that my memory is so faulty these days that I’m not sure I would notice a difference at all.

So that’s the update. Thanks to all of you who have prayed for me and sent encouraging words my way. I appreciate you beyond words.