Whew!

One of my doctors was concerned I might be pre-diabetic, so she ordered blood tests. My high triglycerides and difficulty losing weight were two indicators she mentioned. I haven't met with her yet, but I was able to get access to my lab results, and except for C-Peptides which were .1 out of recommended range (apparently that's an indicator of inflammation somewhere in the body -- my guess is my arthritic knees). Everything else was refreshingly normal. Including my cholesterol readings -- that's largely due to Vytorin. Vytorin is working great for me.

Of course, I'm also trying to eat a diet to encourage good cholesterol readings, but I know from experience a large part of my cholesterol problems are not related to diet.

When I get back from three weeks of vacation, I'll make an appointment with the doc to make sure she interprets those readings the same way. The reading the doc was concerned about was in the high normal range. I'll see what she wants to do about it, but I'm relieved I don't have something to worry about right now. I think she's right though -- I need to make some adjustments now to prevent or delay problems later.

In another note, I had a really neat visit to the podiatrist this morning to get fitted for new orthotics. I'm amazed at how much a professional can tell just by touch. The doc was warm and friendly, putting me at ease right away. I explained what I wanted as I was removing my boots and socks. He put me up in the comfy chair right away and put plastic bags on my feet. He got what he needed to make the molds for my new orthotics. As he was molding the stuff to my feet, he commented something about my forefoot. I asked him to explain, and I got a very interesting explanation about the imbalance in my feet that throws my alignment off when I don't use my orthotics. My right foot has a more pronounced "fault" than my left, but both feet do it to some extent. When he took the mold off, he showed me what my feet do -- my feet roll to the outside and fall to the inside, resulting in strain on the medial aspects of my knees (hmmm...I've had medial meniscus tears in both my knees...) He held the mold up like it should be, but when he let go, the front inside of my foot dropped to the table. I should have my new orthotics in six weeks.