Never Too Late

I have completely been remiss in terms of medical care. In fact, there’s a critical reason why: I was afraid. You see, in my last visit to a doctor ( about 7 years ago ) I got that kind of news nobody likes to hear: you have too much stress, you weigh too much, and your triglyceride levels look to be on the low end of acceptable.

After that I moved and never found a doctor I liked, moved again and never found a doctor that I liked and just kept ignoring that I needed to get a physical. I think it had been 6 years.

So the other week I resolved to remedy this situation and to talk to some friends about what sort of medical care they were receiving. I received a recommendation for One Medical here in San Francisco. It’s a club, basically, that one pays to join ($150/annum) and, in exchange, you get things like guaranteed same-day appointments, iPhone app appointments, medical interaction over 21st century media (email your results, automated reminders on your GMail calendar, etc.) — you get the “e-Medicine” promise that seem, largely, to have never delivered on its vision.

Today, as I read my mail via iPhone on Muni, I received a summary:

 - Your screening test for diabetes shows that your glucose (blood sugar) is in a healthy range.

- Your lipid profile (a.k.a. cholesterol test) results are as follows:
   - Your triglyceride level is excellent.
   - Your LDL ("bad cholesterol") level is in safe territory (based on your calculated cardiovascular risk.)
   - Your HDL ("good cholesterol") is at a healthy level.

Somewhere over the last 7 years I got healthier. I attribute it to the following:

Living with a Southern Californian, their endemic “let’s go outside” is antithetical to my native Texan: “Outside? Where the hot is?”
Walking 1-2 miles daily thanks to the highly walkable life of San Francisco
Taking up running a few years ago
Vegetarian since January

Wherever you are, no matter your age, you can change. It may be hard, you may have to have a [Harajuku Moment][CFHarajuku], but when you see yourself beat the maxim that aging is slowly falling apart, your self-esteem goes through the roof.

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