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Monday, March 16, 2009

What we chose to hear - Part One

Picking up where I left off - our second doctor's visit went well. Husband was quite worried about getting the results of the blood work after the blood pressure scare, but as it turns out everything is good. The one slight issue is that Husband's good cholesterol is a little low. Nothing serious, but something to keep in mind. In discussing how Husband could improve this, the doctor mentioned diet and exercise.

Husband knows that lack of exercise is his biggest problem. He gets none. He commented to the doctor that his blood pressure problem is probably due to lack of exercise as well.

Here is - more or less - what the doctor said:

Lack of exercise and being overweight is not/may not be the cause, but they are contributing factors. The doctor had another patient who was very overweight and ended up having to go on medication for blood pressure, asthma and diabetes. So, the patient made the effort to lose the weight, and was able to stop taking all of the medications. The patient has since had some very stressful things happen in their life, has put the weight back on, and now is back on all the medications, but the patient is determined to get their weight down again because the patient knows the medications wouldn't be necessary if they hadn't gone back to their old habits.

If you had been on the receiving end of that response, what would you take from it?

Let's have some audience participation. I want to know! What would you hear?

5 comments:

the Bag Lady said...

This is what I hear:
Being very overweight is not good for you.

A few years ago, I had a friend who was very, very slender. She liked to work out, and was quite athletic. Imagine my surprise when she told me after a visit to her doctor that her cholesterol was terrible!

Your physical make-up plays a huge role in your susceptibility to some diseases, but being overweight can be a contributing factor in some of these conditions.

Jaime said...

I would take that to mean that although the doctor can't say that exercise and diet are 100% effective in these situations, he's seen it work and believes in it. Mainly it's common sense I suppose. I struggle with FH on this all the time...I know he knows that he needs to lose weight and get off the couch, but me telling him does no good...it has to be his idea. I hope your hubby hears what the doctor is trying to say.

♥ Dee ♥ said...

Me? I would hear "stop procrastinating what you logically know can work for you, get off your ass and workout even if it means starting with walking around the block every evening".

Then I'd say FINE and just do it.

That's exactly what happened to me sixty pounds ago when I was diagnosed with Fatty Liver Disease.

farm girl. said...

ditto. i'm hearing, move it if you want a different outcome. not saying 100% it will work, but if there is no reason not to try it....

Missicat said...

I would hear that a good exercise program and diet can contribute to getting to better overall health. It's definitely not the only thing, as I too know thin folks who have terrible cholestral, but I know when I starting exercising more and losing weight, my cholestral numbers improved tremendously.