Health Check

I had to go have blood taken today :(

It was my six-month check-up for my cholesterol levels. I found out last year that I have excessively high fasting cholesterol levels after going to see my GP about yellow/white patches around my eyes. It turns out those marks were fatty deposits that can be associated with high cholesterol. I was only 37 so didn't really think there was going tobe a problem, but, it was in the back of my mind that my dad had passed away at the age of only 40 with a massive heart attack. Still, I was pretty shocked to find out that my cholesterol level was almost off the charts and that I'm going to have to take statins for the rest of my life to bring it down to a 'normal' range.

So, I did my 'fast' from 10pm last night, woke up grumpy and groggy after a restless night and couldn't even have a coffee to wake me up. I went to the Health Centre where the nurse kept me waiting for 15 minutes, then went through to have the blood taken. She poked around in my right arm for a minute or two, wiggling the needle around, then finally told me she couldn't get a drop. It started getting warm in the room and I was thinking "uh-oh". We decided she should try to find a vein in my other arm so she put the tourniquet on and I pumped my fist for a minute or two, finally a faint little blue vein showed up. At that point the nurse decided to use a baby needle (butterfly), how embarassing. But, she got the blood no problem and it was over in a few short seconds, except that I suddenly started burning up and feeling extremely nauceous and faint. So after the baby needle, the nurse had to baby me; giving me a glass of water, puting a cold cloth on the back of my neck. Even more embarassing! Thankfully, it will be another 6 months before I have to go through that again.

EDIT: got my results and my cholesterol is back up a bit, not too much but enough to warrant another check-up in 6 months, ho-hom.