Through the Roof

One thing I can count on when I go to see my doctor is that he will take my blood pressure. I had an appointment for a few days down the road so I began to monitor my blood pressure at home. We have a fairly new monitor that was not cheap and every three or four months I check my readings for a week or so, every day, under different circumstances and at different times of the day. I am always greatly relieved and quite pleased to see that my blood pressure is consistently in the 'Optimal' range.
I took one last reading before heading to the Dr.'s office and it was 117 / 77. We discussed the reason for the visit and then he asked me how I was feeling. I told him I was feeling quite good and told him my blood pressure was good but I did not know what my cholesterol levels were. He asked me what my BP was, I told him, and then he set me on his table and proceeded to take his own reading. It was 145 / 95 ! We were both taken aback. He wrote it off as 'white coat syndrome', but I knew better. I had to wait for 20 minutes for my appointment, he is a new doctor for me and this was a first time visit, and he had just told me that I had something that had to be removed and sent in pretty quick. On top of that he is talking to me and asking me questions and all I have ever read about taking BP reading is that you will get a high reading if you talk while doing it. No wonder I had a high reading! When I arrived back in the sanctuary of my own home, I took the reading again and it was back to optimal.
I will blog about the other thing soon. And, my blood is in the lab as we speak, to get the cholesterol tested. You can probably deep fry your onion rings in it.