First off, I want to say that this isn't intended to be a whining post, or even a complaining one. Think of it rather as a reluctant acceptance of reality. I'm looking over test results from a recent visit to my doctor. Not only do I have a hiatal hernia (a condition which one web site indicated is most common in people over 50), but this condition is particularly aggravated by carrying too much fat around my midsection. I also have high triglycerides and low HDL (the good cholesterol), although at least my LDL (bad cholesterol) and overall cholesterol levels are still below the danger zone.
For now, my doctor has put me on Nexium (the purple pill!) to temporarily treat the symptoms of the hernia, with a long term prescription to simply lose thirty pounds. Yep, thirty... as in three-zero. Ouch. That may not be a huge number to some people, but for me, losing that much weight will be an all-time record. In fact, that will put me back near what I weighed when I was eighteen and riding my bike all the time with dreams of being the next Greg LeMond. So, we'll see how that goes, but I'm determined to get there by Christmas, even with a lot of traveling (and the associated diet) in my near future.
By the way, I've got to say I'm really glad I have the doctor that I do, who believes that medication and surgery should not be the first option for solving health problems in the long term. In this case, she feels dropping my weight will relieve the symptoms of my hernia enough that I won't have to keep taking Nexium, and that's a big plus in my book.
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