Health Problems

Spent the day at the hospital yesterday. Still irked at the endo's secretary. You see, we actually scheduled an appointment with her almost a week before. When we got there Saturday morning, our names were #1 and #2 on the list. It had a note however that the endocrinologist with whom we were hoping to have ourselves checked was unavailable and a reliever was there to see us. Strike one. We should've gone to another endo right then and there. Anyway, Marc and I, being rookies and all, decided to stay. After all, we only needed clearance. So we waited... and waited... and waited. After a few hours, we started to wonder what's taking the doctor so long to arrive. Marc decided to ask inside. Apparently, the doctor was already there! The secretary told us that usually the patients go in to ask so she doesn't bother calling out people's names anymore. I was like, what?! We were waiting for hours right outside the clinic. Everywhere else calls out people's names! What the hell is wrong with you? I was really really irritated, but then, what else could we do? Strike two.

We were then accommodated by the replacement doctor who admitted right off the bat that she wasn't licensed to sign as an endo yet, or something to that effect. She then proceeded to rattle off disclaimers on how she wouldn't want to incriminate herself by issuing clearances, etc. Strike three in bold, all caps, flashing red lights! Long story short, it was a wasteful 800 pesos worth of professional fee. I mean, if you really knew what you were doing, then there wouldn't be any need to "protect yourself" as you claim. What. The. Hell.

I'm not sure if it was due to the stress or the frustrations or both, but my period came as well as the dysmenorrhea that always came with it. This time with wave after wave of pain and discomfort.

Fortunately, when I visited my new ob-gyn, the experience was redeeming. The ob-gyn was straight to the point and very professional. There were no disclaimers and no vague statements. Now this was a doctor who knew what she was doing. I had my check up done and an ultrasound.

To control my blood sugar, I need to take Metformin twice a day after breakfast and dinner for around 45 days. I also need to take pills for my Polycystic Ovary Syndrome for 3 months. They said that the PCOS could have caused the elevated sugar in my blood. I am scheduled to go back to the endo by first week of December with a full set of blood test. Hopefully the real doctor would be there to check my progress. Then back for check up with my ob on January for the PCOS.

Onboard

Day 1 with the new company was the 1st of October. So far, we haven't felt any significant change. Most of us, if not all, are still going through the transitions. Unfortunately, it isn't going as efficiently as people thought it would, but that's a story for another day.

What I wanted to post about was the thing that greeted me on my first week. My pre-employment medical requirements have been based on the past annual physical exam we had with the old company. The results say I have Impaired Fasting Glucose. Now, if you're like me, your initial reaction would have been a mixture of confusion and shock. Stay with me, I'll educate you a bit.

I'm 28. There isn't supposed to be anything wrong with me yet. Apparently, I was wrong. Impaired Fasting Glucose is a fancy way of saying the medical term for pre-diabetic. It means that my blood sugar is above the normal range and is about to reach the diabetic mark. Since I am not exactly a fan of too much sweets, I'm blaming this on the love of rice, the occasional coke addiction, and chocolates.

According to Wikipedia:

Impaired fasting glucose (IFG), more commonly known as pre-diabetes refers to a condition in which the fasting blood glucose level is consistently elevated above what is considered normal levels; however, it is not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes mellitus. This pre-diabetic state is associated with insulin resistance and increased risk of cardiovascular pathology, although of lesser risk than impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). IFG can progress to type 2 diabetes mellitus if lifestyle changes are not made. There is a 50% risk over 10 years of progressing to overt diabetes. A recent study cited the average time for progression as less than three years.

I would have to have this cleared within 6 months or else I'm going to have problems with my health benefits. To address this, I have already vowed to stop soda and artificial juice intake. Also, I'm trying to lose weight by lessening rice during meals. Maybe next time I could try them totally without. Umm, what else? Uh, yeah, I need to get back to running... and/or start swimming when I do get the fats off, just so I don't embarrass myself wearing bikinis with bulges hanging out.

Initial lab tests done last Saturday, October 5, 2013 confirmed the elevated glucose in my blood. Although based on my HbA1c test, (find out about the test here) I am still within normal levels. Have a consultation with an endocrinologist scheduled for this coming Saturday. Kinda nervous about it, but I gotta do what I gotta do, right?

I'll keep a mini-journal here of what happens to my health problems.