Health Fair Results!

I have often suggested going to local health fairs as a prudent step for those who either can’t afford a physical with a blood workup or, like so many, can’t seem to find the time in their busy lives to sit in a doctor’s office for an hour past the appointed appointment time, only to sit in an exam room for another half hour and finally to have a doctor come in and chat for a few minutes and announce that he would like you to go the local lab where they will get blood specimens. Back to another waiting room.

Health fairs are cool. You get up on a Saturday morning and go, usually, to a local school where it appears every nurse in the county has shown up to draw blood. You don’t get the friendly chat with a doctor, but you also don’t sit and wait. My experience has always been in, do the business, and out in half an hour at the most. A few weeks later they send your results.

Below is the result of this years labs. Note that they also provide a review of your last labs done through them so you have a baseline. Yes, I know I missed a year. My wife and I were on a 10th anniversary excursion in 2007.

my-latest-labs

While they is some really great news. My PSA remains low and has actually gone down slightly. My glucose is well within normal limits so it would appear I may not be crashing in on diabetes, and I once again beat my wife on total cholesterol. I didn’t win that category by much though and her good cholesterol, HDL, was higher so her ratio was lower than mine.

The bad news came for me right at the bottom. My TSH was elevated two years ago and is significantly higher now, nearing twice the normal limit. So, what I ask is a TSH? Quoting from the handy “What the heck it that quide” sent with my results, it said “TSH (Thyroid Simulating Hormone) is the pituitary hormone that controls thyroid function…..when the thyroid gland is underproducing…..TSH increases. They actually used the word “failed”, but underproducing made me feel better while I called my doctor and asked for the first open appointment.

So, from a life insurance standpoint I am still a pretty acceptable risk. Great liver functions. Great cholesterol and gluocse. My alkaline phosphatase that was high two years ago is now normal.

Bottom line. The whole reason I beat this health fair drum is that it is an easy, inexpensive way to get a checkup that could catch something serious, early.