Blood Test

Remember a while back when I was having that health issue? If you have been reading the blog for a while, it might sound familiar. I had this problem where I was just worn out and sore all the time no matter how much I rested. I was even getting unexplained swelling in my ankles.

The doctor thought it was probably something called dilated cardiomyopathy. We did some blood tests, and that seemed to be the most likely thing, especially when my C-Reactive Protein level was at 7.5. Normal is between zero and three. 7.5 means your heart is in some kind of distress.

An X-ray showed, however, that my heart was normal, not enlarged. So, we were at a loss. The doctor said to come back in a few months to re-try the test, and see if the levels had come down at all.

I was really irritated, because I still felt like complete crap. It was like that line from the Howard Jones song, "Doctor says you're cured, but you still feel the pain." I suffered through several more weeks of the problem, dosing it with Tylenol to keep the pain down to a minimum. And then one day, I didn't take Tylenol, but I still felt fine. And that continued until now.

So, just last week, my wife and I decided to try the workout program that is called "Insanity." It's really intense, especially in the cardio parts. The makers of the workout program say more than once in their literature that you must check with your doctor before starting the program. This is not just a disclaimer, they say, we really mean it.

So, considering the fact that I had recent history of cardiac problems, I figured I'd better actually finally get around to calling the doctor back and having him run that test again.

He was upbeat, figuring that what I'd actually had at the time was a virus that kicked my butt for a while until I finally kicked its butt on out. We ran the test, and he called me the other day to say that my test came in at 1.5. Normal levels is between zero and three. So, I think 1.5 is about as exactly normal as possible.

Doctor says I'm cured. And now I don't even feel the pain.

Well, that's not quite true. I feel plenty of pain with each session of that "Insanity" workout.