t
o
n
y
a
n
g
'
s
 
w
e
b
l
o
g


my annual physical was today at 10:30am. my father stopped by earlier because he was on his way to market basket and forgot his credit card so borrowed my last remaining debit card. temperature was in the 60's before i left, warm enough to bike in just a short-sleeved polo shirt. by day's end the temperature will soar to 75°F, a record high temperature for the month of february. i was kind of nervous, getting a physical is like getting a report card, and i was anxious of bad grades. they saw me right away, i didn't even have time to complete the health questionnaire they always have me fill out. the nurse took my height, weight, blood pressure, oxygen level, and temperature, and brought me to one of the exam rooms with windows.

the doctor came in and asked me what's been going on since my last visit a year ago, and i couldn't really answer him since nothing much has happened since then. there was less examination and more just chatting. we talked about my blood pressure, my snoring, and my persistent cough. he scheduled an MRA because he thinks i may have renal artery stenosis, which could explain my high blood pressure for the past 2-1/2 decades, as he noticed my regular pulse rate is typically high and i have elevated levels of renin. he had to game the request and put me down as at risk for a few more potential kidney diseases before the computer would authorize the scan. finally he checked out a growth which may or may not be a wart but better to get it removed to be safe. before i left he had me chat with nurse cathy, who walked me through on how to properly use my blood pressure monitor. i went downstairs to the lab to get my blood drawn for my lipid and metabolic panels (later i found my results online, cholesterol now up to 253 mg/dL).

as a rule, my cholesterol number is lower during the summers when i'm active, and higher during the winter when i've put on some weight and been cooped up in the house for months.

by the time i finally left MGH, it was already 12:15pm. i was hungry, but riding home made it worse as i passed by people eating lunch outside, enjoying the warm weather. when i finally got back, i heated up one of my blueberry muffins in the toaster oven.

i finally got around to installing turbotax on my computer. besides my own taxes, i'm also in charge of doing taxes for my 2nd aunt, my sister's godmother, and maybe my grand uncle (just to alert the IRS that he's passed away). my parents have an accountant that does their taxes, and my sister does her own after i share my turbotax software with her.

for dinner i made my vodka pasta sauce with rigatoni. the last time i made this was august 2016. it's the only reason why i have a bottle of cheap vodka in my kitchen. it's from this recipe though i've opted not to include any chopped celery and used a whole pound of prosciutto. the pasta dinner was very filling, though afterwards i was reading up on the ketogenic diet, and one of the things you can't eat is carbohydrates (so no pasta). i could never do that diet!