...FROM YOU! I LEARNED IT FROM WATCHING YOU

Monday, January 06, 2003

 


12/27/02 - went to the doctor.

dr. yoon was a recommendation from michael chu (say that 5 times real fast). he helped him with his liver problems caused by the creatine he was taking. michael got pretty buff at one point, until he realized his liver was being poisoned. but i digress...

the general checkup went ok. took a little blood, i peed in a cup, all that good stuff. interesting meeting though. being the hypochrondriac that i am, i raised a bunch of my health concerns, namely cigs, alcohol, weed, ulcer. i described my usage and concerns, even spitting out some of the random info i read up on the internet. i told him i quit cigs since the time i got food poisoning after my company xmas party and coughed up a little blood, about 2 weeks prior.

here was his diagnosis: cigs, good that i quit. duh. alcohol, nothing i needed to be concerned about. my usage was limited to the weekends, and it seemed like i was just unwinding and having a good time. he said medically speaking, anything more than 1 alcoholic beverage on a given day is not good. but since i wasn't drinking in the mornings and other 'leaving las vegas' behavior, i was probably ok. the blood test would see if there was any damage to my kidneys or liver. my marijuana use seemed nothing more than recreational to him, and he confirmed that it really didn't have any lasting health effects. the urine test would determine if i had the dreaded h. pylori bacteria, the culprit behind most ulcers.

inside i was thinking 'whew, whew, whew'... that is until he began preaching to me.

"eugene it seems like to me you're searching for something..." uh oh. what followed was a mini-20 minute sermon. i think he misinterpreted my hypochondriac health concerns for "seeking something to fill the void all of us have in our hearts." at least it wasn't the same old jesus speech. he was obviously intelligent and he seemed genuinely concerned. granted, i think he might have been partly right. i haven't exactly been mr. sunshine lately, and ulcers don't come from nowhere.

but still, when i go to a doctor i was sound, medical advice. his whole speech had a hint of a 'your concern over the hole in your stomach is nothing to the hole in your empty heart'. i'd prefer a pack-and-a-half-a-day doctor, whiskey vapors emanating from his mouth as he told me what to expect and watch out for in this life i've chosen for myself. instead of a lollipop he'd offer me some nose candy instead. now that's a doctor that could scare me into watching my health.

so anyway, i got the results back from the urine and blood tests. i'm pretty damn healthy. kidneys and liver are normal, which means my drinking hasn't gotten that out of hand yet. cholesterol levels, other levels are normal and healthy. he was also wondering if i exercised a lot, saying that my heart rate was that of someone who exercised regularly. ha. alcohol actually exercises your heart i hear.

but the bad news is i do have the h. pylori. oh joy. he's going to prescribe me some antibiotics and i should ok after a couple weeks. not too bad.