Family Practice Medicine

I went to my primary care physician this week. It was time for my yearly checkup, and I wanted to see him as a pre-transplant patient. This was only the second time I’ve ever seen him. I have been going to the same doctor’s office since I was a wee little boy and had the same primary care physician for most of my life.  He finally retired and I was transferred to a new doctor. By that time, I had been going to see my GI doctor and hepatobiliary specialist. They have always taken great care of me. When I’ve needed a non-specialist, I would often see the physician’s assistant because they’re more readily available.

Turns out I have high cholesterol. We talked about minimizing my fast food, fried foods, and potato chip binging. I don’t eat those things. I do have some ice cream and like my Chipotle. Yes, I could use a little more exercise, like almost everyone, but I’m certainly not overweight. More likely, the cause of the high cholesterol is a combination of hereditary factors and a bum liver. The liver makes all cholesterol, so, if the liver isn’t functioning properly, why should one expect that the output levels are normal? None of my other liver functions seem to be outputting normal levels.

At least my primary care is a reasonable guy. Instead of starting a dose of medication, we’ll retest my cholesterol after I get a new liver. And as Logan astutely pointed out, she has a super-human liver and fantastic cholesterol levels. Take that medicine! Lipitor, you’ve just been trumped by Logan.