Friday I visited my doctor.  I told you about the sty on my eyelid and how it has grown.  The first thing the nurse did was weigh me.  I had lost 14 pounds since my last visit.  I felt very good about that–even if their scale reads five to seven pounds heavy.

This datum along with my height was entered into a networked, laptop computer.  In the examination room, the nurse took my vital signs and left.

Soon the doctor came in and we began to talk.  He asked me a number of questions.  In the past he would come in with a clipboard with my records on it.  This time it was the laptop computer.

I asked Doctor if he had noticed my blood pressure reading for that day.  He usually does.  He looked concerned as he said, “No, I haven’t.  Everything is on computer now.”  He started looking at the laptop screen.

I said, “Remember that you told me I have white-coat syndrome.  Now he looked very concerned as he continued to search the laptop.

He found my blood pressure reading.  “One hundred over sixty?  What got into you?”

My response?  “It’s more like what didn’t get into me.”  I went on to explain how we had shifted to a vegan diet at home and how I felt it was helping.

I’ll spare you the rest of our conversation.  I didn’t mention that about ten years ago I came into his office and my blood pressure was one hundred sixty over one hundred six.

It took a lot of experiments with various drugs to get that pressure down to normal range of 120/80.

My eye is fine.  There is a big bump on the lid and we are treating that with an antibiotic and an eye drop.

Later this week, Sylvia is having blood drawn for a physical exam.  We are looking forward seeing to her cholesterol and triglyceride numbers.  We expect that those numbers will much improved since the last visit.

Best news of all.  It is okay to drink coffee in moderation.  Oh yes!.
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