Have you ever noticed how hard it is to be honest when you visit your doctor?

Scott who is walking to retirement in Alaska
Wow that is a catch!
But we should not tell fish stories to our doctors.

Telling the doctor the truth when you go for a check-up is hard to do. There is a real temptation to hold back information or hide secrets we don’t want to tell. Yesterday Dr. Oz had a very good program on this topic that I believe you can find at http://www.doctoroz.com/

Dr. Oz brought up the idea of think of your Dr. as a coach who partner’s up with you to improve your health. I first heard of this idea from a Christian, Dr. Walt Larimore who shared we are a quarterback playing the game of life, taking the best options we can to win the game of health. Dr. Walt’s web site is http://www.drwalt.com/about/

The idea is we take an active role in our health and we make decisions about our

Rich, Jake would have liked the catch

health and not leave our involvement to others. A doctor cannot make the lifestyle decisions for our health, we have to. But a doctor can share his or her knowledge and can help us through the often complicated path we have to work through to achieve a better health. But to do this the Doctor like Sherlock Holmes needs correct information. The right information can help your doctor give you the best information you need to act on.

One area my doctor wants me to improve on is a healthy triglyceride number. Dr. Cooper first made me aware of this number. It has taken a while to sink in. I can say anything I want, but I cannot hide this number. Blood work is not about what I do a few days before an appointment but actually reveals what has been going on for several months. Knowing my medications, weight, blood sugar helps my doctor advice me on this. He can tell if I am eating more calories than I use, if I have too much fat stored around my waist and so on. I cannot lie because he can see the truth of it. Triglycerides play a factor in heart disease and like our good and bad cholesterol; blood sugar is good to know. Three things he wants me to do about it are eating fewer carbohydrates, exercise, and lose weight. Becoming a little more aware of triglycerides or fat in the blood helps me come to terms with a better plan of action.

We may lie about smoking, alcohol, symptoms of diabetes, cancer, or heart disease but covering the symptoms only hinders the possibility of life saving care. My dad did this with his doctor and it played a role in his early death of a heart attack. I am sure that he was afraid but that fear did not help him get the care he needed.

It is hard to hide my fat numbers as I write a Fat Man Walking. But with each check up I do well to get a list of questions, tell the doctor what going on, and then the real hard part follow is through. This summer I am clearer on what I have to do so I will let you know my progress. Thinking thin I am willing to turn off the fat maker and turn on the fat burner. Keep walking