The Best Kept Secret Blog - The Annual Physical

There I was again, sitting buck naked save for a flimsy paper gown, waiting for the doctor to start my annual physical.

Believe it or not, I used to look forward to my phsyical. On some level, it confirmed that I was young and vital and healthy. Far from expecting them to find anything wrong, it was my chance to prove just how fit I was.

I think the apex of my check-ups was the year my doctor beamed at me when she delivered the news that my cholesterol levels were the best of any patient she had ever seen. It was a personal best and I aimed to beat those levels each check-up.

This year, however, things were different.

My doctor always starts by hooking me up to a blood pressure and heart rate monitor. She leaves the room while the machine takes a series of six readings.

"Surely this will go well," I thought. "I've been lifting a few weights, using the treadmill, walking the dog." But as I watched the panel show the first set of readings, things seemed a tad high compared to my memory of last year's results.

I felt a flutter of anxiety pass over me and started to breathe a little more quickly - obviously a bad thing because the next set of readings were even worse.

In an attempt to get control of the situation (only out of shape, old people have high blood pressure - not fit young things like me!) I immediately began using the deep breathing technique we use in yoga class.

"Good, good", I thought. "Things are getting better." And they were. The next two readings were good. I must have gotten too cocky though for numbers five and six were right back up.

As my doctor breezed back into the room, she had me hop on the scale. Feeling like I'd gotten a C+ in blood pressure, I was determined to make up for it in weight and height. Up five pounds from last year? Surely that can't be. What do you mean it's normal at my age? It's not normal for me!

The rest of the exam was routine until we got to the end when she handed me a requisition for a mammogram and a bone density test.

Mammograms I've had before but a bone density test? My bones are fine for goodness sakes. I'm not elderly and frail. I'm not afraid of falls. I'll show her. Keener that I am, I'm determined to get the highest score possible on that bone density scan if it's the last thing I do!