About a week ago I went to the emergency room.  I thought I had appendicitis, but I was wrong (I woke up with a dull pain in my lower right abdomen that increased throughout the day). I had high blood pressure. Very high blood pressure. Incredibly high blood pressure.  Like 215/110 high. Stroke level high. Kidney failure high. Heart attack high. The ER Doctor told me I was lucky I didn't stroke out. I was sent home from the ER with a blood pressure of 187/100 and the promise I would see my regular doctor as soon as possible.

So I did. I walked away with the promise of increasing my lack of exercise to five days a week, a change in my diet to reduce sodium and calories, to set up an appointment with a nutritionist (to solidify my dietary needs), a cardiologist (to see if the blood pressure and family history has messed with my heart), and a sleep study (to see if I have apnea, or some other sleep-related issue that could be affecting my blood pressure) and to take my blood pressure morning and night for a few weeks to gain an average blood pressure for myself. My doctor - who is fantastic, by the way - would like to control my blood pressure through diet and exercise alone. She hates relying on medication, and I am on board with that.  I'd rather not pump chemicals to do something my lazy ass should be doing any way.

For the record, I am healthy otherwise. There is no cause for concern at this time. My cardiology appointment is just to see where my heart health is and how large a factor my family history and high blood pressure has played so far.  I have no organ failure or signs of cancer. I have nothing else wrong with me, and frankly I am relieved.

I'm also relieved to have found all this out at age 35 instead of at 40, 45, or older. This is manageable and attainable. In five to ten years it may not have been.  And it could have wreaked havoc on my innards.

This is probably the only post I'll make about my health.  It's not because I don't want you all to know how I am, it's because I don't want to stress out about it too much.  I will however make no excuses or apologies about my future posts about how much I HATE exercise.  Be prepared. I loathe it. Although I have found Just Dance 3 for the Wii to be fun.

Don't judge me.