Cholesterol: 5.80 vs 5.78

I got my blood test result yesterday. I just love taking tests, any tests, especially the tests that I know I can ace. Test helps me quantify the things in my life. Quality is vague, but quantity is absolute. I love numbers – they help me compare precisely. Being a Math teacher does help. I wasn’t nervous about taking the blood test and medical check up because I was sure I had done enough to take care of my health all year. I was actually excited to have my blood drawn, if only to prove that all my sensible food choices all these months paid off.

There was a Capati Medan Gopeng next to the clinic. So I didn’t bother to have my breakfast at home because it was easier to have my usual thosai there. We drove early to the clinic. I was pumped up to receive my good news. The plan was to get the happy results, grab breakfast to celebrate the results and let my husband drop me off at home, without him being too late for work.

But I didn’t ace the test. My lipid profile result was a major disappointment. My total cholesterol went up from 4.3 to 5.8 mmol/L . Although my HDL (good cholesterol) increased from 1.02 to 1.53, my LDL (bad cholesterol) too increased from 2.6 to 4.0. My triglycerides, thankfully, went down from 1.4 to 0.5 and my total to HDL ratio decreased from 4.2 to 3.8. (less than 5.0 is OK).

I couldn’t believe that my total cholesterol, especially the bad one increased this year. One major thing I did this past year was getting pregnant with my 6^th child. That shouldn’t be the reason for the increase, right? I had been pregnant 5 times before and I had always been at the pink of health. I had been very sensible about eating, especially when I was pregnant. I based my culinary choice on proven science. I didn’t care for jamu or traditional herbal preparation during confinement. As the result, I managed to return to my pre-pregnancy weight by the time Ryan was 3 months old. ( I said ‘weight’, not ‘shape’). I now weigh 49 kg, barely a kilo heavier than I was in college, before I got knocked up, that is. So how come my cholesterol level went up?

The good doc was fairly convincing as he told me not to worry much about these results. Most folks live their lives to the fullest without knowing these numbers, he said. My overall health condition was good. But increasing cholesterol number is a sign that something is wrong, isn’t Doc? I asked. No, not necessarily, he said. It could be due to age factor or genetics. May be Puan’s parents have heart problems? he questioned me. I was about to say something when I caught my husband smiling, as if on cue, at the mentioning of “age factor” by the doc. It was the smile that says, “ age has finally caught up with you.” I hate that smile. It didn’t help that I am turning 40 in less than two weeks.

We were both quiet when we stepped out of the clinic. Hunger pangs suddenly hit me and I was just about to step into the Capati Restaurant when my husband turned to me and said, “do you still want to eat here?”.

“No. Of course not,” I quipped, while faking my sincerest look, and strode off our car. And he smiled that smile again.

He dropped me off at home and went to work. I made simple and tasteless lunch while waiting to fetch the kids from school. I was still baffled by the results. All year long and throughout my pregnancy, I exercised religiously, clocking at least 1.5 hours on the treadmill weekly. I knew I should clock more on the treadmill but I prefer getting my aerobic exercise lying down. And I have been carrying my 8-kg Ryan a lot. That should count as weight- bearing exercise. And because of my height, or rather the lack of it, I was forced to do a lot of stretching to reach things around this 3-storey house where the ceiling of each floor is 12-feet high.

And I watched what I ate. I avoided saturated and trans fat like a fish avoided the bait at the end of a fishing rod. I seldom lost my mind around food even when eating out. At lunches, I piled my plate with assortment of ulam and sambal tempeh on my nasi separuh while my husband ate his rice with a blob of daging masak hitam and 3 strands of kangkung. At dinners, he would wolf down greasy lamb chops while I painstakingly tried to peel the skin off my grilled chicken breast. And he ordered Nescaffe Tarik with his meal. I tried to give him the look; sometimes he got it and and added, “kurang manis Boss” to the waiter. Most of the times my look was met by his raised eye brows and he added, “gelas besar Boss”. I would be simmering inside as I sipped my air suam.

Around mid afternoon he sent me a message asking me if I want to go out to eat at the Capati restaurant at tea time. Fine, whatever, I thought. In the end, we didn’t go out for tea because by the time he came home from work, I was still napping. At night, just before retiring to bed, he pulled out a file from the briefcase kept under the stairs. It was his lipid profile dated about 2 months ago. He pointed to a number. 5.78. His total cholesterol. And he smiled that smile again, the smile that said, “ age has finally caught up with you dear, but not me”. I am beat.