Glenn's Physical

Had my official adoption physical last Friday - my first one in many a year. I really liked the doctor, and it turned out that he was studying at Tel Aviv University the same year I was there for the overseas program, and we lived in the same dorm complex. As Thomas Friedman says, the world is flat. It's pretty small too.

I had some blood drawn, and a TB test (my third this year - the previous 2 followed a minor TB outbreak at my old job). I do not, thankfully, have tuberculosis. Nor do I have rickets, gout, dropsy, or any other 1800's diseases. My blood pressure, EKG, and lung tests were perfect. The nurse, however, had to shave a little bit of my chest hair for the EKG, and it was very itchy for a couple days. I'm still waiting on my blood test results, and in the meantime, they need me to send a sample, via US mail, of... well, let's just say I'm glad I'm not the postman that day, given what I have to "doo."

After all the in-office stuff, I went to a local imaging lab to get an x-ray done. I'd been told it would be fast, but I ended up having to sit 2 hours in a cramped waiting room with a bunch of frustrated people and several bored children. I managed to bond with one toddler who kept staring at me, and an old lady who complained loudly on my behalf. The chest x-ray itself took all of 5 minutes, and I was happy to just work from home the rest of the day, since there was no real point going all the way back to the office for a couple hours.

The overall verdict is that I'm in darn good health, but could stand to lose about 20 pounds. I'd say more like 17 pounds, given that they weighed me with all my clothes on, plus shoes, keys, wallet, and cell phone. That's hardly fair, don't you think? Either way, it's a point well taken, and something I have all the more motivation to do, what with the adoption process moving along steadily.