WebMD = Cancer Diagnosis

Many years ago, in my early 20s, I spent a good deal of time googling different symptoms I thought I had on WebMD learning that the end result always led to some horrible, incurable disease.  Granted, I was also diagnosed shortly after that with Anxiety/Depression Disorder and was introduced to the lovely world of SSRIs.  Since then, I have avoided going onto WebMD because of how they make a simple cold seem like early stages of pancreatic cancer.

Well, as I've said several times in recent posts, I have been seeing a nutritionist who has introduced me to the paleo diet and helped me lose weight at a reasonable and steady pace.  I feel healthier and feel lighter.  This desire to be healthier, not just for me, but also for my beautiful daughter, sent me on a trek to see a general physician and get a physical....something I hadn't done in years.  At the first visit, I asked her about this bump I'd had in my wrist.  It was determined to be a ganglion cyst which was easily drained at the orthopedic doctor's office for a simple $50 copay. (Have I mentioned before that I HATE insurance companies?)  My doctor (really Nurse Practitioner, but who cares) told me to get some blood work done prior to the actual physical.  No prob, Bob.

I had the blood work done by what has got to be the worst phlebotomist EVER and found out the results at my actual physical appointment earlier this week.  Kidneys?  Good. Liver? Doing its job.  White and Red Blood Cells? Looking great. Cholesterol? Much higher than it should be, but will probably (hopefully) get to normal over the next few months with more weight loss and healthy eating.  Vitamin D? In the toilet.  The desired range for a healthy amount of Vitamin D is between 30 and 100.  My level? 19.3  The doctor tells me that this may be the cause of why I've been so tired - more so than just simply having a 3 yr old to run after and being a teacher and temporary single mom - and....wait for it....why it may be so hard for me to lose weight.  *insert heavenly choir of angels for the 'a-ha' moment I experienced*  She prescribed me a C R A Z Y amount of Vitamin D to take over the next few months before I have another blood draw to check the cholesterol and the Vitamin D levels.

Granted it took me a few days, but since it's unavoidable for me to *not* google anything I need to know more about, I naturally searched "vitamin D deficiency".  Tons of links popped up and I chose what looked to be the more reputable ones - those coming from either hospitals or well-know medical source sites.  And of course, what should pop up?  WebMD.  Dare I go there after my experience years ago with googling symptoms and ailments?  I have been there since and not had horrible experiences, so why not?  So here's what I learned:

"If you shun the sun [nope because I have a fabulous tan], suffer from milk allergies [wrong again], or adhere to a strict vegetarian diet [I like meat, so, no], you may be at risk for vitamin D deficiency."

Ok, so how the hell could this have happened?  I read on...

"Vitamin D is essential for strong bones because it helps the body use calcium from the diet. Traditionally, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with rickets, a disease in which the bone tissue doesn't properly mineralize, leading to soft bones and skeletal deformities. But increasingly, research is revealing the importance of vitamin D in protecting against a host of health problems."

Great!  Bring on the "host of health problems" in the first two paragraphs.  What the hell is rickets?  And Lord knows I sure as hell don't want osteoporosis in my later years, for which rickets seems to be the precursor.  The article on WebMD continues on with what could happen with continued Vitamin D deficiency...

• Increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease (Awesome)
• Cognitive impairment in older adults (And I thought preggo brain was bad)
• Severe asthma in children (Never so glad I was an adult)

And, wait for it.....

• Cancer

There it is!  The inevitable cancer diagnosis popular with WebMD searches.  It also goes on to say that proper levels of the vitamin can prevent types 1 and 2 diabetes, hypertension (is that what happened to me when I was preggo with CSC?), and MS.  So again, I'm perplexed as to how I could have come across this problem with the oh-so-important D Vitamin. I read further....

Vitamin D deficiency can occur for a number of reasons:

You don't consume the recommended levels of the vitamin over time. 
Possible, but seeing the list of foods that contain Vitamin D, I'm fairly certain the problem lies elsewhere.

Your exposure to sunlight is limited. 
Again, I reference exhibit A - my awesome summer tan

You have dark skin. 
Unless I'm tan, I'm pretty pale for an Italian girl, so another miss

Your kidneys cannot convert vitamin D to its active form. 
Lab results said kidneys were earning their keep in my body, so try again WebMD

Your digestive tract cannot adequately absorb vitamin D. 
It mentioned Crohns disease, celiac, and cystic fibrosis here, none of which I have, so I'm beginning to think I'm a medical marvel at this point.

You are obese.
 A HA!  There it is....I'm a fat ass with the BMI required to be a member of this club. 

So I do the next natural thing and begin to read about treatment for this deficiency.  Lose weight and get to a healthy BMI.  Working on it.  Take a ridiculously large amount of Vitamin D. Script has been written and awaiting pick-up from the pharmacy.

In my continued journey towards good health, and ultimately MILF-hood, I will start taking the supplement and hopefully bring my levels back outside of the cancer danger zone.  And in true WebMD fashion, at the end of all the "helpful" information and simple treatments, they don't fail to remind me that without the necessary Vitamin D, cancer is in my future.  I guess I need to tan more....oh wait, that causes skin cancer.  I guess I'm screwed either way.  I need some Chardonnay.