Monday, January 15, 2007

Physical Exam

I've been thinking about taking flying lessons ever since my grandfather took me flying in a tiny Cessna. That was more than 20 years ago and I just kept putting it off because of the expense and time commitment. But I've decided that I don't want to wait any longer. Maybe it's my midlife crisis.

So I've done some reading and I see that I need to pass a physical exam, which must be conducted by an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME). My regular doctor is not an AME, but if I have any medical problems, I would prefer to have my regular doctor to find them.

Well, I took the physical exam with my own doctor last week and I got a clean bill of health, except... He tells me that my blood pressure, while not dangerously high, was higher than it should be. And my cholesterol levels are high.

Great. Well now I have a problem. While neither condition appears to disqualify me from flying, they are serious and I need to address them. So, diet and exercise, here I come. I already exercise regularly so that's not anything new. I guess I'll have to eat less (I'm about 10 pounds heavier than I like). And I'll have to eat less junk. Now my goal is to lose the weight, watch my blood pressure (I ordered a monitor), and try the aviation medical exam sometime next month.

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