Gilbert's Disease

Well, another day almost done, at least the hot, humid, sunny part. Now it's time for the hot, humid but dark part of the day. Today I slept two hours longer than yesterday , got up at 7:00 AM but really wanted to sleep two more hours and get up at my usual (typical) 9:00 AM. But, we had to make another  trip to the DFW area to see my Cardiologist for a routine checkup.  Prior to my appointment, we met with my youngest daughter Shaye and two of the grandkids, Cole and Abbie, at the Cotton Patch for lunch. I ordered a chicken fried steak with French fries, a bunch of gravy and some cinnamon apples. I know what you're thinking but let me share my thoughts on this matter. I figured it was only an hour and a half until my Doctor's appointment and there was no way that the chicken fried steak could do any harm or show up on any tests in that short a time. It was the perfect time to eat a chicken fried streak.

Later sitting in the Doctor's waiting room just packed with patients (there is nothing more somber and unentertaining as a bunch of heart patients) I had a feller setting next to me that could not keep his eyes off my face.  I figured he was looking at my poor old nose and just didn't want to say anything to hurt my feelings. Finally I decided to break the ice and said "So, I guess you have noticed my nose."

He said, "Nose! Nah, I was looking at the size of those ears, I bet you can hear a mile!"

Finally the nurse called my name and I began what I had come for. First she took me to the scales for weighing.  As I stepped on the scales she said, "246 pounds, huh, you don't look like you weigh 246!" I told her that I got that a lot, that I didn't look like I weighed that much. She then said, " Oh no, what I meant was, you look like you weigh a lot more than that. Looks like to me you've had a few too many chicken fried steaks. As a matter of fact, that looks a lot like cream gravy dried on the front of your shirt!"

After my EKG the doctor finally came in and we reviewed all the test results and he told me as far as my heart, everything looked good, however some of my liver tests show that I could have Gilbert's (pronounced Zheel-bar when you want to sound really sick) Disease. He told me that it was nothing to worry about. Just for your information  twelve percent of you white folks who are reading this could have this disease. I asked him if it was nothing to worry about, why was he telling me about it and he said "Because if it isn't that, it could be something really serious!"