my Lipid panel was no bueno. LDL has been steadily around 130 for 5+ years and it looks like it shot up to 168 this time. HDL is a bit low but in the range of where it has always been.

Overall cholesterol has been borderline high for those 5 years - 201 2 years ago and 196 last year.... this year it's 233.

Again, waiting to hear from the doc, but I'm shocked by those numbers and I suspect it's just a post-Christmas break issue. We had steak twice in the last 2 weeks, and then we smoked ribs on Sunday night before they went back to school on Monday. Ribs that I've eaten as leftovers for my last 3 dinners - perhaps 1/2 to 3/4 a rack each time, including last night at 5 pm before my 8 am blood draw.

Point being, I've not been eating healthy the last couple weeks, but I generally don't eat red meat very often - once or twice a month at most, including hamburgers. I'm sure she's just going to have me retest in a few weeks, but am I correct that this is likely just a one-off due to recent bad diet? Or am I as good as dead?