Now some of you may take offense at this (this time, I have my asbestos suit
in the read,y but I don't like wearing it!!!), so if you don't agree, fine.
I'm not making any blanket recommendations, just offering Don's and my 2
cents worth here.  Take it or leave it. Okay?  :-)

Mary asked about cholesterol tests "And should I get a complete lipids test?
Any other relevant tests that could tell about our health status?

Don:  I don't know what my cholesterol level is and don't really care.  I
don't think I've ever had it tested.  Anyway, that wouldn't tell me a thing
about my health status.  People have been duped.

Rachel:  I had my cholesterol checked once, when I was 21 and it was 108!!!
Was I impressed?  Yes.  Should I have been?  No!!!  I was very vegan, very
fatigued, overweight/overfat, not menstrating, not making female hormones,
and not well at all.  Have I had it tested since then?  (I'm 34 now.)  No.
Do I care too, not really.  We don't even go to doctors or get annual
physicals.   We play doctor to eachother!  Seriously--herbs, therapeutic,
massage, good food, TLC!  (Okay, we have gone to accupuncturists,
Naturopathic docs, homeopathic docs, etc. when we lived in states where
those things were LEGAL.)  No tests by medical doctors can accurately "tell
you" if you are healthy.  People live in bodies, not test tubes and petri
dishes.

Example:  My father in law has felt like utter dog do-do (I'm being polite)
for years.  Every year he goes to the doctor, complains of fatigue and other
related ails and the doctor gives him a "clean" bill of health, says he's
fine.  You can look at him, talk to him, and look into their medicine chest
(no degrees, letters, needed) and see that he is NOT HEALTHY.  I think we've
been duped into thinking that Modern Medicine and it's invasive, often
untested tests will tell us if we are OK.  Humans got to this point in
history without all that stuff.... and were a lot healthier too.

Okay, off my high horse.
Rachel