A few weeks ago I went to my doctor for my biennial check-up. My EKG was abnormal, though he said it was likely a false positive. But since my father died quite young of a heart attack, it was only prudent to send me off for a stress test. I thought I aced it, since I got my heart up to target rate easily, and didn’t even breathe hard until it was over. But no, the stress test showed something suspicious, a possible “false positive” but just to be sure, I was scheduled for a cardiac catheterization, which I underwent today.
Let me pause here and state that I am something of an exercise freak. I swim from three to five miles a week, depending on my schedule. I ride an exercise bike at home, and a real bike on weekends. I have, in the process of all this testing discovered that my resting heart rate is in the 50s, my blood pressure is low, and my cholesterol readings are in a good range. That means I’m in just as good shape as George Bush, who has tons more time to exercise than do I.
Given all that, it seemed unfair that I was facing the possibility of being shuttled off to New Haven for a stent insertion, should the test today not go well. Naturally, though I had never experienced them before, I started to suspect that maybe I was, after all, having some sort of chest pains. By this morning, I was fairly sure I was New Haven bound. But no, it turns out that my false readings were caused by something I was born with, a Myocardial bridge, which is apparently fairly harmless. I merely had to spend the day coping with boredom (there’s a 4 hour recuperation period during which you have to lay down, not to mention the wait for the test itself, which started an hour later than scheduled) and the typical indignities incident to being in a hospital. The nurses, as always, were great. I don’t know how they do it. My wife was even greater. As a near professional worrier, she handled a great deal of that chore for me, in addition to being there today to keep an eye on me.
Anyway, though as it turns out I was never at any risk, I feel a bit like I’ve got a new lease on life. These kinds of incidents make you realize that despite the existence of people like George Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, etc., and the impending destruction of the planet by global warming, to mention just a few of the leading causes of indigestion (and high blood pressure for that matter), life is still pretty good, and as Louis Armstrong sings, It’s a Wonderful World.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnRqYMTpXHc[/youtube]
I love this song, and have wanted to post it for a long time. This seems like as good an excuse as any.
Back to politics, tomorrow.
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