Well, wasn’t this a surprise. Back at the beginning of the month I went to the doctor for some pretty bad heartburn I was having. Chris wanted to make sure it wasn’t heart-related. Can you blame her for going there?
My regular doc was booked for the next decade, of course, so I saw a different one. Dr. X. No, that’s not me assigning a nickname, although I have been known to do that. Dr. X is actually what the lady goes by. Her name is Dr. Xie (pronounced Zee). Hey, we all have our favorite letters of the alphabet. She just happens to have two.
Anyway, along with the bloodwork and some strong anti-gas meds, she ordered stress test. That’s Chris’ forte, you know. She’s had several, and has yet to pass one. Ah, the stress test. That’s where you walk on the treadmill until you can’t breathe, then get checked into the hospital for a heart cath. Actually, Chris wasn’t too happy when I made that comment. She replied, “We’re NOT doing that!”
Well, that test was ordered on the seventh of this month, fully three weeks ago. I had forgotten about it. Not so dear Chris. She reminded me last week, so I sent a message to the doc that saw me through the My Chart app asking if it was still on. She hadn’t replied in a week, so Chris insisted I call the office.
Once I navigated through the inevitable computer options section, I finally connected with a human. After I explained the situation, she said I would need to talk to the scheduler in the cardiology department. Of course I do. But that’s when she did something totally unexpected. She connected me to them right then. And not to be outdone, the scheduler proceeded to arrange an appointment for me the very next day (yesterday). I was first on the docket for 8:30 in the morning. Amazing.
I got up at five so I could take my meds and have a little breakfast. Nothing to eat or drink for three hours prior to the test. Then it was just a waiting game until time to leave - about 7:45.
And once we got there, guess what we got to do? Wait. Seems both receptionists had been given the day off, and none of the nurses knew how to check people in. Crisis. They finally sent someone over from the cardiac cath lab to teach them how to do it. Crisis averted.
Speaking of crises (and surprises). that meant I still had to do the actual stress test. The nurse was an amiable fellow who obviously knew his stuff. He got me all hooked up and explained how the equipment worked. The doctor came in to introduce himself. And we were off. He said the first level was a casual stroll. Nope. Way too fast for my idea of casual stroll. I adjusted fairly quickly. Then the next stage kicked in. “This is more of a brisk walk.” Nope. More like the way Chris goes on her walks. Then he said, “we have reached the goal we were looking for. Do you want to stop?” Nope. Not yet. See, his comment about the next level was, “It’s how you would walk if you were hurrying into the stadium to see Altuve hit a home run.” I had to try that one. And there was absolutely no walking on this on. I definitely had to run. Couldn’t keep that up long, because the pounding was hurting my back, so I cried uncle and he shut it down.
Now, I mentioned crises and surprises. That’s plural on both counts. One crisis down - I finished the test. Did better than they expected. But then the doc came in and went over the results - with the nurse. I had no idea what their words meant. That’s when I wished Chris had been there.
The doc finally turned to talk to me. He was quite personable, but I still just managed to grab a few key words. “We saw it very early.” (Saw what, exactly?) “Do you have a family history of heart failure?” (Other than my wife, who obviously doesn’t count in this discussion, my Dad had a heart attack in his 60’s). “Who is your cardiologist.” (I don’t have one! I told him the name of Chris’ guy). “Angiogram.” (Whoa! Slow down a bit, Cowboy!). “But should you be freaking out? Nah.” (Yep. He really said that).
After he finished and left the room, I asked the nurse to clarify. He spoke in word pictures, so I finally understood enough to get that something was going below the EKG line that really shouldn’t have. I asked Chris later what that might mean. She sighed a knowing sigh and said it shows the ventricle is not pumping like it should. That’s the same biggest problem that she’s dealing with now. (So … now I’m having sympathy pains for her? But I’m having no pains!).
Not sure what next steps all that calls for. The doc that ordered it is supposed to contact me. Since she’s not even my real doc, and she never did answer my previous query, we’ll have to see about that, I guess. We have checked to see if the results were online in my chart there, but so far they aren’t .
Here we go again …
Matthew 4:4 says, Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Father, thank you that this appointment came available at just the right time. Amen.
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