The day is finally here. After a grueling month of travel and sleeping around we're headed back to South Carolina. And this trip home could keep us in the warm south for most of the winter, even until spring.
But before we could leave I had to take, and pass, a nuclear stress test (NST). Most people dislike going to their providers for screenings and check-ups but I welcome them both. It's not that I'm looking for a diagnosis, I just thinking catching shit early, and treating it, is better than walking around a half-a heartbeat away from meeting the Grim Reaper. Or having something slow growing or swimming around in your blood that doesn't below there.
My family, mostly my parents, have a plethora of medical diagnosis that surely have been passed down into their kids DNA. Like me, they're pretty good on keeping up with appointments and being compliant. One thing my Mom always says is, "We always pass out tests", even while something wonky is going on inside.
So after a wonky EKG a few weeks back my cardiologist sent me for a nuclear stress test (NST) to make sure my ticker is still ticking, with the right electrical currents trace,ing though my heart to make it beat correctly, in the right order, and with the right force.
So without giving a blow by blow a NST is pretty simple. You get a baseline scan, they give you some radioisotope, then you get up on the treadmill and get your heart to it's target heart rate,
they juice you up again, and then you get scanned for a final time. The entire time I was speed walking on the treadmill I was hooked up to a continuous running ECG while the guys stood there watching my man-boobs travel around my upper body. It was a little embarrassing, and I did ask them what the ladies did, shirtless or not. They get different treatment than the boys.
After the three hour test we were off to getting back to my parents house for the final packing while we waited for the call from the cardiologist with the report. Around 5 pm the phone rang and after she introduced herself she said those welcoming words, "Everything looks good". No old heart attack, no current heart attack, and "Low risk" for one in the near future.
