Who's The Test Monkey, Now?!

It's American Heart Month, and this week I had an echo cardiogram, (ultra sound of my heart), along with a nuclear stress test. How odd is that!

Monday, I was scheduled to do both, but before I went to the hospital for the test, I had a sip of Coke. Okay, more than a sip, but it was only a half a cup. No one called, or wrote to tell me caffeine is a no-no. I had the echo, and rescheduled the stress test for today.

Male nurse explained all that would take place, gave me an injection, and sent me on my way for an hour. I found my way to the cafeteria, where I started writing this post, people watching, and observed the omelet lady.

I'll save my people watching for another post. You wouldn't BELIEVE what I saw!!!

Finally, it was time for me to go back to the waiting room. A huge semi MRI looking machine took pictures of my heart, while I laid on a table, with my arms over my head. I could move my arms, and my feet, just not my chest. What?! Keep very still, in other words.

Do you know how hard it is to lay in that position without moving? An itch was growing on the inside of my thigh, and then my shoulder started to hurt. I wanted to fall asleep, I tried to fall asleep. As soon as I dozed off, the scan was over.

I was then sat in the hall, to wait for the stress part of the test, and was nervous as hell. Five years ago, I had a nuclear stress test, OMG! I was injected with the medicine, and my heart went from 0 - 60 in the matter of seconds. This lasted for about four minutes. I thought my eyes would pop out of my head, and I would pass out! A nurse held my hand, and talked to me the entire time. So I was not looking forward to that again!

Male nurse, and a nice young lady nurse were attending to me, but there were also two others lurking. After I was all hooked up, and Male nurse explained the process. Female lurker went on to say, today's test wouldn't be as stressful as the past stress test. There is a new medicine, that does the same thing, but with less affects. Today was the first time the hospital was administering this medicine for the stress test. She and the other lurker were there to over see the procedures today. Had I not had that Coke Monday, I would have gotten the almost pee in your pants, stress test.

Whew, I didn't get the whammy stress test!

When a new restaurant opens, I wait... and let them master the dishes. When a new tech product comes out, I wait... and let others work through the bugs. Today, I ended up the test monkey!

For information on living heart healthy, visit the American Heart Association's website.