Heart Stuff

I raced out of the house on fumes this morning. No food, no diet pepsi....only a swallow of water to chase down some medications. Why you ask?

Heart Scan Day at Steinberg Diagnostic! Woohoo!

I will say this, based on my own experience and those of my father, you advise any medical professional that you are having chest pains, or are a coronary patient, you move to the front of the line. Immmediately. At the very least, I'm hoping for Jim to be able to swing me a handicapped parking pass - have you evern noticed how handicapped people always get the best parking spaces?

Steinberg Diagnostic's Anthem facility is very nice, exceptionally CLEAN, and is just off of 215 and Eastern. Way out thataway - to a place I hardly ever travel. It's their only facility I'm told that does the CT Heart scan since the sort of equipment is pricey. In reality, it looks like a large donut held up by fancy bear claws or 2 strips of bacon. Yeah, I was hungry.

I changed into the gown - always a humiliating experience. Is it just me, or is it impossible to tie them properly? Okay, so I had it on wrong. It's not like I wear those things all the time. I got it switched around and my wardrobe was thus straightened out. I was then given a nitroglycerin pill about the size of a pin-head and told to put it underneath my tongue. Nitro?!? You have no idea how bad I wanted to drop that pill on the floor to see if it would explode. Restraint prevailed.

Next, I hopped onto the gurney where I would lay down with my feet out and knees up. A catheter was inserted into my arm (inside right elbow), and then an oxygen mask was placed over my nose. The pill and oxygen served to enlarge my capillaries, and then iodine was pumped into my vein via the catheter to act as a contrasting agent. This solution made my body, especially my arms and legs tingle and heat up....very strange. The gurney then slid in the big donut hole a few times. I did some breathing exercises while this was going on, and after about 10 minutes, I was done. Someone who went to school for a long time will review the images and let me know how my heart looks.....on the inside.

All you guys out there over 40....over 50.....get a checkup. You owe it to your family.