I made it into the bathroom but I saw a strange light. It seemed to be coming from my body. We do have a small night light but that wasn't it, it was eerie. Why did I seem to be glowing? I could see all around me without the lights being turned on. I closed the door so the light wouldn't escape into our bedroom.
While sitting there, yes, I sit in the dark to keep from splashing all over the place without hitting my target, I remembered that I had taken a nuclear stress test during the day. The test lasted 5 hours starting at 9:30 and ending at 2:30.
During prep I was injected with two different chemicals or isotopes that could be seen by the camera during the scanning process of the test. After waiting about 15 minutes I was shown to a slab, it felt like one, and was instructed to lay down with my arms stretched above my head and to remain still for 20 minutes. It doesn't sound too tough but when you have two bad rotator cuffs, it's no picnic. But I survived.
We took a short break after that and I was given some peanut butter crackers since I had been fasting since last night and they wanted to make sure I didn't crash before going on.
I told the nurses that I work out for about an hour every day so the treadmill portion of the test should not be a problem. They hooked me up to the EKG machine and kept a constant check on my blood pressure which they said was actually perfect for a younger man and even better for an old fart like me. I went for the full eight minutes up all three levels and at maximum speed that I believe was about 3 mph. I guess the hours at the gym had paid off.
Before going much further I've got to tell you why I was taking the test. I have a large amount of calcium that has formed around my heart and my Dr. wanted to make sure there was no blockage that would have prompted an angio plasti procedure.
After another hour or so I was again placed in the scanner with the camera placed over my chest area. I asked if I could play some music but they explained that they did not have any. I told them that I had some albums on my Blackberry phone and could I use that? After some discussion with the main tech she agreed but it couldn't be too loud. She placed it next to my head and I listened to BURLESQUE with Cher and Christina Agulera. I was told to remain absolutely still and not to tap my fingers or feet to the music. The music actually helped to make the 20 minutes go a little faster.
We completed all the stages at 2:30 and I was told that we were finished. It was a five hour test and the only thing I knew was that I had passed the treadmill portion with flying colors but the results of the two scans would be between 5 to 7 days.
The next evening my cardiologist called to give me the GREAT news that everything was open and running perfectly. A big sigh was emitted from both my wife and me. So, I guess that eerie light was the remainder of the nuclear residue in my body or just the glow that follows me everywhere.
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