Saturday, Jun. 09, 2007 6:31 P.M.
The dawn of a new day. Starting with stupid thunderstorms. The stress test was weird. It went okay, just weird. I was taken to a room with a bed and told to put on a johnny. I changed up and the tech told me to lie down. She inserted an IV with Persantine/Thallium. The persantine is what makes the heart think its exercising. The Thallium is the radioactive isotope tracer that shows the routes through the heart. They have it all ready and then we wait until the cardiologist comes in. He has to be present during the administration of the test in case you go into cardiac distress. I was scared to death that I was going to stop breathing. The cardiologist explained that thought the heart thinks you are exercising, the lungs and the rest of the body aren�t involved. He said I might get a little short of breath. After they get the heart into serious exercise mode and maintain it, the insert the �antidote�. Scary word. It brings the cardio action to a standstill and within 2 minutes, it is as though nothing had happened. Thursday night I couldn�t eat or sleep. Friday morning I was dying of starvation and couldn�t eat anything till after the test. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. All that anxiety was for naught (I said naught and you didn�t, neener.) As it turned out, my regular doctor came in and was talking to me about changing my breathing meds. After he finished talking to me, I noticed the tech fiddling with my IV. She looked at me and said, in another 30 seconds I will administer the antidote. Antidote? What about the test? �Oh,� she said. �We just did it. It�s all done.� Holy Houdini, Batman! I felt nothing! Nada, zip! Nill! Wow, was that amazing. Then she injected the antidote. Yuck! My mouth tasted like I was sucking on a rusty pipe. I just said, �ewww!� The tech said, �Oh, a little metal taste, huh?� No shit Sherlock! And then it hit. I said I was feeling really strange. My body felt like it was leaving the building without me and I was really dizzy. She told me to hold in there and it would pass in 1 � minute. Right on the money. In an instant, it was over and I felt like absolutely nothing had even happened. I told her I felt nothing during the Persantine part and she said that was a good thing. I won�t have the results until Monday, but I�m hopeful. It seems to me that since congestive heart failure is basically weak heart muscles, that I would have felt something if my heart was being called upon to do strenuous exercise and push the blood flow to the max. I hope my logic is correct. If there is anyone in the know, clue me in, okay? I expect that maybe Mary can maybe shed some light on this for me. As for the meds, I am on Prednisone for the next 12 days. 6 pills yesterday and today, 5 tomorrow and the next day 4 the following 2 days, etc, etc, etc. He also put me on Advair. He said I will feel much better with the week. Yes, I have emphysema. Yes, I know this. My cardio said something to me that is the first time in my life that a doctor �gets it�. I wanted to kiss him. He asked me if I am still smoking. I said yes and he asked me how much. I told him a pack and a half on days I don�t work. I know that there are two people you should never lie to. Your lawyer and your doctor. I then proceeded to tell him that he could let me have it. I already know I�m an idiot. Then he said the nicest thing I have ever heard. He said, Karen. With everything you have been through in the past ten years, with all the depression you have been feeling and all the anxiety you have gone through, how in the world could I take away your medicine? HUH??? He said, �If we could take the stuff out of the cigarette that makes you feel calm, the stuff that makes you feel happy, the stuff that lifts your spirits, we could market it as a miracle drug. We can�t. They are bad for you and you know that, but the help you. When you want to quit, you will. You are not an idiot.� He got it! He really got it. He then went on to say that they have cures for many cancers. Unfortuately, they are so poisonous, that though they kill the cancer, they kill the patient first. Same with the cigarettes. He is the first doctor that I have ever talked to that makes me want to quit. I think I really want to. I have bought commit. I have them in my purse. I think I may give them a try. With everything that has happened in the past few days, one would think I would be more depressed than ever. I don�t have my test results, I still am having trouble breathing, but it�s better today, but for some unexplained reason, I feel emotionally better today than I have felt in months. I am actually at peace. I have laughed today. I have been silly today. And for the first time in ages, I sincerely feel that whatever the outcome of these test and what I may face in the future, I can do it. I am not faking it anymore. I really feel it. Terry just asked if I�m writing a book. Ha! Ya, this is a long one, huh? Oh well, it�s my diary and I�ll yak all I want to. So there. He ain�t the boss of me! Later,
Cosmic
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yesterday's gone/tomorrow's coming- - 2009-07-27
- - 2009-07-07
- - 2009-06-29
- - 2009-06-26
- - 2009-06-09
MY PERSONAL HEALTH PROGRAM
� kmurray 2007 - 8
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