Cardiologist Appointment - June 18

I went and saw my cardiologist on Thursday, June 18, 2009. I realize that it has been almost two weeks now since I went to see her, but that's not my fault. We have been very busy here at home and I have not had the opportunity to make a good blog post.

That's not to say that this blog post will be either informative or humorous, but at least it will exist.

All that being said, my appointment was to have a 2D echo cardiogram done on my heart. This apparently went well, according to the doctor. She said that my results are the same as they were last year, and that she would probably not need to see me for another echo for twelve months. This is always good news (yippie!).

I told her that I had been experiencing some shortness of breath when I walk up stairs. This is not a problem when I walk for a half hour on the treadmill. Even when I am carrying small weights, I still do not have trouble breathing. I only notice the breathing being harder if I am walking up the stairs, or working out in the yard (bending and standing a lot). She told me that it might not be a problem and that I may just be noticing this more since I am exercising and paying more attention to my heart and lungs.

That being said, she told me that she wanted to run some tests. I asked if that meant she would try to kill me, and she chuckled. She asked if I had ever done a stress test before, and I indicated that being the reason I had asked about murder. She laughed again, and told me that we should go ahead and make sure my heart functions correctly when it is actually having to do something (not just when I am laying down on the exam table).

So, on July 10 (which will be my fifth wedding anniversary), I will head back to the cardiologist's office with running shoes and a pair of shorts. There's no way I'm doing this test in smooth soled shoes and khaki pants. That's just crazy. For those of you that don't know, the doctor is going to have me walk on a treadmill that gradually increases in speed and angle of ascent. In layman's terms, they want me to start walking lazily on a park path and work my way up to attempting to run up a large hill. Once I get to the point of nearly passing out, they start a five-minute timer and see how well your heart does.

As far as I can tell from the one time I did this for my transplant testing, if you live to hear the timer beep, then your heart functions correctly. Last time, I obviously passed, and I expect to pass again. I may ask to see if they can start my incline a bit higher so it doesn't take nearly fourteen minutes to complete! That's about how long I was on the treadmill the last time. But, of course, as a man I can do it. (Here, you can imagine me with my chest stuck out, facial hair gleaming, and muscles bulging inside my shirt).

That's about it, healthwise. You will notice that I updated the links on the right-hand side of my page (for those of you using my style sheet and visiting on line). I changed the link from our now-defunct adoption blog to our new hot "family" blog. It's called 'Journey Through Parenthood' and can be reached at http://journeythroughparenthood.blogspot.com/. I think that's the longest name Jenny could get (sorry about that). Update your RSS readers, bookmarks, or that little scrap of paper next to your monitor (yes, I know you have one).

Nothing eles from me at this time. If you just can't get enough of Nathan, you can always follow me on Twitter. If you are not familiar with Twitter, just imagine what awesome would smell like, mix in some Internet, and add a dash of real-time updates. Oh yeah!

See you next time (probably after July 10).