The Doctor Is In

Well, maybe not. He did apologize for being late, though. Today I went to see the cardiologist. He isn't nearly as much fun as the urologist, but a lot more demanding.

In February during my annual checkup, my physician noticed some irregularities on my EKG. He said he didn't think that it was serious, but in light of my family history, he wanted my heart checked out by a cardiologist. I had an initial visit with the cardiologist two weeks ago. After my checkup, he said he didn't think anything was amiss, but he wanted to do a stress test, which was scheduled for today.

Before the stress test, a medical technologist performed an echocardiogram. I had to strip from the waist up, which was okay, even though I had forgotten to wear my tightie whities. (I really need a medical visit checklist.) I enjoyed the echocardiogram, because I was able to sleep through most of it. It consists of smearing goo on your chest and abdomen, then the technician holds a scanning device next to the skin. The only collateral damage is a lot of minty-blue goo smeared over your chest.

Then came the stress test. The technician wired me up to an EKG, took my blood pressure, then sat me shirtless (I wish I had six pack abs at this point) in the room for the next 20 minutes or so. I played a video game on my cell phone, but then thought that maybe this would be stress inducing.

Finally, the Doctor ambles in and gives me the shameless apology, "Sorry I'm late." He tells me that I'm going to be audited by the IRS just as he flips on the EKG. And that was the stress test.... Just kidding.

He put me on a treadmill, and started me off at 2.5 miles per hour. The test ran for about 12 minutes, and at the end I was walking at 4.2 miles per hour up a rather steep slope. I was sweating like a mad dog, and trying to act nonchalant. I was worried that my pants were slipping. I was thinking, "I should have worn my gym shorts."

The upshot: my cardiologist has eaten at The Inn at Little Washington, and highly recommends it, although his wife thinks the cost is "obscene." My echocardiogram and EKG appear to be normal, although he's going to look at the results more closely and give me a call next week.

I'm thinking I'm going to check out the Inn at Little Washington. It comes highly recommended.