What's This Heart-Thing?

      I needed my prescriptions refilled in August.  Rather than drive back to my doctor of ten years, in Hutchinson, I decided it was time to find a general practice doctor here in Topeka.  I was able to get a new patient appointment a few days before school started.

     When I went in, my new doctor told me my blood pressure was "a little elevated."  No duh!  School was starting in a few days at a new-to-me building and I was meeting a new doctor for the first time.  I tried explaining this to my doctor, but she is very thorough, and didn't buy it.   She put me on blood pressure lowering meds and asked me to track my blood pressure, daily.  My blood pressure continued to climb!  She upped my meds.  It continued to stay high.  She referred me to a cardiologist.

    I went to the cardiologist.  I really liked him.  He didn't use big, long, technical words and I didn't feel rushed.  He ordered a stress test and an ultrasound of my heart.  The stress test was crazy! They increased the incline and the speed every forty-five seconds!  Actually, my calves started burning before I really got winded, but I was able to get my heart rate up into the zone they wanted it to be in. Next was the ultrasound.  It was fascinating!

     A few days later, I got a call that tilted my world!  They wanted to do a heart cath., based on something they saw on the stress test.  Having a husband who is a heart patient and it brought back so many memories of all of the tests and procedures he went through. Visions of allergic reactions to contrast dye and lying flat while the entry points in my groin clotted. 

     Well, medical technology has advanced since that time. Rather than going in through the groin, they now go in through the wrist, cutting down on recovery time! I also read that the patient needs to be awake.  Say what?!?!  No thank you!.  Much like having a colonoscopy, though, they give you meds that help you relax and not remember.  On top of that, they didn't find any abnormalities or blockages. Hallelujah!  

     So now what? What landed me there in the first place? Do I really have high blood pressure? I see the cardiologist again the end of December and I will, hopefully, get some answers then.  To be continued....