+1000

During my annual physical last May my Dr. suggested a stress echo test to make sure the generator of my machine, my heart, approaching 64 years was in good working order. Never having any issues with my heart except when a murmur kept me out of the army, I put it off until yesterday. Hey I got time. So I went to the faux hospital in the neighborhood for the test. First there is the echo part with a ultra sound probe. Tickles a bit as I could hear my heart mimic the wash cycle. There was the familiar lub, tub sound of the muscle as it pumps to the the outer reaches of the body. Once done and the goop wiped off my skin I went to another room for the stress part. A very young nurse shaved parts of my chest, and all it reminded me of was the Seinfeld episode where Jerry shaves his chest hair. Kramer warns him that it will grow back with a vengeance but he does it anyway. How sad and has it come to this, a very attractive woman is paying close attention to me and I'm thinking Seinfeld!

"Hooked up,"a term which has become part of the vernacular  has a different meaning in the hospital. Wires and sensors were attached to my chest and after a few medical history questions, which after 7 decades I can still proudly answer, NO,NO,NO,.... I was ready to step on the tread mill, slower at first, the PA raised the angle and speed of the mill at least 5 times. Each increase brought a wake up call to my legs, but my pressure and vitals were all strong. The doctor came by read the monitor while I was on the mill and I saw him turn to the PA with a Why is this guy here?  look on his face. Usually a doctors pause raises a patients suspicion and a what, what, what do you see panic expression. But I could tell from how I was doing that he felt all was well. He quickly said you are doing great, you have the heart of a 20 years old!

After an abrupt stop, which nearly sent me over the handle bars, I laid of the stretcher for a check of my vitals. Once again great responses and a very commendable blood pressure reading. More goop to wipe from my chest and off to the doctors office for a post test eval. He reiterated that I was in fine shape, and I could and should exercise to lose weight. No restrictions, see you in 10 years. 

So today, I am unofficially, officially adding 1000 days, or 2+ years to my 7200 day, give or take calendar.  I'd officially change the name of the blog but that requires a whole other set of vital skills I have yet to master.