Stress Test Day

No fluid after 3:00 am . . . I'm good with that. If I'm lucky, I'll just sleep through the no liquid/no food morning.

But, of course THAT didn't happen. I was awake at 6:00 a.m. Guess it was a good thing, though, I
finally had a chance to watch the local show that comes on before TODAY. The local reporter who always does the neat, on site, stuff was at the oldest Polish American Club to start of Dyngus Day.

If you don't live in a town with a large Polish population you have no idea what Dyngus Day is. It is the day they celebrate the end of Lent . . . also, Buffalo is now known as the city with the largest number of Polka Bands playing at one time.

Never been to the celebration . . . starts with the Blessing of the Instruments on Sunday night and goes through Monday night. If you buy a Pussy Willow Pass, you can get into all of the local "establishments" and clubs where the revelry is going on.



Finally, 9:15 comes and I am lying on a table getting a sonogram done of the belly/abdomen /  from under the left arm to the area where the appendix is. Wonder if this is where they found the gall stones?









Next, Nuclear Medicine. Get shot up with radiation stuff so they could get a picture of the heart. Never saw this machine before. Kind of freaked me out . . I don't do enclosed machines and this one was pretty close to the neck/head area. But my head was out far enough that I could see the ceiling.

If you have never had this thing done, it starts on the side you see in the picture. Then, it takes a picture and slowly moves to the next position. Takes about 15 minutes for the whole sequence of pictures.





Now that I am "radiating," lets take a wheelchair ride down to the Stress Test area . . . Floor 3, here I come! This picture is pretty accurate except: 1. the technician was black, 2. the doctor had dark brown hair and no glasses and 3. I only had a GINORMOUS hospital gown on . . no leg ware of any king :)

Before it was all over, I got another shot so I could go back to Nuclear Medicine (1st Floor) and see how the vessels look dilated.

Man, I'll bet I was GLOWING in that second set of pictures :)

Last, but not least, a trip to get an ultrasound of the heart. Having taught Life Science for YEARS,, I was glad the tech didn't turn the machine away from me. It was SO AWESOME watching the heart  pump. If you have ever seen this, you will know what I mean when I say, "It is unbelievable how the heart pumps and looks like it is jumping around and, yet, you don't feel it. With all that action you would think you be able to see it all the time, not just when you have a wet swimming suit on and your heart is pumping because you have really exerted yourself.

Then, I got a good look at the valve between the left ventricle and atrium. Looked just like the pig valve we used in Life science to show what a human heart looks like. Oh, and the blood showed up red and blue in the pictures and the sound . . WOW! Is all I can say. Simply amazing what your body does and you just keep going on with your routine while it runs like the well oiled machine it is.

Finally got back to my room about 12:15 . . yep 3 hours after I had left. Lunch had been delivered. I was happy about that. No food since 6:00 the night before. When I opened the lid on the plate I started laughing. I have a thing for not liking any food that is white on white . . like white sauce on pasta. Well, the main dish was the chicken I had eaten on both Sunday meals (it's probably something they make everyday . . roasted chicken) with pasta and white sauce . . . I just laughed and ate.  Would have preferred a tomato sauce, but beggars can't be choosers.

I sent the husband home. And he had no more than left when a woman came in and introduced herself as ?????, a nurse on the floor. She went over the things I would need to know when I got home, had me sign it and gave me my copy. WOOOOOO-HOOOOO . . . getting busted out of there today.

NOT . . . when my nurse comes in later she tells me that those gall stone, in the top picture, had been found . . . and the results of the Stress Test weren't in so it looked like another night "in stir."

I was SO PISSED OFF ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Why did I have to spend another night in "jail" just to see the GI doctor in the morning. Why couldn't I go home and go to the doctors office and talk to him?

By 6:30, the food cart had gone by without stopping. The husband was back and went out and found the aide and asked what was going on now? He doesn't get hot very often, he is the mellowest man I know, but he was irritated then.

Pretty soon she comes back in with a tray . . guess someone had a meal who had checked out? The meal may have been the best . . . baked fish, wild rice . . and a bunch of it, and brussel sprouts. Oh, and the same pound cake from Sunday lunch and supper.

After 7:00 p.m. my nurse, whom I hadn't met yet, and says, "So how ya doin'"

My reply, "Well, let's see, they forgot to have a meal for me at supper, I have to stay overnight to see the GI doctor, and my heart tests showed I am fine . . . I am not a happy camper at all.  I want to go home and don't understand why I can't any more than I can't understand why I didn't get any supper until my husband asked where mine was. So, all in all, I'm pretty pissed off!"

Didn't see her again that evening. Did see the aide again . . she was a new one too. She came in sometime to get blood. I kept grimacing and she said, :That shouldn't hurt."

I responded, "Well, if you had veins that hid and someone kept poking at you, you might be a little irked too."

DAMN! Sure hops I get a evaluation of my stay from that hospital. I have a list for them ! ! ! ! ! ! !