Wednesday, January 06, 2010
ultrasound
during an annual physical a few years back, the doctor mentioned flippantly, 'oh, and you have an irregular heartbeat.' and, with rising anxiety, i asked, 'so, am i healthy? are there implications? am i just gonna drop dead at age 35?' and he answered, 'no, it just means you have an irregular heartbeat.' comforting guy, that doctor.
now that i run over an hour's worth, and slowly extending run times, i mentioned to my sister (a cardiologist) about that diagnosis, and what impact it may have to my running (or vice versa). so she suggested i have an ECG done, just to check. so i go with her to the hospital to have the ECG done, and when it was over, she led to me to another room, applied some gel to my chest, and said, 'ah, just to check.' and, lo and behold, i found myself staring at a computer screen with a familiar conical shape i'd seen only on the television. and i soon felt my heart on the business end of an ultrasound probe. i never thought i'd know how pregnant women felt, seeing things inside your body move just by rubbing a pen-like instrument over your skin.
so she was explaining to me how the aorta was looking good, and that the ventricles seemed very healthy and such (frankly, she was geeking out, so i just shut up). i thought she was done after a few passes over my heart, but then she paused thoughtfully, then put the probe at my abdominal area. had she found something? was there something wrong? would she see a pulmonary condition that would prevent me from running? she was clearly looking for something with concern, and i was anxious to hear her next statement, when finally,
'and there,' she said, 'is your liver.'
during an annual physical a few years back, the doctor mentioned flippantly, 'oh, and you have an irregular heartbeat.' and, with rising anxiety, i asked, 'so, am i healthy? are there implications? am i just gonna drop dead at age 35?' and he answered, 'no, it just means you have an irregular heartbeat.' comforting guy, that doctor.
now that i run over an hour's worth, and slowly extending run times, i mentioned to my sister (a cardiologist) about that diagnosis, and what impact it may have to my running (or vice versa). so she suggested i have an ECG done, just to check. so i go with her to the hospital to have the ECG done, and when it was over, she led to me to another room, applied some gel to my chest, and said, 'ah, just to check.' and, lo and behold, i found myself staring at a computer screen with a familiar conical shape i'd seen only on the television. and i soon felt my heart on the business end of an ultrasound probe. i never thought i'd know how pregnant women felt, seeing things inside your body move just by rubbing a pen-like instrument over your skin.
so she was explaining to me how the aorta was looking good, and that the ventricles seemed very healthy and such (frankly, she was geeking out, so i just shut up). i thought she was done after a few passes over my heart, but then she paused thoughtfully, then put the probe at my abdominal area. had she found something? was there something wrong? would she see a pulmonary condition that would prevent me from running? she was clearly looking for something with concern, and i was anxious to hear her next statement, when finally,
'and there,' she said, 'is your liver.'
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