It's that time of the decade again, time to let the doctor take his magic trip through the pipes to make sure there's nothing amiss. One of the consequences of living in a family with a tendency to generate unnecessary cellular mutations. Not a big deal, really. Seems like a good time to restart the ol' body chemistry anyway, take things down a bit, simplify the intake, take stock of what's going in so that it doesn't create any issues on its way through.
It was supposed to be a routine prep, no different than the last time. Maybe my memory is off, or perhaps the chemistry has changed more than I had previously detected. But it felt different this time. Easier than I was expecting. Almost ... too easy. I took the pills they said to take, I drank the stuff they said to drink, and then sat back and waited for the discomfort and inconvenience to come to an end so that I could move on.
Hmm. That went far too easily. And quickly. Not nearly as long as last time. And then it was time to head off to the doctor's, where things moved rapidly along - again, much faster than they did last time - and, before I quite knew what happened, I was wheeled into the prep room, hooked up to an IV, and then -
Well, I don't remember much of anything after that. The nurse asked, "Are you ready to go to sleep?" and I said, "Yes", and then I started to drift off into la-la land.
One thing I do remember from the prep, though, was their comments about the blood pressure. It was too high. "We don't usually like the blood pressure this high," they said. One-fifty over one-hundred, or something very close to that. That's definitely not normal for me. I'm usually spot-on with the one-twenty-over-eighty rule.
Must've been an anomaly, I thought. Indeed, they asked me during the prep: Are you nervous? I didn't feel nervous. In fact, I'd kinda been looking forward to this. A day off work when I'd have a perfect excuse to sleep for a while.
I felt fine.
Just ... worried.
I know what this usually means. Arteries starting to get clogged up. Diet restrictions. Low sodium. Cholesterol meds. Watching weight. Getting more exercise.
My main concern was more to the point of - Why did this start up all of a sudden? What has changed recently in my life that could explain this? I got a new job. Am I getting stressed out because of the job?
I've resolved to take measure of my blood pressure every day now. They have the machine in the lunch room at work. I've used it a few times before, off and on. Now it's time to make more systematic use of it.
Guess we'll see what comes of it.
Post Script: The Pipe Exam was clean. No sign of cellular naughtiness going on. All is well.
It was supposed to be a routine prep, no different than the last time. Maybe my memory is off, or perhaps the chemistry has changed more than I had previously detected. But it felt different this time. Easier than I was expecting. Almost ... too easy. I took the pills they said to take, I drank the stuff they said to drink, and then sat back and waited for the discomfort and inconvenience to come to an end so that I could move on.
Hmm. That went far too easily. And quickly. Not nearly as long as last time. And then it was time to head off to the doctor's, where things moved rapidly along - again, much faster than they did last time - and, before I quite knew what happened, I was wheeled into the prep room, hooked up to an IV, and then -
Well, I don't remember much of anything after that. The nurse asked, "Are you ready to go to sleep?" and I said, "Yes", and then I started to drift off into la-la land.
One thing I do remember from the prep, though, was their comments about the blood pressure. It was too high. "We don't usually like the blood pressure this high," they said. One-fifty over one-hundred, or something very close to that. That's definitely not normal for me. I'm usually spot-on with the one-twenty-over-eighty rule.
Must've been an anomaly, I thought. Indeed, they asked me during the prep: Are you nervous? I didn't feel nervous. In fact, I'd kinda been looking forward to this. A day off work when I'd have a perfect excuse to sleep for a while.
I felt fine.
Just ... worried.
I know what this usually means. Arteries starting to get clogged up. Diet restrictions. Low sodium. Cholesterol meds. Watching weight. Getting more exercise.
My main concern was more to the point of - Why did this start up all of a sudden? What has changed recently in my life that could explain this? I got a new job. Am I getting stressed out because of the job?
I've resolved to take measure of my blood pressure every day now. They have the machine in the lunch room at work. I've used it a few times before, off and on. Now it's time to make more systematic use of it.
Guess we'll see what comes of it.
Post Script: The Pipe Exam was clean. No sign of cellular naughtiness going on. All is well.
1 comment:
Glad it went well. High blood pressure does run in the family, you know. Mom has it. And even skinny people can have plaque build-up in their arteries. Best get that checked out!
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