Even though it's probably irrational, I went to the doc today.
Trying to explain why I was there wasn't easy. "Ya see, this guy, super healthy guy, runner, like me, had a horrible stroke right after a run. That's not supposed to happen. Do something or say something to make it so I'm not scared shootless."
He sat me down on the paper-covered padded table deal, and whipped out that light thing. I said "Ahhh' for like 0.17 sec and he was on his way to the ears. He listened to my heart, my neck, and my lungs.
[Someday, just before going to the doc, I want to swallow a tiny, yet to be invented, digestively passable recorder and speaker and have it play AC/DC, or the sounds of a steel mill, or random swear words. How fun would that be?]
He looked at me... looked at my "chart", which is no longer a manila folder full of paper but now several neatly tabbed screens on a monitor, "Non-smoker, weight's good, blood pressure's great, not diabetic, exercise, no family history of heart disease, cholesterol under control... you're all good... take a baby aspirin a day. If you want, we can get you a heart scan just to make sure you aren't sportin' any blockages."
Gold stars for good behavior AND a procedure to make me feel like I'm actually measuring something. Sold!
[For those of you who may be questioning my use of our nation's health care resources just to put my irrational fears to rest, this is coming out of my pocket, not hitting insurance.]
Probably as a form of punishment for taking an appointment that could have been used by someone with a non-panic-based illness, he used the opportunity to have a nurse work me over with a needle. A little in, a little out. Tetanus booster (Now with Whooping Cough!) and my annual blood labs to make sure my LDLs and HDLs are playing nice.
I know I went there out of irrational fear. I know that if I were in Canada I would have had to wait weeks for such a pointless appointment (which maybe wouldn't be a bad thing). I know that even if the scan comes back clean as a whistle, I could drop dead at any moment.
Still, it does feel good to have had someone else look under the hood, kick the tires, and declare the car sound enough to drive across the country... as far as he can tell.
Good running,
Doug
Numbers: 4.3 on pavement, well before the rain came.
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