UNITED STATES—There is nothing more stressful to me in life than waiting for medical results. I recently had to have some blood work done, and while I am not afraid of needles, I don’t want to look directly at a needle while it is inserted into my body. The thing about needles that bugs me is the slight sting you feel (at least me) when the needle is first inserted.
I mean my left arm was sore for like two to three days and I couldn’t believe it. With that said, I was waiting to find out where things stood with my blood sugar levels AC1 and my heart. I didn’t know exactly when the results would be in, but when I got the email, jeez talk about palpitations. My heart was racing in perhaps the worst way possible, which I don’t think is a good thing ever.
I don’t know where the nerves were coming from, but that just feels like anytime I go to the doctor. The tension, the stress, the worry climbs and I have to remind myself that all will be fine. However, I was just so unsettled by opening the results of my blood work to see where things stood and how I can improve moving forward. One thing that was good was my AC1 dropped from the last time I had a checkup with the doctor. So I am on the right track with keeping my blood sugar stable and watching what I’m eating, especially when I have an extensive history of Type II Diabetes on both sides of the family.
However, that was not the big concern it is my heart. A year ago, I had a series of tests and exams because of my Tachycardia. Yes, I have an extremely fast heart rate and that has been a massive concern for my Primary Care Doctor. A year ago, it was first noticed, and it resulted in me having a bevy of EGK exams. I think I had three in a single day, then another the following week, then it was like a three-month period for me to see a cardiologist who wanted to do a comprehensive exam on the heart. So, I had more EGK tests and ultimately an Echocardiogram. For most and EGK hooks you up to a ton of wires, while an Echocardiogram is a more extensive exam that takes place in a dark room, with cooling gel and is an exam that takes about an hour at best to complete.
When it comes to me, two things worry me most, something going wrong with the brain or the heart because they are vital organs to the body. That doesn’t mean other organs don’t matter, but I don’t drink alcohol in any capacity. If I do have it, its maybe once a year at best and it’s only around my birthday and most of the time I don’t even want alcohol.
With that said, waiting for those results from the echocardiogram was nerve-wrecking because I had to wait nearly three weeks. The doctors told me they didn’t notice anything specifically wrong with the heart, but I do indeed have a fast heart rate that is of concern because they wanted to know what was triggering it. So I am on a medicine to control that, however, the heart rate is still fast. So is the medicine working or is there something else perhaps going on, which is now prompting more tests.
People wish for lots of things in life, but nothing matters more to me than my health. That is at the top of my list. I want the best possible health that I can have because when you have good health you can focus on other things and not focus on your health. I guess my point with this column is to point out stress only contributes to more stress.
Your goal has to be to remain calm, be positive and always hope for the best. There are plenty of things you can control when it comes to your health. At the same time, there are things that are outside of your control and if that is the case, you have to know what is going on with your body to ensure all is working as normal as possible.
