Thursday, 06 September 2011
As I passed through the plateau east of Findlay Avenue, I remembered the pair of deer I surprised there yesterday morning. I had been noisily scaring back the geese from the bikeway, since they seemed to have found a new place for their foraging and pooping, foraging and more pooping. But as I completed the slow, wide corner that heads to a closer path near the forested area above the Mad River, the two deer startled and took off along the path ahead of me. After only 30 feet, the doe darted left through an opening in the undergrowth. The 6-point buck high-tailed it on. I had nearly caught up to him, even though his sinewy muscles had reached about 20 mph, when he found his own break in the undergrowth, and dashed into the thicket and away from the bikeway.
Today I had a follow-up appointment with my family physician to discuss the cardiac stress test that showed a deviation that is usually associated with ischemia and the cardiac CAT scan that revealed no abnormalities.My family doctor advised that the first test could have had a glitch for any number of reasons, and the CAT scan was a more reliable reading that sufficiently countered the first reading. But he cautioned that today's accepted practice aims away from exploring tests and using them to establish a baseline. Rather, the preference now is to pay close attention to risk factors, including heredity and lifestyle.
Though my genetic pool might suggest a predilection toward heart attack (the cause of my father's death) or stroke (my mother's demise), one could argue that our differing lifestyles give me an advantage of a longer, healthier maturity. My father was mostly sedentary from age 50 on, and he smoked throughout his life. My mother was relatively inactive, always overweight, and plagued by hypertension and perhaps a mildly congestive heart condition. And using non-direct family is of less use. For example, the one aunt I know of who died of Alzheimer's may have little bearing on my future. And if it were applicable, her survival into the 90s after several years of late-onset Alzheimer's is a better genetic factor than the worst alternative, early-onset that may occur in a person's 40s or 50s.
Thus were my preoccupations during my ride home. I didn't feel any particular exertion, though I arrived home in one of my shorter overall times.
Ride conditions
Temperature: 77 to 81°F at 17:30
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 mph, variable
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 00:40:58 for 11.93 miles
Heart rate: 134 bpm HRave, 172 bpm HRmax*
Bikeway users: 9 cyclists, 8 pedestrians, 1 dogs
Playback of the ride
* Perhaps unlikely.
Showing posts with label CAT scan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CAT scan. Show all posts
06 October 2011
29 September 2011
Cardiac stress test and echocardiogram, part two
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Today was not a bike-commute day because of a 7 a.m. appointment for a more definitive stress test. Last week's test showed an area of concern that my doctor wanted to check out with a procedure that combines a cardiac stress test on a treadmill and CAT scans before and after the exercise. (While at the doctor's office, I got a copy of the test report, which reads in part, "There was 1 to 1.5 mm of horizontal ST segment depression laterally suggestive of ischemia.")
The procedure took a bit over three hours. First I was given a radioactive marker by intravenous, after which I had to wait 30 minutes for the material to "settle" in the veins and arteries of my heart. Then I was placed in the CAT machine for a localized scan of the thorax. This was followed by a treadmill stress test that aimed to bring my heart rate up to about 130 bpm in 5 stages. During the fifth stage, another dose of the radioactive marker was injected into the IV. I rested long enough for recovery to normal heart rate and a total of 30 minutes for the isotope to find its way to the cardiac vessels. The final step was another CAT scan.
I should hear the results early next week.
What runs counter to the charting is that I have no pain on exertion. So, perhaps it's good that I pursued what the genetics have produced in me, despite my care to keep active into maturity.
Today was not a bike-commute day because of a 7 a.m. appointment for a more definitive stress test. Last week's test showed an area of concern that my doctor wanted to check out with a procedure that combines a cardiac stress test on a treadmill and CAT scans before and after the exercise. (While at the doctor's office, I got a copy of the test report, which reads in part, "There was 1 to 1.5 mm of horizontal ST segment depression laterally suggestive of ischemia.")
The procedure took a bit over three hours. First I was given a radioactive marker by intravenous, after which I had to wait 30 minutes for the material to "settle" in the veins and arteries of my heart. Then I was placed in the CAT machine for a localized scan of the thorax. This was followed by a treadmill stress test that aimed to bring my heart rate up to about 130 bpm in 5 stages. During the fifth stage, another dose of the radioactive marker was injected into the IV. I rested long enough for recovery to normal heart rate and a total of 30 minutes for the isotope to find its way to the cardiac vessels. The final step was another CAT scan.
I should hear the results early next week.
What runs counter to the charting is that I have no pain on exertion. So, perhaps it's good that I pursued what the genetics have produced in me, despite my care to keep active into maturity.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)