Slice of Chaotic Life

Despite my conviction yesterday that I was oh so sick, I actually went to work (a little delayed) and also went to the heart specialist and had the Holter monitor (portable EKG machine) fastened. Together with it, and more disturbing, is a blood pressure monitor. Every half hour of the day (and every hour of the night, the nurse said) a shark bites my upper arm for a little while. Or so it feels. I have usually had a moderate blood pressure, but with the prediabetes I think it may be higher than ideal now. I am sure they will find out. And I am also sure there won’t be much deep sleep tonight.

Still, this is a grand improvement from how I felt yesterday. I still have the diarrhea, but it seems mostly harmless. I took an hour’s walk after work, not much less than usual.  (Actually I took two shorter rounds of half an hour each, so as to not get stranded somewhere far from home.) I felt no heart palpitations at all, but then I hardly ever do the first day after some days of rest. (Well, rest – I have been to work as usual, but by “rest” I mean “not walking fast for an hour or more after work each day”.)

Tomorrow I am scheduled for a workout test of the heart. It is probably the safest place except a hospital to do such a test, but I am still wary. I have not exercised hard since grade school, because of the asthma. I have an inhaler but I don’t use it, I just slow down before I get winded. I have not actually been winded for more than 40 years, I think. So I am bringing my asthma inhaler and hope they have a heart starter nearby as well. Still, this is a unique opportunity to learn whether I can continue to exercise, and perhaps more intensely than now. But I’m still going to try to explain the situation, and if they think it is too risky I am not going to insist.