"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Thinker and Ticker Doing Just Fine

Last week I went to see my regular doctor about the strange sensations and headaches I have been having. It has seemed too long to blame it on caffeine withdrawals and my doctor agreed. So he ordered a MRI brain scan and a stress test for my heart. Based on how good I feel on my runs I thought the stress test was a real long shot, but couldn’t hurt to know how well the ticker is working.


The MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is really cool. Many years ago in one of my physics classes we studied the physics behind the MRI so I was excited about experiencing it. The MRI turned out to be everything I expected. It felt like I was in a machine someone dreamed up for a science fiction movie. The noises the machine produce, oscillating buzzing noises, sounded like the best sound effects in a sci fi movie. It sounded like they were shooting me with various types of invisible ray guns.

The stress test was interesting too. I lay in a bed with exercise bicycle pedals. They hooked my up to an EKG and also took some ultra sound pictures of my heart before, during and after I exercised. I had to get my heart rate up to 145, which wasn’t easy. The machine starts out with little resistance and increases the resistance slowly every 2 minutes. I was pedaling for 15 minutes before my heart rate reached 145. My legs were about to give out and I was sweating like a pig. (Does a pig really sweat?)

Today I got the results and my thinker and ticker are doing just fine. My symptoms have been improving, so my doctor says to just see if they go away. I’m fine with that. I’m done having my body poked and scanned for awhile.

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