I want my caffeine!

Midnight. The magic hour after which fasting seems to be required, no matter what the test is, no matter what TIME the test is. So I just had a turkey breast sandwich and some strawberries. Night owl that I am my third meal of the day is usually around 1-2 AM so I bumped it up to 11:45 PM. Midnight seems to be the time of day I want a cup of coffee or tea and I haven't been able to have coffee, tea, or pop since early morning. I'm dying for a cup of coffee, but I settled for two mugs of sugar free instant spiced cider. So now I'm all set, just waiting for morning and my appointment for a Cardiolite Stress Test.

It seems like things never work out quite the way I plan. When I was in the hospital in November/December one of the hospitalist thought he heard a woosh in my neck and was concerned I might have a blockage there, so once I was out of the hospital and things settling down he thought it should be checked. When I saw my GP in early February I told her so she had a carotid doppler set up. I have a heart murmur and that hadn't been checked on since 2001 so she sat up an echo cardiogram for the same day to check on that, not expecting anything out of the ordinary.

The doppler came out fine, the tech said she didn't know what that doctor thought he heard but my carotid arteries were so good she said I could be a carotid doppler model. So I thought I was free and clear.

It took a whole month to get the results of the echo back and boy was it a shocker! It came back that I have Pulmonary Hypertension. PH is different and unrelated to the hypertension most people have. PH is high blood pressure in the lungs and carotid artery. What little info I could find on PH did not sound good. The cardiologist I was sent to said he classifies my PH as moderate. It's unknown how it will progress, we'll have more of a handle on it at a six month recheck, but he's not anticipating that it will cause me many problems. If the pressure gets higher I'll probably have to go on medicine for it but as it is now I don't have to do anything.

So then comes the next kicker. I'd started sometimes getting what I can only explain as between an ache and a burn in my chest, especially when I'd walk. I figured it was the PH but the cardio says not. He's concerned that I could have a heart blockage so that's why I'm having the stress test. It's gotten worse in the last couple of weeks and I think I know now what it is. Asthma. I can go months, even years without asthma problems, but it appears I could be headed for another bad spring and summer with it. I'm glad I got a new inhaler while I was in the hospital.

I haven't worried too much over the stress test since I think it's asthma and not my heart that is causing what I'm feeling. So stay tuned for more news. It's in God's hands and things will come out the way he wants things to come out. No matter what the result, he is with me. I just wish he could put a cup of coffee in my hands right about now!