I am The Borg

Following my unplanned for and unwelcome trip to the ER in Portland I had a follow up appointment at both my endocrinologist and primary care physician. Upon hearing about my escapades a few days prior, my endocrinologist said she didn't think my Graves Disease was the culprit and she recommended that I get in to see my PCP immediately. I told her about the problems I had with the lady at the front desk the day before and she told me to tell them that she said I was getting an appointment ASAP. Thankfully I didn't need to pull out the big guns because I was able to get an appointment a couple of hours later (this might be the first time in four years that the front desk staff at my PCP has done something correctly in the amount of time I needed them to do it). My NP, who is a lovely lady that I think gives the best possible care, referred me to both a gastroenterologist and a cardiologist. Oh, and she sent me back to the lab for more blood work. Awesome.

I met with my gastroenterologist the other day and he thinks I'm precocious. Apparently people wait until they're at least fifty to have the issues I am dealing with. I told him I've always been advanced like that. I'm now scheduled for an endoscopy in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I live with the GERD and my new Nexium.

Today I visited the cardiologist. This is what I look like right now.

I AM THE BORG!

After sitting in the waiting room for 30 minutes - a waiting room, mind you, where I was younger than most patients by at least 30 years - I met my technician who put me on the scale. I'm happy to report that Weight Watchers seems to be paying off. While I think I've lost 7.5 pounds, that scale says I've lost 14. I'll take it! Then I got my echocardiogram. Man is that thing amazing! I got to see my heart. I saw it pumping. I heard it pumping. It was truly unlike anything you've ever actually seen. I have no idea if what I saw or heard is normal because the technician wasn't allowed to tell me. At one point I saw her type in "suboptimal" but I don't know if that's my heart or the picture she got. I know my ribs were getting in the way of some shots. Ouch, those hurt.

Following the echocardiogram I got another EKG which looked normal and then I was hooked up to something called a holter monitor, which is what I'm wearing now. I have to wear it for 24 hours and record any "events" that occur while I have it on. I can tell you I'm curious how sleeping is going to go. These suckers are pulling at my skin and not at all comfortable. At least I look awesome.