I spent half the day at my cardiologists office undergoing a stress test. They have a marvelous new and improved imaging device that takes half the time to get pictures of the condition of your arteries feeding your heart muscle.
A nuclear dye is injected into your system and you take a resting picture of the heart and then they put you on a treadmill with the goal of raising your heartbeat to about 138 beats a minute. My heart is slowed down medically so this is quite a feat for me. When I achieved the goal I literally had no more ability to produce oxygen, I was maxxed out, so then they inject a second dose and keep you going for two more exhausting minutes, which somehow creates a picture that freezes that moment, even though you may wait another half hour or so for your second picture. There you have it, a laymens explanation of something you want to avoid if you can by taking longer slower walks and eating healthy.
One of my dear friends had a cardiac arrest during this test last year, so I asked if they had a crash cart nearby, but I got nervous and asked for a "Crash Test....Dummy" He understood what I was saying.
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