HAVING A STRESS TEST

Being the ripe old age of 74, my doctor has decided that I need a stress test and that is because I have never had one in my life. 

I understood that there are two kinds of stress tests.  One is where you walk, run whatever on a walking - running machine that really works the crap out of you (no thanks), the second being a chemical induced stress on your heart where you are injected with nuclear fluid once, sit in the Dr. waiting room for approx. 45 minutes.  Then they take pictures of your heart which takes 15 minutes and they see if your blood is flowing OK through your veins.  The second part of this test is when they hook you up to a heart monitor and then inject you with more nuclear fluid.  This one opens all your veins  and is like having an EKG  You may get dizzy, warm, stomach may feel full, chest might get tight and so on.  This lasts for about 30 seconds.  When done you are given a cup of coffee to help flush your system.  Go back to the waiting room and sit for another 30 minutes at which point you have more pictures taken to see how the flow of blood is when the veins are open, at that point you are give the OK to leave. 

I tell you that if I had to have another, it would be the chemical stress test.  Not bad at all.