Monday 15 June 2009

Good News Monday - It's just a Bundle Branch

"What's this? Is this a love-bite on your back?" asked the young Dr Wong as he applied his stethoscope to my back to listen to my heart.

I spluttered and laughed and managed to spit out, "I don't think so! Is it a bruise? Where?"

His fingers traced a pattern on my back, left hand side, just above the waist, "Here. It looks like a love bite and just here" one finger pressed more firmly to a spot, "it looks like the shape of a tongue."

My friend Chris, who was along as my support person and had been nonchalantly looking at posters on the surgery wall, shot out of her chair and bounded across the surgery to the other side of the table on which I was perched to see this phenomenon for herself. (I don't think she expected such entertainment when she offered to accompany me today!)

I was feeling a bit left out as they examined the mysterious mark on my back and asked, "Could it be a bruise from when I slipped on the frosty back steps a week or so ago?"

They agreed that it could, although Dr Wong was sticking to his love-bite theory and Chris reasoned it was more likely a mark left from a quit smoking patch.

And that was as exciting as my trip to the heart specialist got.

The rest of the visit was rather ho hum. Weight and blood pressure checked. Blood pressure up a bit but I think a bit of "white coat" syndrome is to be expected when one is in the cardiac unit.

The Echocardiogram (where they use sound waves to have a look at the heart) was indeed painless. There were interesting sound effects that I hadn't been expecting. I think we're lucky we have soundproof skin or the world would be a vastly different place.

I now know my heartbeat pattern falls under the Bundle Branch category. The peaks are not as high or as thin as the normal sinus rhythm but on the wall chart didn't look all that different. Dr Wong even ordered another ECG with the offhand suggestion that the result that had got my doctor all excited may not have been mine.

And he said I was very healthy. I checked with Chris that I'd heard right. Yes, that was his verdict.

To celebrate we went to pick up Chris' new glasses - they are fabulous, very glamorous, very NOW! I was so busy admiring them I forgot to take a photo.

Then we took ourselves off to a very nice restaurant for lunch. After all, it's not every day you get to impress a heart specialist (that potential love-bite really captured his attention!)

But the good news for the day hadn't yet been used up. An hour or so later as Chris and I were choosing wool in Spotlight my cell rang and lo and behold, I've landed myself a job at last. I felt the interview last Thursday had gone so badly I couldn't bring myself to blog about it.

I've worked at a Primary School and a Secondary School and now I am about to work at a Polytech (a technical institute). Yay!!

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