My Heart Health Story

Chapter One

The Doctor's Office

The Waiting Room

It was a cold winter evening in 1993; as a young energetic twenty seven year old, my heart health was the last thing on my mind. With a common cold I went to my general physician Dr. S for a routine medical checkup.

The waiting room was filled to capacity, with people of all ages sitting and waiting. The overstressed with their make believe chest pains. The elderly, with their caretakers getting their flu shots, the hypochondriacs with their lists of imaginary illnesses. û

The usual, the dreary scene, waiting anxiously in a busy doctor's office waiting room, all of us frustrated that we had to wait so long. I recall thinking; imagine if this was any other service business, we would all have disappeared. The Doctor would have remained in an empty office. At a doctors office it is the norm. It is expected and accepted.

The Examination Room

Finally my turn came, my name was called, Mr. Green. That is me. I was called in. I was in. So I thought. Again the waiting began, this time in one of the cold bare examination rooms.

The smell of rubbing alcohol, the empty vials, the needles, and the cotton swabs created the scent, sight and atmosphere we call the doctors office.

The nurse came in; she smiled the plastic smile, asked "how are you today?" Not really waiting for a response, she gave me a routine questionnaire to fill out, which I promptly did.

Then the nurse instructed me to take of my shirt, to remove everything from the waist up. I did as I was told.

The Nurse Exits the Room - Time for Contemplation

The nurse exits the room. I sit down on the white sheet of paper rolled over the examination table, and look around the room.

The health charts, the descriptive pictures of various parts of our anatomy, hanging from the walls. The various medical apparatuses, the medicine chest, the vials and the empty jars, cause me to begin to contemplate.

Health, the usually considered general condition of the body or mind, especially in terms of the presence of illness, injuries or impairments is something that I just take for granted.

Yet here I am, sitting in a doctor's examination room, about to be tested for various risk factors and my genetic markers that may shake my self-image of invincibility.

Waking me out of dreamland, a knock on the door, the nurse walks in and the tests are about to begin.

Please go to the next chapter- Chapter two Test Number One - Checking My Body Weight