Friday, September 1, 2017

See you in six

Last Wednesday was my day to visit the cardiologist. It was time for a checkup and to have him check the settings and readings on my defibrillator.

My wife Cindy and I sitting next to each other in the waiting room of the cardiologist.
Waiting to be called back to see the Cardiologist
What they do is place electrodes or stickers like they do for an EKG on my chest and the cardiologist brings in a computer/programmer that kind of looks like a laptop, it has a wand looking device attached to it and he places this over my defibrillator. With the wand in place he can adjust the settings and read what my heart has been doing since my last visit, it tells him if my heart has thrown any weird signals like any arrhythmias, fast heart rates, or anything it isn't supposed to be doing.

My wife Cindy and I in the waiting room with me looking off like my name was being called
Was that my name?
As most of you know I really like my cardiologist. He is an outgoing individual and somewhat of a jokester, but at the same time deadly serious when it comes to my health care, he explains everything in terms that you can understand.

Once when I asked a question about my defibrillator, whether it could possibly go off and for me not to realize that I had been shocked. He smiled and said if it ever goes off you will definitely know it, it will feel kind of like a mule kicking you in the chest.

While I was hooked up to the computer/programmer and he was checking the settings and reading the history on my defibrillator, he did offer to give me a test shock so I would know for sure what it felt like, I declined this offer and told him that I hoped it never had to shock me for any reason, he smiled and said that he really didn't want for it to shock me either.

Now his nurse is a different story, we will call her nurse M. You talk about a hateful individual when I first started seeing my cardiologist. Everything was a problem, she and Cindy were nose to nose over various issues, and it got to the point that I told my cardiologist that I was considering moving elsewhere because of her. The change didn't happen right away but to make a long story short she is great now, kind of like our new best friend. I think now that I am not a new patient she has taken me under her wing so to say, heck Cindy even likes her now.

The first thing the nurse M does is the typical, get your weight, temperature, blood pressure, O2 or oxygen saturation reading... all of my numbers were good but Cindy wasn't happy with the O2 reading of 94 that the nurse gave me. While nurse M was out of the room Cindy decided to double check this reading with her own pulse oximeter, yes Cindy carries a pulse oximeter in her pocketbook.

Cindy places her pulse oximeter on my finger and declares nurse M's reading incorrect; my O2 reading is actually 96. She sits down satisfied and we resume talking while we wait for nurse M to return. Cindy casually places the pulse oximeter on her own finger and glances at the reading, the next thing I know she sits upright and begins taking deep breaths, I wasn't sure what was going on with her, I really didn't think she had gone into labor or anything because that is not an issue, maybe a back cramp?

She continued taking deep breaths and with a panicked look on her face said, oh my God Jimmy, I can't believe my O2 has dropped so low. I look over at her hand and said; I don't see how your O2 could have dropped. Well look she said as she pointed her finger bearing the pulse oximeter at me.

I said, 98 looks pretty good to me Babe. She pulled her hand back and turned it around pointing towards herself instead of away and looked, she placed the pulse oximeter back in her pocketbook looked at me and said, Shut up, I thought it said 86.

upside down pulse oximeter with reading of 98 easily mistaken for 86
Upside down pulse oximeter, finger goes here.
The display is set so she can read it while it is on her dad's or my finger, so with that said, when she saw her own reading, it was actually upside down. We had a good laugh over this; nurse M even thought it was funny. Even though Cindy told me to not tell anyone about this, she has told everyone we have seen since then, so I figure that the cat is out of the bag and I am safe telling you. If not then that will be a whole other post.

The rest of my visit was nothing more than going over everything and getting those words that I have been longing to hear, See you in Six. That is always a good sign when I don't have to go back for six months this means everything is good.

Cindy and I both did need an EKG for our yearly physical ordered by our Internal Medicine doctor. Rather than go through the lab/radiology department and to be sent right back up to cardiology where we were, I asked my cardiologist if we could just get it done since we were already there. He told nurse M to go ahead and set us up for an EKG.

Nurse M took us down to the EKG room where we waited for the Technician to get ready, She called us both in and had me remove my shirt, stuck all the sticker/electrodes on me and did the deed...done.

She even let Cindy "YANK" all of the sticker/ electrodes off of my chest, which Cindy enjoys way too much. I now have less hair on my chest and there are several hairy sticker/electrodes in the EKG rooms trashcan that gave Cindy a little bit of satisfaction possibly for something that I didn't know I did.

Next it was Cindy's turn. The technician said to Cindy, I need you to take your shirt off. Now she is sitting there in her bra and asks if she needs to remove it also, the tech said to just unhook the back of it. Cindy laughed and said, this is the first time I have had an EKG with someone else in the room. The tech said we usually only do one at a time but since I had you both back to back I figured since you are married that I could bring you in together.

I said, that's not my wife, first time I ever saw her was in the waiting room. The tech looked at me and then looked back to Cindy. Cindy then told her, I don't know that man, and I wondered why you had me take my shirt off in front of him. But you both have the same last name, she said. Yes that is a coincidence isn't it, I told her. There was a long moment of silence and then we all had a good laugh.

I now wonder if that will be our last dual EKG.

44 comments:

  1. Good times at the Dr's office, especially when all signs are good.

    I have no idea about those O2 levels or the other numbers, but did a reading of 9L give her pause?

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    1. Hello Joe, I think when she read 86 as her O2 she missed the other reading.

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  2. Great visit! 6? Mine says 2 or 3, of course he knows it could be a year. I don't like doctor visits, not one iota.

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    1. Hey Sharon, Yes I finally got a 6 it has been 3 for a while now, it's good when the cardiologist says that you are getting boring.

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  3. Glad that nurse came around. There are some folks in the medical field that can be hard to get to know. They do need to have a good bedside manner.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

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    1. Hi Sandee, I was glad to see her finally warm up to us, she is a pleasure to be around now. Yes a good bedside manner should be required but so many just don't have it.

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  4. OMG, I'm laughing out loud at the joke you played on that tech!

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    1. Hey Abby, She took it really well...once she realized we were kidding her.

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  5. Gotta have your fun where you can and you and Cindy have mastered that principle of life. Doesn't it feel good to have those yearly checkups in the rear view mirror. Hope yours turned out good.

    Once when my husband was in the foot doctor's office the nurse told him to take off his shoes and socks so after she left and for a joke I took mine off too. You should have seen the doctor's face when he came in.

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    1. Oh my goodness Jean that is classic I would have loved to see the look on his doctors face, yes you have to make everything as enjoyable as possible and it appears you both were good at it.

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  6. You just made coffee come out of my nose! hahahaha.
    I would love to spend a day in the life of you and Cindy. Im guessing there is never a dull moment.
    Lisa

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    1. Good morning Lisa, I was wondering what that was on my screen haha...sorry about the coffee ;)

      We try to have a good time wherever we go.

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  7. That was so funny what you did to that poor nurse. What a pair of rascles you are.
    So glad you got a good check up and are good for 6. Enjoy.

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    1. Hey Patti, She was a good sport about it, she even got a kick out of once it was all said and done :)

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  8. HA! LOVE it! That is EXACTLY the kind of thing my hubby and I would've done. We've gotta take our fun wherever we can get it.

    Oh, and don't worry... I won't tell anybody that Cindy read the oximeter upside down... :)

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    1. Hey Susan, I had a feeling you two would be up to similar forms of entertainment like this, and yes we gotta have fun wherever we can.

      Thank you Susan, she probably wants to tell them herself or at least be with you when you do tell ;)

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  9. You left that nurse with one form the memory book.

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    1. Hey Delores, We probably left her plotting for paybacks on our next visit ha ha.

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  10. That poor technician. I wonder what her heart rate was while you and Cindy were yanking her chain.
    Hooray for stretching the time between doctor's visits. Always a positive.

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    1. Hello EC, She did seem a little worried at first, but as soon as she figured we were playing she fell right into the game.

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  11. You and Cindy, up to shenanigans again! I'm happy her O2 took a turn for the better!

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    1. Hello Val, Cindy and I up to shenanigans? You wouldn't really expect anything otherwise would you haha.

      Yep once the O2 meter was turned around everything looked much better.

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  12. I've had mostly light hearted nurses at my various doctors' offices, but there is one that just has zero sense of humor.

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    1. Hello Bijoux, I love the lighthearted nurses, they sure make the whole process a lot easier for everyone, the ones with no sense of humor just make the visits miserable in my opinion.

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    2. Older ones I imagine, just like teachers. Very few keep that pep at the end of their careers

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    3. Hey Adam, true in a lot of instances, but some are just made for the job and always have a good bedside manner I believe.

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  13. Sounds like things are improving for you, medically, and I'm so pleased for you after all you've been through.

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    1. Thank you Stephen, I was really pleased with the results of this visit.

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  14. I read this story over and over because it was just so fun. Nurses for specialists kind of consider themselves the gatekeepers for their doctors, but no reason for rudeness. So glad that got that straightened out. Kudos on having such a great doc. I don't know anyone who actually carries an oximeter in their purse, but I say to that - Go Cindy! Better to be prepared, right? Good to know that you both received thumbs up on this visit. It's great to laugh, isn't it? Hugs...and Happy Saturday!

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    1. Hey RO, I suppose this is true that Nurses are gatekeepers for the Doctors, and Nurse M was sure strict at the gate, I just hope she is as good with new patients as she is with us now.

      It kind of scares me the different things she pulls out of her purse sometimes, but she is prepared.

      Good to see you RO, have a great weekend.

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  15. Good to know you are both okay. I have no idea what my O2 level is but I'm alive and kicking so it must be okay.

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    1. Hello River, Alive and kicking that is the best way to tell that you are OK. Cindy has to keep such a close watch on her Dad's O2 so ours gets randomly checked too.

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  16. Heehee, you had me giggling whilst reading this. Cindy is a case, isn't she? Still, it's better that way, someone in permanent doldrums would be depressing. Glad to hear you and she are okay.

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    1. Good morning Valerie, It is much better to have someone with you who is willing to enjoy the moment, I am blessed in this respect.

      I am glad we gave you a few giggles today.

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  17. You two are a hoot, I love your sense of humor and the photos of you both. What a great post. Thank you for the chuckle:)

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    1. Hello Denise, Thank you my friend, I am happy that you enjoyed this post and found it chuckle worthy, this is a compliment that I appreciate.

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  18. Yep, fun times with doctors. I've been lucky thorough the years and have had very few medical issues. Most of my things were fixed by tweaking meds of taking antibiotics.
    My wife Jilda, on the other hand, has an immune system that is almost nonexistent.
    She had to take IVIG treatments which was a kind of chemical therapy designed to boost her immune system. She had serious reactions to the treatments and on one knew what was going on. She struggled with the side effects for three years before making the decision to stop. Doctors feared the worse, but she's a health nut and he's done great since stopping those treatments.
    Take care of yourself buddy.

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    1. Thank you Rick, Here's hoping Jilda continues to do good, it definitely sounds like she made the right decision.

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  19. You guys are too funny!

    I think it speaks for a doctor when you get along with him or her and you can chitchat about stuff. Makes everything just a little less stressful!

    I asked my mammogram technician once if she ever, while doing someone's mammogram, sang in her head (to the tune of the hokey pokey), "You put your right one in, you take your right one out..." She started laughing really hard and said I was to blame if she ever started humming it during someone's mammogram from now on. :-)

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    1. Oh Lordy that is funny, I bet your technician has burst out laughing right in the middle of a few since your visit ;)

      I'd rather have a Doctor that you can visit with and talk to freely like that, as you said it makes the whole process less stressful.

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  20. Hilarious ending :) Good to hear you got a good checkup. It's always a great feeling to have those appointments over and done!

    I forget how I found your blog, but I've been enjoying reading for awhile now. Thanks for the chuckles.

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    1. Thank you Jenny, I am honored to have you join our little group here, I sure appreciate you reading and am happy that you are getting a few chuckles.

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