Healthcare Happiness

I am the only member of our parent's family that is dealing with serious health issues and while one could say that it is my fault...  I would tend to agree with that in part because I did not know how to manage my stress...  and, it is not managing my stress that caused me to have a heart attack about 13/4 yeras ago.  

Prior to my heart attack, I had stopped smoking, stopped drinking alcohol, stopped eating red meat, sugars, and fried food s decade before my heart attack actually took place.  Additionally, my blood pressure was low, my cholesteral was low, no family member with heart issues...  so NO TYPICAL MARKERS that underscore a heart attack...

Therefore it must have been stress...

About this same time frame, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's "B" Cell Lymphoma and five years after that I was diagnosed with Melanoma that spread from my foot to my groin to my neck.  I am currently being treated for 2 cancers simultaneously and the meds do not seem to be fighting each other which is a good sign.

My healthcare costs are somewhere between $500,000 and $750,000 depending upon the various tests that I have to see if my cancers have spread.  These tests are typically a CT or a PET scan that I received quarterly.  I also have quarterly tests for my heart as well and since my PSA results are high, I have been seeing a Urologist and have had a biopsy of my prostate.  Since my nuclear stress test for my heart showed a blockage, I have had a recent heart cath that actually revealed NO PROBLEMS at all...  but, these tests are expensive.

My health is STABLE and that is why I have healthcare happiness...

Nuclear Stress Test

ACCORDING TO THE MAYO CLINIC...

A nuclear stress test uses a small amount of radioactive material (tracer) and an imaging machine to create pictures showing the blood flow to your heart. The test measures blood flow while you are at rest and during activity, showing areas with poor blood flow or damage in your heart.

A nuclear stress test is one of several types of stress tests. The radiotracer used during a nuclear stress test helps your doctor determine your risk of a heart attack or other cardiac event if you have coronary artery disease. A nuclear stress test may be done after a regular exercise stress test to get more information about your heart, or it may be the first stress test used.

The test is done using a positron emission technology (PET) scanner or single photo emission computed tomography (SPECT) scanner. A nuclear stress test may also be called a myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) study, cardiac PET study or cardiac SPECT study.


Tomorrow I will be arriving at UT Medical Center, Heart and Lung Building for a nuclear stress test at 6:45 am and the test will last approximately 3 hours.  Today, I cannot have any caffeine and nothing to eat 4 hours before...