Doctor visit

I had some very strange chest pains a few days this week, with the discomfort level and frequency increasing yesterday afternoon. Somewhat alarmed, and urged by Will and some coworkers, I made a doctor’s appt. Note – after some blood work and an EKG, they determined I was fine – except for some high cholesterol I chalk up to my cheese addiction – although they are referring me to a cardiologist for a stress test just in case, and thought I should try Nexium to rule out acid reflux. I talked her out of this as I am convinced the pain was not related to food intake. Also, of course I feel perfectly fine today with no sign of strange pains. Anyhow, I was asked to fill out several forms. I don’t know if you can read this, but I found these particularly amusing/interesting:

Major source of Joy:
Major source of Stress:
List your leisure activities:

For joy sources, I listed: Husband, Home, Dog. I definitely know where I’m happiest. As for major source of stress, that was more complicated to define. I put: Work, General Worrying. Work is not really a source of stress. More like just a downer. I’d say in reality my major source of stress is my constant worry about not being _____ enough. Fill in the blank with any of the following words at any given time: Smart, Pretty, Thin, Good, Wealthy, Successful, Interesting, Informed, Fun, Happy, etc etc. As for leisure activities, I was at a loss. My life away from work is almost ALL leisure. But I didn’t want to write: Drinking wine while eating cheese and watching The Hills or Maui Fever. So I put Bird watching, Gardening, Relaxing. (1) I think it is hilarious that I consider myself a birdwatcher. That’s something for 50 year olds who wear socks with sandals, right? But I am a total backyard birdwatcher. (2) Gardening – my husband would tell you that I certainly don’t *garden*. I buy flowers, put them in pots, enjoy until they die, then dump them in the compost pile. Oh, also coming up with landscaping ideas for Will to implement. Also, the form asks whether & how much alcohol, sodas, coffee you drink, and whether/how much you smoke. Drinking sodas = smoking? What about illegal drugs? I don’t think it would matter how many sodas you drank if you had a heroin addiction. Anyhow, fun day. The nurse who took my blood and did the EKG was sweet but utterly scaring the crap out of me. I don’t give blood well, and was extremely hot, sweating, and near panic at the thought. She couldn’t find a vein and was FREAKING me OUT with her uncertainty. Later, as she wrote my name on my vials of blood, she kept mixing up my first and last name. Come to think of it, the PA asked me where my labwork was. I was like, “I don’t have any lab work. That’s why I’m here.” Later, with the EKG, I asked the sweet but somewhat bumbling nurse what this entailed. She said something about “EKG..measures electricity in your heart…” I was pretty scared as I was lying there that she was going to electrocute me. She was like, “What’s you name again?” I thought, oh good, at least she’s verifying my name before she kills me. Anyhow, fun day! I am glad to know that I’m not dying anytime soon.