I had my thallium stress test today. Tedious, but uneventful. The worst was the 4 hour fast, which ends up being a bit longer once the test is factored in, followed closely by the caffeine ban — 24 hours prior.
First a catheter was placed in my arm (interestingly, I could still flex my arm as it it weren’t there). A small dose of thallium was injected, flushed through with saline.
Then 22 minutes in a radio-imaging scanner, a long bed/platform with a pair of imaging cameras that rotated around me, a few degrees every few minutes. The treadmill was next: lots of sensors were affixed to my torso — 9, perhaps 10 — all leading into the controller for the treadmill. Then off I went for a brisk walk until my pulse was throbbing away at 150 bpm. The remaining thallium was injected into the catheter. Held that pace for 2 minutes, and then it was time to sit down, cool down, and then wander the halls for 20 minutes.
Back into the scanner for 16 minutes and that was that. Took about 2 hours total. The cardiologist will read the results and call them into my GP who can then tell me it was all for naught.
My knees were the biggest problem during the treadmill. I won’t say it was easy to get my pulse up to that level: it took a few minutes and from 140 to 150 was a slow going. But my knees starting complaining much earlier. They’re high-mileage, I realize, but I really don’t want to to replace them. My father has had both of this replaced, and while it’s been an improvement, I hope not to get to that point.
Now to go find a geiger counter I can mess with: I know the security checkpoints will notice me for the next month. I’ll find out later this week if federal office buildings have the same sensitivity . . .
Now playing: John Coltrane Stereo Blues by The Dream Syndicate from the album “Medicine Show”