The nest is for nothing when the bird has flown

I couldn't think of a better title for this posting, so I did what any self-respecting music fan would do:  I used a lyric from a Jethro Tull song.

Anyway, as I noted a few days (or was it weeks?) ago, I've had to come face to face with a potentially very serious health issue.  The very and truly good news is that things aren't nearly as bad as they could have been.  Not quite a "new lease on life", but certainly far better than "I'm never going to live to see retirement".

All of this goes back to a heart-rate monitor at my doctor's office seeming to generate a series of random numbers while hooked up to my finger.  Fast forward to now and I've had more tests than I care to count, including a "Nuclear Stress Test", which involved injecting me not once but twice with radioactive stuff.  [Side note:  As I was reading about the test, one document cautioned folks like myself to stay away from "pregnant women and small children" for a while after the test, as apparently I was radioactive.].  Sadly, I didn't get Spiderman powers.  Anyway, because of the nature of things in my ticker...according to the nurse, for the test I needed to achieve and maintain a certain heart rate for a specified period of time...I couldn't do the walk-on-the-treadmill stress test.  No, I had to get the chemical version.  I wouldn't recommend that experience; while I've never taken an illegal drug in all my life, the chemical stress test must be something like a "bad trip".  The good part was that it was over quickly.

The result of countless tests and temporarily generating more than my share of gamma rays?  My heart is basically healthy.  No defects to speak of and, most importantly, no heart disease.  Finally, some benefit to living as close to a Mormon lifestyle as a non-Mormon can live.

Granted I still have a some work to do in this space, but thankfully my visions of surgery and other assorted horrible stuff will not likely come to fruition.  At least not for this particular malady.

The work I have in front of me includes reaching and maintaining a more healthy weight, which I am glad to report is going very well.  This will keep my blood pressure down naturally and also help me stay squarely in the "no heart disease" category.  I've spent most of my adult life watching my weight rise and fall like the tide in the Bay of Fundy, which isn't very healthy.  In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if my yo-yo weight changes played a role in all of this.

I wish I could report that, as a result of the above, I had some stellar words of advice...of the sort that would impress and inspire.  In point of fact I don't.  I don't feel inspired.  I mainly just feel relieved and I will add, grateful.  There is much yet for me to do.