Be still, my palpitating heart

[vvvexation]

Today I finally got to see the cardiologist I've been waiting on for weeks and weeks. He told me, somewhat unexpectedly, that as the medication I'd been taking had fucked with my head and any other one I tried would likely fuck with my head even worse, I shouldn't try any further drug intervention. In fact, he wouldn't recommend it even if I hadn't been hit so hard by the side effects, because the particular sort of arrhythmia I've got is almost certainly a benign though annoying one. Laying off the stimulants as I've been trying to do will probably help, and he also suggested magnesium oxide and getting more exercise.

I'd been hoping he'd prescribe something that would be a bit more effective than that, but I find I'm less annoyed than I would have anticipated. He did say that this sort of thing often goes away by itself after a number of months, which is a relief as I'd figured it was likely to be permanent; also, I realized when I thought about it that it's gotten slightly less bothersome lately. But I have a sneaking suspicion that the main reason I found it hard to be upset is that he was damned attractive. I don't think I've ever had a medical professional ping me in quite that way before, and it was a bit of a challenge to keep it from showing in my face. I was terribly relieved that he wasn't present during the electrocardiogram, as the whole being-half-naked thing would have had me rather flustered.

He told me I didn't really need to see him (or any other cardiologist) again, but he gave me his email address in case I had any questions in the future. For once I'm actually kind of glad that I'm not a lot bolder than I am, because it would be terribly inappropriate to email him for any other reason. Really it would.

Comments

[emmett-the-sane.livejournal.com]

I don't want to butt in where it's not my business... but whenever I put my head on your chest, I *do* worry, because the beat is nearly always irregular. It's not just an echo, either... I've had an unusually high percentage of lovers with heart murmurs and the like.

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

I know it's not just an echo; I've been told what it is several times. But this guy says it's not a sign of anything serious, because it's in a part of the heart that just does this sometimes, and I don't have chest pains or a family history of people dying young of heart attacks.

[tsgeisel.livejournal.com]

Laying off the stimulants as I've been trying to do will probably help, and he also suggested magnesium oxide and getting more exercise.

More exercise is rarely a bad idea. Maybe you can try and get with some of the folks who've started coming down to St. Stephens Green on Tuesday nights from up there...

[lintqueen.livejournal.com]

Aw hell, just drop him an email and tell him how much you appreciated his bedside manner... ;-)

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

Maybe. I don't think that's something I want to commit to every week, though.

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

Evil temptress.

[lintqueen.livejournal.com]

Yep. That's me!

(Actually, though, he'd probably take it as a rarely-heard compliment. From what I understand from friends of mine who are docs, people ofetn tell their friends what great docs they have, but rarely tell the docs themselves. I bet he'd enjoy hearing it... :)

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

Hmmmmmmmm.

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

Meh. LJ farted and didn't email me that comment. But yeah, apparently one of the perils of growing older is that authority figures no longer seem quite so emphatically off-limits.