A few unexpected things over the past few days

Well, this 3 day weekend didn't go at all like we thought it would but sometimes you can't control how life works. Friday the 13th was a really good day for us actually. At work we had an opportunity that I'm very thankful that our District Attorney decided to make available to us. She set it up for employees to be medically screened for several medical issues by a prominent physician that works directly with many sports teams, including NFL teams. These tests screen risks for heart attacks, heart disease and stroke. These tests are cutting edge, typically not paid by most insurance carriers. These tests, which would normally run from $800 to $2,000...it cost us each $25. The preventative testing included:

· a hot plaque blood test (cutting edge blood test that normally costs $800 to $1,000 for this test alone and insurance doesn't cover the costs of this test)
· a cholesterol particles test
· a stickiness of particles-to-arteries test
· an ultrasound of the heart (which predicts early heart failure risk)

He also measured the impact of mental stress on the heart, cardiovascular triggers, and ultrasound of carotid arteries.

When this was first brought up, I didn't sign up for it but after talking to some friends decided that it's better to know issues now rather than later. I talked to Andy and he decided to do the testing as well. It was pretty painless..well except for the blooddraw and even that wasn't that bad. We will get our results back in March so hopefully there won't be any major issues. The amazing part is that one employee find out she had a tumor in her neck due to the testing and there's been some others who have found out some issues that they wouldn't have found out about just by going to their normal doctor.

One part of the test is to see how your blood pressure reacts to stress. As they were monitoring your heart they asked you to start at 700 and go backwards in increments of 7. Ok, I love math..love it. I went BLANK!! 700- 7 is uh..uh...uh...oh my gosh I'm nervous..uh...oh..693..um...let's see.. yep, went very well! The second time was starting at 300 and going backwards in increments of 7...I did much better this time. My blood pressure only went up 4 notches..woo hoo! Most went up at least 20 or more. Andy's actually went down!!! I also found out some other info that wasn't heart related but will share that either later tonight or tomorrow.

Ok, moving on...Saturday...plan was to do early lunch and a movie. I was feeling super tired and when Andy woke up, we decided just to do an early dinner at Olive Garden. YUMMY! Food was great and then we went grocery shopping....exciting Valentine's Day, huh? We got home and I was in bed by 8...I knew then something was up. Well, midnight rolls around..I wake up, run to the bathroom, and started throwing up...UGH!!! This went on every hour for the rest of the night!!! I was miserable...throw up, sleep for an hour, throw up, sleep for an hour..repeat. UGH! Sunday morning, I was dehydrated, achy, cold, whiny, etc. I even called my mom at 5:15 our time(6:15 a.m. her time) as I was so thirsty and was afraid to drink anything. I know, I should *know* the answer to this but at that point...Mom knows best. All day Sunday, I camped out on the couch and Andy took care of me. He is a saint! The funny part is on Sat. night I decided to buy sugar free jello and popsicles for snacks. Thank goodness as they were great on Sunday!!!

The worst part of Sunday was having to cancel dinner with Mike, and my cousin, Julie. Julie was in town and they were going to come to our house for dinnner. I was so bummed!!! We also had to call and cancel our homestudy/home inspection for Monday morning. UGH UGH! It's now been re-scheduled for next Monday. So our fun weekend..turned into a very blah weekend!