# Had my physical today. . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 6, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-my-physical-today/668133 "2013-09-06T00:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-my-physical-today/668133/1 "2013-09-06T00:48:21Z")
and they did an EKG. No big deal; they always do one. However today the T wave was much lower (missing completely) compared to least year. Dr says I must go to a cardiologist for a stress test or an angiograph and they will inject radio active dye:eek: in my femoral artery. How could I possibly have any blockage when every cholesterol test my entire life has come back high good and low bad. Anyway, I do not want to worry any family so I am sharing with you; people who do not know me. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-my-physical-today/668133/2 "2013-09-06T01:05:59Z")
Aw, hang in there. Donā€™t let the ā€œradioactiveā€ part scare you. The worst part is getting your heart rate fast enough to be interesting and please the testers - either running on a treadmill (most common), or with a medicine that makes you absolutely panic, but lasts only a few seconds. Low or absent T-waves donā€™t always mean heart disease. They may, or they may mean you need to eat a few bananas (low potassium.) So no sense stressing yet, until you know more. ---
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-my-physical-today/668133/3 "2013-09-06T01:26:22Z")
Thank you for making me feel better. I made the cardiologist appt as soon as I got home. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-my-physical-today/668133/4 "2013-09-06T02:37:17Z")
My husband has always had super low cholesterol numbers (eat eggs every day and have 112? Yep, that was him.); and yet flunked a stress test and now has four stents. Good luck to you! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-my-physical-today/668133/5 "2013-09-06T19:02:32Z")
I eat a pretty healthy diet (mostly fresh veggies, fruit and lean protein), yet Iā€™m overweight and have high cholesterol. When I had my aortic valve replaced last year, I also got quadruple bypass. Even my cardiologist didnā€™t know I needed the bypasses until I had a heart catheterization a month before my surgery. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-my-physical-today/668133/6 "2013-09-07T04:02:59Z")
I was going to ask if youā€™re a middle-aged lady, **CT\_Damsel** , then I realized what your username is. šŸ™‚ I went through all of this last year because my EKG wasnā€™t ā€œnormalā€ - by that, they apparently meant ā€œmale normal.ā€ It turns out my heart is normal for a middle-aged woman; in this day and age, they still donā€™t have female normals to compare women to. I hope this is the same (stupid) situation for you, too. The tests arenā€™t that bad. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-my-physical-today/668133/7 "2013-09-07T16:34:59Z")
Yes I am middle-aged. I am optimistic though; in the past 12 years this is the third time this doctor has referred me to a cardiologist. First stress test no dye passed. Second echocardiogram no problems. However this is the first time she thinks the cardio doc will perform the stress test with dye. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-my-physical-today/668133/8 "2013-09-12T21:09:34Z")
Iā€™ve had the radioactive stress test without problems and all was well. I keep kicking myself, though, for not finding someplace to set off a radiation alarm just by walking through. You know - see if I can close an airport, or make them nuts during a tour of a nuke plant, something like that. Donā€™t make my mistake - do your homework in advance and be ready to strike while the iron is hot. I mean, while you are hot. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-my-physical-today/668133/9 "2013-09-12T21:26:03Z")
Any answers yet, **CT\_Damsel**? ---
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-my-physical-today/668133/10 "2013-09-13T14:07:29Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Iā€™ve had the radioactive stress test without problems and all was well. I keep kicking myself, though, for not finding someplace to **set off a radiation alarm** just by walking through. You know - see if I can close an airport, or make them nuts during a tour of a nuke plant, something like that. Donā€™t make my mistake - do your homework in advance and be ready to strike while the iron is hot. I mean, while you are hot. Please tell me the part I bolded above is a joke:eek: I read On the Beach by Nevil Shute when I was really little and have been fearful of radiation ever since. :eek: The appt. for a consultation with the cardiologist is 9/18. On a positive note my cholesterol test results are: cholesterol 188, Hdl 66, triglycerides 58 and Ldl 110. Does anyone know how many airplane flights are equivalent to the imagining stress test? šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-my-physical-today/668133/11 "2013-09-13T17:06:35Z")
I peed on lower base at Sub Base New London after a radiological test and set off the alarms and closed lower base ā€¦ who knew they had radiation detection gear in their plumbing:p I was a little miffed at the Navy at that particular point in time. They needed a drill anyways.šŸ†’