The Heart

A few weeks ago I noticed a shortness of breath when I walked up stairs, mowed the lawn, or did some other form of exertion.  I have a history of asthma which has not been much of a problem for about 20 years but I wasn't sure.  Regardless, I knew I had to see a doctor.

The doctor listened to what I told him and looked at my age on his chart and decided that he would like to eliminate any possible issues that may involve the heart.  So, he set me up for a series of tests to evaluate the heart.  What I thought would be a quick trip to the doctor to get some asthma medicine turned into me heading to the hospital to complete a series of tests to evaluate my heart functions.  Even though I was somewhat nervous going to the doctor (never a favorite trip) and suspected that he might require some of these tests, I didn't really expect to take the trip set before me.

I drove straight to the hospital to began testing.  There were three procedures that was to be completed on this day with a fourth one to occur a few days later.   First on the list was the Electrocardiogram, better known as the EKG.  This was not the first time that I had been given an EKG as I went through one last year when the doctor gave me my annual physical.  However, this is the first time that I had taken one where I might be experiencing heart problems.  So much for keeping the stress level down.  Anyway, they put all these wires on my chest, a blood pressure wrap on my arm, and a pulse sensor on my finger and proceeded to check out my heart.  At this point I was starting to feel like Gulliver and the Lilliputians.  It turned out that the setup took longer than the test as it was completed in less than a minute.

The EKG was followed up with a blood test and a chest x-ray after which time I went back to work to wait to hear from the doctor.  I still had a fourth test to take; THE STRESS TEST!  As though I wasn't stressed enough by this time.

The doctors office called me the next day informing me that the results of the EKG, the blood test, and the x-rays were all normal but he still wanted me to do the Echo Stress test after which I was to go back to his office for further consultations. 

The day arrives.  I am at the hospital at 7:15 AM to check in for the scheduled 8:00 AM test.  Check in was completed by 7:20 AM giving me another 40 minutes to wait.  By this time I am hungry as I couldn't eat since the night before.  I want coffee as I couldn't have any caffeine for 24 hours prior to the test.  And I am nervous.

My name is called and they take me to a room where I see a treadmill with a bed right beside it, a couple of nurses and a lot of medical electronic devices. Again I have a bunch of wires attached to my chest.  They put me on the bed and measure my blood pressure and heart rate as well as completing an ultrasound of my heart.  This is to set a baseline of how my heart is behaving at rest. 

I then get on the treadmill and exercise while they are monitoring my heart and blood pressure.  This continues until my heart rate gets to a certain point and the cardiologist is satisfied and then I am back on the bed where they do another ultrasound to look at how my heart is behaving after some heavy exercise.

During all of this I got to thinking about my heart in a different way.  The question that I was asking was how is my heart, not in reference to my body, but in reference to God.  In reality, that is what is of the utmost importance.  Our physical lives here on earth will someday come to an end, however, our souls will live forever.  The question we all must ask here is where will our soul be living after our earthly body ceases to function?  2 Corinthians 13:5 tells us that we are to examine ourselves constantly to see that we are in Christ.  That tells me that we are to be sure that we have surrendered completely to Christ and that we are following the commandments and guidelines that Christ has laid out for us.  We are all sinners but God loved us enough to send His Son who lived as us, sinless, so that He may be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins providing we believe and surrender to Him.

I will admit to being nervous during all this testing but I was not nervous as to where I will be when my life on this earth is over.  I am convinced that my heart (soul) belongs to God and as Romans 8:38-39 tells us; nothing can separate us from His love or from eternal life with Him through Jesus Christ our King and Savior.  Thank you Jesus.

By the way.  I have been told that my heart is perfectly healthy.  I am now taking asthma medicine.