After being, poked, prodded, scanned, x-rayed, nucleartized, I would like to publicly thank Dr. Abdul Abdulbaki and all the people related to UnityPoint Clinic - Cardiology for their work on me. I also would like to thank friends, family and especially my wife, Shannon, for their support during this new experience.

The experience was a bit odd. I’ve been in for many scans of my GI tract, and they leave me feeling drugged, and my memory with holes and etc. This I was clearly awake and was able to watch on the screens as the probed through my arteries. I was able to converse with the good doctor and the nurses in the procedure (I may have made a few jokes). The experience was clearly not pleasant, but not really painful either (worst part was the last part when they were taking out the catheter, but the victories are good: out of the room, seeing Shannon for the first time after, peeing after, standing up to pee after, and putting on underpants (so my ass is no longer feeling the breeze).

I tried to keep an outward calmness, as I didn’t want to concern Shannon to much, as she was already dealing with a health concern due to her mother. I did debate leaving instructions under my keyboard (both for work and home) so Shannon would know what to do, just in case. I also may have broken down a bit chatting with my brother late at night, a couple of days before. I felt like I should tell my family, as it could have a lasting impact, but I didn’t particularly like the attention that it brought after. Understandable, I suppose, but still … I don’t know what I should’ve expected.

So, for those of you that don’t like seeing a doctor, Go, regularly, take their advice as best you can. If you know you have family history of something (colon cancer, heart disease, etc), make sure you make your doctor aware. If you don’t like your doctor, find a new one (I’ve done this once).