Wednesday, August 6, 2008

No Latte? Are They Crazy?

Today I have to go get a stress test. Yesterday the bitch, no I mean nurse, who gave me instructions for my stress test, ordered me to take no blood pressure medicine and no caffeine. Yes, I can eat something and take my other pills, but no LATTE? Jesus, how am I supposed to get the organism chugging into consciousness? I will report on this horror when I get home. But I'm betting the worst part of the stress test is the no latte part.

11 comments:

Randal Graves said...

It's obvious that you'll have to make up for it by chugging a pot or three of stuff when you get back.

Utah Savage said...

Yes it is! I have to get back to normal somehow.

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness Randal is here with sage advice!

Nan said...

They let you eat? The bastards told me to fast from midnight on when I had my stress test at the end of June, and then didn't get me on the machine until almost noon even though the original appointment was for 9 a.m. I was anticipating the blood pressure readings to go off the scale from sheer irritation.

Hope the test went well. Did you have an echo, too, or just the treadmill?

Randal Graves said...

See, dcup, you thought you were the one with the year of clean living. utah, don't forget the bags of Funyuns. AND to tell us how the thing went, dammit.

nan makes a good point. When my wife had her stress test earlier this year, they told her nothing after midnight as well. So of course I had to have my caffeinated beverage in front of her. You can still see the scar.

Anonymous said...

Randal - My year of clean living crashed and burned like the Hindenburg, didn't it?

Utah - How are you doing?

Utah Savage said...

So pissed off, I must write a raging, cleansing post on my reaction to today's news. But I'm now suffering post rage gas. I have to buy a host of gasXy things to allow me to sit here long enough to express my outrage and mostly at my own outrage, but for the moment, my gut hurts too much to do anything but recline.

E said...

They didn't say anything about not having some brandy in decaf tea, now did they? Or perhaps a bloody mary? ;)

Utah Savage said...

No, they didn't E. Why didn't I think of that?

Mark Prime (tpm/Confession Zero) said...

I'm not so sure the "No Latte" was the worst part, but I can bet my bottom dollar it was a monstrous factor!

Bukko Boomeranger said...

Didn't they bother to tell you WHY you couldn't have caffeine? It's because the meds they inject via the IV are going to speed up your heart. That puts it under stress, so they can see how it functions. But if you have caffeine, that speeds up your heart too. Latte speed on top of artificially induced IV speed-up. Doesn't give a clear picture of cardiac function. They should have explained the rationale for the latte ban. I always try to tell patients the "why" behind the instructions. Makes it more likely they'll comply, and reduces kvetching.