POTTER ACES STRESS TEST

POTTER ACES STRESS TEST

Results Say Heart Is Okay

All around good guy and big fan of nurses Bill Potter was told yesterday after his stress test that his heart was A-Okay.

“You haven’t had a heart attack or a blockage,” his cardiologist said. “ The only time I want to see you again is at Wawa.”

The stress test came after an echocardiogram found that Potter had a low ejection fraction. This mystified the doctors, Potter said.

“The docs were a bit befuddled because I am a low risk guy except for my family having some history of heart disease,” he said. “I don’t smoke. I workout regularly and I am not overweight. My resting heart rate is in the 60’s or low 70’s and my blood pressure is usually normal or a little low.”

“He is one of those least likely to get heart disease,” the cardiologist added.

Though thrilled with the news, Potter said the roller coaster of emotions has been kind of hard.

“I really thought I was sunk,” he said. “I had these visions of toting an oxygen tank around for the rest of my life and not being able to do the things I want to do.

“I was also worried they’d have to crack my chest open to fix something. Jeepers, open-heart surgery, can you imagine?  I’ve had an awful lot of procedures done in recent months and I am bone weary -- from them all.”

Even so, it appears to be blue skies ahead for Potter who is in the recovery phase of his cancer treatment.

“My cancer doctor fired me,” the newly minted cancer survivor said. “I went through six of eight blocks (of chemotherapy) and this heart thing threw everything into a hubbub. My doc weighed it all and recommended we stop treatment. I guess he didn’t want to kill me – I appreciate that.

“Now my job is to get my strength back, get my head together, and wait for the cancer drugs to dissipate as I continue to wrestle with residual side effects.”

The results from the original cardiogram are still a mystery.

“Who the hell knows,” Potter said. “Maybe it was the water from Lourdes our friends gave us (In 1858, a peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed to see the Virgin Mary at a nearby cave. Waters from the Lourde’s spring are reputed to have miraculous healing powers), maybe it was all the prayers from people we know and people they know, and maybe the echocardiogram was just a mistake. You got me, all I know is I am fine today and I’m not going to waste it.”

Potter plans to continue recovering and taking it easy for the next little while.

“I promised my wife and doc I wouldn’t rush it,” he said. “I haven’t gone through all of this just to blow it in the final stretch.”

Bill Potter can be reached at Lettice123@yahoo.com.