Exercise Stress Test

My wife and I drove to Kemaman Hospital for my Stress Test this morning. This is the second time this week. My original appointment was for 10:00am on Sunday. However, when we arrived there it was somehow cancelled. My name was there but someone had apparently cancelled it. I had two options; wait for 2:30pm or come back on Tuesday at 9:00am. We opted for the second option as 4 hours was a long wait.

We arrived at 9:15am after a 75-minute drive. The clinic was full. It was a long wait... I was the last patient. It was a traumatising experience. One of the patients, a pakcik, had to stop his test as he had an attack. When it was finally my turn, the doctor sat down and have a chat with me first. probably because I was the youngest patient there. He didn't think I needed to do the test. I related what happened to me a few weeks back but he still didn't think I needed the test. Nevertheless, he decided to go through with it for peace of mind. 

I was required to sign a form acknowledging that I understood the risks of the test and that a heart attack was a possibility. The doctor encouraging me to push for Stage 7.

The stress test is basically a test where you have the ECG attached to you while you are on a treadmill. Then the speed and gradient is increased every 3 minutes. Your maximum heart rate is determined before you start... which is 220 minus your age. Mine is at 178bpm. The goal is to be able to achieve 85% for your maximum heart rate.

My results are below... I achieved 101% of my maximum heart rate. Click on the picture for a larger view.

I stopped at 13 minutes. I could have pushed to Stage 7. I stopped due to the following reasons:-

1. The appointment checklist states that you should not consume anything 2 hours prior to your test. My test was scheduled at 9:00am. Therefore, I have not had anything to eat... I only had a cup of coffee at 7:00am. So, basically I am already dehydrated when I started. It was after 11:00am when I started.

2. During the test, they did not have any water on standby and my throat was dried out.

3. My leg muscles were sore...18% gradient is very steep...

Basically, my legs and throat gave up... not my heart. : )

My next test will be in Dungun Hospital on the 30th. Hopefully my cholesterol would have gone down significantly by then. In-sya-Allah...