The longer my mystery disease remains a mystery, the more annoying and intrusive the tests become as we keep trying to figure out what’s wrong. I’ll be out all day today for yet another one. I should be back Tuesday, but if not, I’ll be back on Wednesday for sure.
LATE AFTERNOON UPDATE: Well, everything went fine. Today’s festivities involved running a catheter up one of my veins into my heart to check out the pressure in various chambers. It turns out that my pressure is A-OK.
So we’re back where we started. After an astonishing battery of tests, we’ve concluded that my lung volume is excellent; I don’t suffer from asthma; I’m inhaling plenty of oxygen; exhaling plenty of CO2; my blood is fully oxygenated; I have no blood clots; no interstitial damage; and no apparent inflammation; there are no holes in my heart; nor any shunts; my ejection volume is terrific; and my arteries—much to my surprise—appear to be as wide open as the Amazon river.
In other words, I’m getting loads of oxygen, and my heart is distributing it properly to the rest of my body. I am the picture of cardiopulmonary health.
Except that I have a hard time breathing.