Dis-missed!

Honorably discharged this afternoon!

Here's the latest on The Big Scare:

* Lab test results look good.
* They threw me on the treadmill at 8am this morning for cardio stress testing. You know, like the opening sequence of "The Six Million Dollar Man."
* It's like being in the military -- an orderly came by after a fitful sleep session, interrupted by blood pressure measurements and blood samples at 9pm, 12am, 4am, 7am. Which, come to think of it, feels more like an alien abduction. I didn't even get to eat breakfast.
* After all of this, the doctor does not believe it's a serious heart problem. As in, not a heart attack. Phew.
* EKG readings overridden by visual inspection. (Got to see my own heart on the echocardiogram machine. Forgot to ask for pictures.)
* Follow-up exam in 2 weeks.
* Cholesterol level down from 277 (6 mo ago) to 167. HDL went from 51 to 95. Woo-hoo!
* Taking aspirin to prevent blood clots (a widespread practice), but that's it for medications.
* I now have a cardiologist, whose brother is a Google engineer. A good sign.
* I did apparently do the right thing by going to the hospital on this first-time chest pain, though.

Thanks for the well wishes and sorry again for the scare. I'll be taking it easy for a couple of days, but all in all, things should be back to normal very soon.

Love you all very much.