Finally, I have proof that I have a real flesh and blood heart, as opposed to a tiny little lump of coal! See for yourself:

Yes, that’s really my heart. Last week, I got a Coronary CT Angiogram. It’s a CT scan with contrast dye that checks for any blockage in the arteries of the heart. I was serving as a test patient for Paul’s group, Radiology Imaging Associates, at Swedish Hospital, where they were working out the kinks in this fabulous new kind of scan with a a new CT scanner.

The scan itself was quite easy — except for the bit of nitroglycerin I was given. That gave me a massive migraine in about 3 second flat. It didn’t abate for a number of hours, well after I’d taken my prescription Maxalt. (A headache for about 20 minutes is normal.)

Happily, my scan was perfectly clear, i.e. no narrowing of the arteries of my heart and whatsoever a calcium score of “0.” In fact, the report said that I’m “below the 10th percentile for coronary calcium burden, adjusted for age and sex.” So that’s excellent news.

At a reasonably slim and very fit 33 years old, I wasn’t too worried about finding any problems now. However, I wanted a baseline scan for future reference, given that three of my four grandparents died of heart attacks. That way, as I get scanned every ten or so years, as I plan to do, I’ll be able to track any changes. Heart disease is my major long-term health concern — and I don’t trust the current conventional wisdom on diet (i.e. low fat, vegetable fats like canola oil, etc.) to steer me in the right direction. So I plan to monitor the situation directly.

Plus, now when someone claims that I have no heart, I can point them to this post!