Further tests

“Breathe in. Hold it. Breathe out.” I did what I was told as my GP held his stethoscope to my heart and listened intently. I didn’t know where to look or how to feel. There were plenty of distractions in the office – my doctor had quite the artistic son, so there were paintings from art class everywhere, as well as plenty of souvenirs from his travels displayed all over his walls and bookshelves. But I couldn’t concentrate on any of them. Suddenly my heart was under pressure and I’m sure it was probably beating irregularly fast just because I was so bloody nervous.

Only minutes later my doctor sat me down and gave the good news. Yes I had a heart murmur, but so do 90% of all women, he said. It was an innocent murmur – meaning it was not dangerous – and likely caused by my posture (sorry Mum, I knew there was a reason you were always nagging me to sit up straight!). He confided that he thought the doctor who had done my medical may have overreacted slightly and because of this I’d still need to go to the hospital and have an ECG done, just to satisfy the company that I was fit to work. Only once I had the results from the ECG could he clear me to begin work. I wondered if I’d ever get to begin this job.

And that was how I found myself at a private hospital the next day – the only one that could fit me in at short notice – lying on a trolley and getting to experience how it is pregnant mothers feel when they have an ultrasound. It was complete with jelly and everything, only it was on my chest, not my uterus :) I laid there for more than half an hour as the nurse did a great job of distracting me by asking me about my travels of the previous year and about my new job I was (hopefully) heading into.

$450 and three days later I received the results and with a sense of relief informed my new employer that I was fit to work – nothing was going to stop me.

I wound everything up at my old job in mid March, and it was a sad affair. I’d become part of the family there after six years and learnt an incredible amount about good customer service and being apart of a team. I was sad to leave, especially after my workmates presented me with a gorgeous watch and a scrapbook of the last six years together. But I knew I was just going on to the join another family, as corny and lame as that sounds.

With one week to go before my first day of ground school, I was all set to bum around home and enjoy the last few days of sleep ins and relaxing hours on the couch. But then my parents suggested I take a holiday before I start ground school. It hadn’t even entered my mind. I am tight with my money (for good reason – I’m not just a scrooge) and even just having a week off between jobs had not sat very well with me. But they convinced me and before I knew it I was on a plane to Melbourne to spend 4 days with friends.

Not until I was sitting on that flight did it hit me what I was about to go into. Suddenly I was so aware of the flight attendants. I was always the type of person who watched the safety demonstration anyway, but now, well now I hung onto every word and watched their every move the entire flight. Soon that would be me showing people how to fit an oxygen mask. It was so exciting!

Four days in Melbourne did the trick. I got a chance to relax and had such a great time with my friends. I was glad my parents had talked me into going. Because I knew this’d be the last time I’d get to relax in quite a while.

Turns out though I didn’t know just how much I should’ve cherished that time in Melbourne…