Nuclear Stress Test

No, not a North Korea problem.  The symptoms that I have been having of shortness of breath when under cardiovascular stress (like climbing my absurd driveway) caused the cardiologist to schedule the ominously named "nuclear stress test."  (The symptoms are much like the period before the horrendous aortic valve replacement surgery.)  Fasting, then a 4 hour test where they inject radioisotopes, look at blood flow, then inject a dilating medicine and check the blood flow again.  The good news is that if the aortic valve is failing, they no longer cut you open.  They do a transarterial valve replacement.  They run a cathether to the valve and put another valve on top of the old one.  Not without risk, but no worse than cutting a hole in your chest, and far less painful.