You are speaking to the choir to me about stress, @mrossi ! My mom’s doc urged her to get testing and she asked me to go with her. It was difficult to comprehend as we sat together hearing her score was 0 at age 80 and mine was at a concerning level (I’m not sure exactly what is was at this point). I have learned to remind myself when I leave appointments that I want to make it home safely. This realigns my thoughts towards the reality that I am doing all I can to be healthy and my real focus needs to be not to get hit by a bus or in a car accident on the way home. I don’t think I’d ever get in a vehicle if I focused on the possibilities. Buy a safe car, keep the oil changed & tires aired up, buckle up and practice good driving habits. All I can do.

One of my college roommates (I am 57) has spent her career as a cardio nurse administering the simple $50 calcium score tests. My understanding from her is now that they have been done for a period of time they are proven to offer value. We are also living in a time that there are significantly more options available for us to treat our conditions.mrossi One of my college roommates (I am 57) has spent her career as a cardio nurse administering the simple $50 calcium score tests. My understanding is now that they have been done for a period of time they are proven to offer value. We are also living in a time that there are significantly more options available for us to treat our conditions. For example, I don’t think LP(a) has been tested because there hasn’t been anything that could really be done about it.

It helps to understand sorting through all our feelings is natural and good to do. It is super difficult to consider the wait time to see specialists upon a diagnosis that seems urgent, what feels like providers are downplaying our conditions in riding the fence between keeping our stress down, like you said vs encouraging us to treat as aggressively as we can, and filtering through “dr. Google” & other conflicting information we hear so loudly.