The Wow! Wow! Wow!

Recently I had a sonogram of my carotid arteries.  No medical big deal; I just did it. I’ve never had one before. Those of you reading who have had this or a similar experience will know exactly what I am talking about. Those of you who have not, I hope, will be able to imagine.

The technician turned my head to one side and slathered thick, goopy stuff on my neck. Then she began sliding an electronic instrument--a transducer probe--around on my neck as she told me that first she would be taking pictures, (they were already showing up on the screen behind me) and then I would hear “some sounds.”

Fine. I have no idea what the pictures looked like. I couldn’t see them.

But the sounds! Suddenly a roaring, watery-sounding, rhythmic rush filled my ears. I wish I could describe that sound adequately but such is the pathetic limit of words. I say pathetic because one way or another this is a sound that we all should discover: the sound of our hearts sending blood whooshing through the carotid artery, every artery and vein, the sound of our hearts at work.

“Is that my heart doing that?” I was thrilled. It was as if I were meeting my own heart for the first time.

“Yes,” the woman said, as she continued to angle and press the probe firmly against my neck.

“It makes a deep, rasping, Wow!” I told her. “It’s extraordinary! It really is a Woww!” I said, emulating the sound from the back of my throat.

She turned her head away from the screen just long enough to say, “I’ve always thought it sounded like a Wow!-- but you are the first patient to say so.”

Suddenly aware of how completely mindless I am about this amazing organ that pumps blood throughout my body, I placed my hand over my heart. I take it for granted, I thought. I don’t think about it. Ever.

“I never think about my heart,” I told the woman, feeling a bit guilty.

Wow! Wow! Wow! The beat went on.

“No one does,” the technician responded, “until something goes wrong. And then-- that’s all people can think about.”

With my hand still on my chest, I whispered “thank you,” and promised myself I would pay more attention. From time to time I would notice my heart beating and send the Wow! Wow! Wow! the gratitude it deserves.