110/66

I used to dread two parts of the trip to the doctor. The first, and most obvious, was the weigh in. Still not a big fan of that one, to be honest.

The other one that gave me minor palpitations, literally, was the blood pressure cuff.

While I was never on medication for high blood pressure, I did have high end of normal readings that required rechecks. Not a great feeling.

As I sat in the sports med office this week, the nurse was going through all the normal questions. "Why are you here? Is this a work injury? Do you still live at this address? Is this your insurance provider? What is your birth date?"

And then she reaches for the cuff and peels it open as it makes that unmistakable Velcro sound.

My breath catches in a split second. I was running behind for the appointment and had to hustle to get here. I chose the stairs vs. the elevator. I know I'm probably a bit nervous. There are little warning bells going off in my head saying, "Relax! Take a deep breath! Stay calm!" It's as if I think I can somehow control my blood pressure in the three seconds it takes for her to wrap that thing around my arm and pump up the plastic bulb.

"110 over 66," she says with a smile. "Wow. That's great!"

And it is.