Despicable Me: Beat Stress Chapter 1
One morning in Gru's house, the girl's bedroom was in need of a makeover of repainting and decorating so that meant the girls had to sleep somewhere else in the house while the work was carried out. They helped pack up and move all their things out. ''You girls will be sleeping with de minions'' he said, ''I've set up some blow camp beds on the floor you can all sleep on''. ''How long will we have to sleep down here?'' asked Margo. ''A couple of nights'' replied Gru, ''Eet's a big job painting and redecorating a whole room''. Margo wasn't sure if she liked the idea of sleeping with the minions, but she had no choice. ''At least you're still at home and not somewhere undercover with a new name'' Lucy pointed out. ''I guess'' Margo mumbled.
She didn't sleep well the first night in with the minions. It wasn't the same as her own room. Plus the minions were known to be very rowdy and sometimes mischievous like Edith. They didn't always want to go to sleep as the same time as the girls. Sometimes they liked to party late at night until Gru told them to settle down. Margo felt she couldn't get any peace from the minions. ''I can't bear this'' she thought. A couple of days passed, and Margo started to notice something queer. Her heart felt like it was beating in her neck and throat. Sometimes it skipped beats or there were extra beats.
Often Margo's beat more faster or pounded more than normal. ''My heart feels funny'' she told Lucy when the irregular heartbeats had gone on for more than one day. Lucy put her hand on Margo's chest. ''Oh my goodness!'' she gasped. Lucy could feel her daughter's heart beating fast against her hand. ''We've got to get that heart checked out!'' she said. Lucy was concerned that Margo might have developed a serious heart problem. She made a doctor's appointment for her daughter. Lucy and Margo went to the surgery the next day in the afternoon where they saw Dr Beecher and Lucy told him about Margo's irregular heartbeats. Dr Beecher felt Margo's neck to see if she had a swollen thyroid gland, then he felt her pulse too.
''That all feels fine Margo'' he said, ''Now let's have a listen to your heart''. So Margo took her jacket off and lifted her shirt up so Dr Beecher could listen to her heart with his stethoscope and Lucy held Margo's jacket. Then Dr Beecher let Margo listen to her own heartbeat while he spoke to Lucy and asked her some questions about Margo's medical history. Margo's eyes were wide with amazement as she listened to her heart going Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! ''Wow!'' she said. Then Margo saw that Dr Beecher wanted to talk to her so she took the stethoscope out of her ears. ''I think you have palpitations Margo'' he said, ''That's what it's called when your heartbeat becomes more noticeable''. ''Palpitations?'' repeated Margo.
''Yes'' replied Dr Beecher, ''In order to diagnose what's causing this irregular heartbeat, I think it's best if you have an ECG, short for Electrocardiogram''. ''An ECG? What's that?'' Margo asked. ''It's a test that records the electrical activity of your heart, including the rate and rhythm. It's usually quick and painless'' explained Dr Beecher, ''Some sticky patches called electrodes will be placed on your arms, legs and chest and attached to the ECG machine with wires. You will need to take off all upper clothing''. So it was arranged. Two days later, Margo went back to the surgery with Lucy to have her ECG test. A nurse was waiting for them. ''Hello Margo'' she said, ''I'm Sandra, I'm going to be conducting your ECG test today''.
She led Lucy and Margo into a room with an examination bed with blue sheets and a machine with a computer like screen. Margo hopped up onto the bed and Lucy helped her to take off her shirt and jacket exposing Margo's bare arms, chest and stomach. Then Margo lay down comfortably on the sheets. She watched as Sandra stuck some sticky patches on her arms, legs and chest. ''These are called electrodes Margo'' Sandra explained, ''I'm gonna attach you to the ECG machine with these wires by connecting them to the electrodes. This machine here records the electrical signals that are created when your heart beats''.