Hello, gentle readers!
On Tuesday morning, I decided to import posts from my newer blog, Notes of a Wayward Anglican (which I shall be deleting). Whatever label I may be using this week, it just makes more sense to me to continue updating this blog, where I have readers and a history and continuity.
Then I called my acupuncturist and asked her advice because I was having spasmodic pains in the center of my chest, right behind or around the sternum. Her advice: “You need to go to the ER. Right now. Go.” I had no sweating, no shortness of breath, no pain in my left arm or my jaw–but I’m forty-six and overweight, and heart attacks do not always present with the classic symptoms in women of my age.
I went. And wound up spending the night at the hospital, wearing a heart monitor and getting my blood drawn at unconscionable hours, and taking a stress test on Wednesday morning.
Diagnosis: Whatever it was, it wasn’t my heart. Perversely, I feel rather healthy after the doctors ruled out so many things that *aren’t* wrong with me: Asthma, bronchitis, shortness of breath, hiatal hernia. I performed well on the stress test; in fact, walking with my husband last Sunday was probably more stressful in spots, thanks to climbing a couple of hills that were steeper than any treadmill version could be.
I’m back at work today and just got two deliveries at once, so to sum up before I turn my attention back to the day’s tasks, I’ll just say: I am fine, I’ll be seeing my acupuncturist and my M.D. as a follow-up, and I’m probably not done with Druidry, or with Buddhism, or with Jesus and the Anglican tradition. The road goes ever on.
Glad to hear you’re OK!
I had one of those scares in the middle of the night a few years ago, could have sworn it was a full-on heart attack; they eventually tracked it down to gallstones. :)
Thanks, Erik! I’ve heard from a number of friends that they’ve had similar non-cardiac experiences. I *would* like to figure out the real cause….
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