Just got back from a relaxing seven hour visit to the ER. For the past couple of days I’ve had a little pain in my chest, but it felt like the pain I had when I had an ulcer a decade ago, so I dismissed it. Today it got worse and I could feel it in my shoulder and back, so I decided to go check my blood pressure. Checked my BP, and it was through the roof (200/100 normally about 135/75) and my heart rate was 84 bpm and it is normally about 55-65 unless fucking Trump is on the god damned television, so I decided I should probably go seek medical attention. Went home, fed the dogs, packed up my laptop and sleep machine because if you go in and say heart at the ER those fuckers lock you up like Alcatraz.
Long story short, ekg and heart enzyme tests and chest x-rays were fine, but my lipase levels were elevated (but not double, so they could not give a diagnosis of pancreatitis), and my blood sugar was slightly elevated but they could not say if that was caused by the shit going down with my pancreas, but I am not dying and they let me go home and on monday I go to the doctor to get an upper gi and pancreatic tests done.
My blood pressure and heart rate are back to normal, and spiked because once again the #1 FUCKING DRAMA QUEEN IN WEST VIRGINA worked himself into a tizzy. I am absolutely the worst. I can handle physical pain no problem. I’m pretty sure I could have an arm amputated and I would wrap a towel around it (but not one of the good ones fer fucks sake I’m not a monster) and drive myself to the hospital. But if I cough funny twice I’ll be convinced I have fucking lung cancer and then work myself into an epic lather.
At any rate, I live to see another day. And for the love of everything holy, no remote diagnoses in the comments as I am already on a self imposed WebMD ban that has lasted close to 6 years.
cintibud
Gee John, be careful! Take care of yourself!
aj
Glad you are ok.
Still wondering about the mustard.
WaterGirl
Don’t beat yourself up. You are not the only person who does stuff like that. I’m glad you are okay.
Corner Stone
Sounds like you may have pancreatitis. Or maybe SVT.
No Drought No More
Cole: I speak for all in saying if worse does indeed come to worse anytime soon, we hope you kick in your sleep (peacefully in your sleep, of course)..
Waratah
John anytime you have pain like that in your chest and in your back take some aspirin then go to the ER just like you did. It was the right thing to do. Take the aspirin first. That was the first thing they asked my husband who was having a heart attack.
David Anderson
Stealing this for why the ER should never bill based on DX
Percysowner
Take care of yourself.
japa21
Unlike some around here, I would never dream of trying to diagnose you. However I mentioned your symptoms to my nurse wife and she said…maybe it would be better if I didn’t say what she said.
Planetpundit
Steve peed in your soup; that’s for taking him to the Vet. You need a food taster.
SFAW
@Corner Stone:
Or SJW? Or maybe, as W.C. Fields said: “That dreaded of all diseases: Mogo on the Ga-Go-Go”
Amir Khalid
Better safe than sorry. You let the professionals decide that you were safe to go home. Get the tests done and then don’t worry about the results until/unless they say there’s something to worry about.
ET
John and anyone else who needs a laugh needs to watch the “A Fuckton of Cats” video from “My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and watch it again if needed.
WaterGirl
@No Drought No More: You may be trying to be funny, but that’s not funny at all for someone who has just announced that they worry about stuff like this.
dexwood
You did the right thing, Cole, going to the ER. I used to know some guys who should have gone. Too late for them.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
Glad to hear you’re home and okay.
Major Major Major Major
Maybe you should spend less time on Twitter.
Mike J
My mom had a heart cath today. They ordered it after a ultrasound last week looked hinky, but with a first hand view of things, they couldn’t find any problem. Which is good, but she’s needed o2 for the past couple of months and they still don’t have a reason.
Gin & Tonic
I bet the asshole dies without telling us where the mustard was.
SFAW
John –
Echoing Waratah: better to be over-cautious, because the one time you incorrectly decide to “shake it off,” we’ll either be sending you flowers in ICU, or condolence cards to your parents. Neither prospect is something I look forward to.
Anne Laurie
You made the right choice, Cole. Better to spend 7 hours in the ER, than to end up as… a less entertaining BJ post.
.
Anecdata, when *I* got shooting chest pains in my late 30s, turned out to be gallstones. My surgeon at the time claimed that lots more women than men had their gall bladders removed because men either didn’t complain, or they got misdiagnosed. But that was 25+ years ago, and I’m sure the ER techniques have improved by now…
Anotherlurker
Please take care of yourself.
lamh36
So what your saying…False alarm…you’re fine
ETA: I kid…seriously though John…at your advanced age, it’s alway sbeter to err on the side of caution when it comes to chest pains. So it’s good that you went to the ER. Now hopefully, you won’t be like me and have a $1300 ER bill, cause the pain you went to ER for was not considered an true emergency, so ur helath plan didn’t cover some of the expenses
SFBayAreaGal
Take care. On a happy note Jamaica women’s bob sledding team could be Cool Running 2
SFAW
@Gin & Tonic:
You DO realize, don’t you, that there never really was any mustard? It was just a Cole-troll.
[Kidding]
Another Scott
Glad you went to the ER, and that it wasn’t something that required admission. It’s too easy for us to convince ourself it’s nothing when sometimes it is something…
Good luck with the tests on Monday.
Rest easy.
Cheers,
Scott.
Mnemosyne
Ah, the run to the ER with chest pains. The last time I did that, I had pleurisy (an inflammation of the chest wall that causes your lungs to scrape painfully against your ribcage). Not fatal, but not fun at all.
SFBayAreaGal
You’re welcome ?
Hope they never end this song
This could take us all night long
I looked at the moon and I felt blue
Then I looked again and I saw you
Eyes like fire in the night
Bridges burning with their light
Now I want to spend the whole night through
And Honey, Yes, I’d like to spend it all on you
Love, look what you’ve done to me
Never thought I’d fall again so easily
Oh, love, you wouldn’t lie to me
Leading me to feel this way…
They might fade and turn to stone
Let’s get crazy all alone
Hold me closer than you’d ever dare
Close your eyes and I’ll be there
After all is said and done
After all you are the one
Take me up your stairs and through the door
Take me where we don’t care anymore…
Love, look what you’ve done to me
Never thought I’d fall again so easily
Oh, love, you wouldn’t lie to me… would you
Leading me to feel this way…
Love, look what you’ve done to me
Never thought I’d fall again so easily
Oh, love, you wouldn’t lie to me
Leading me to feel this way…
Boz Scaggs
Villago Delenda Est
Take two aspirin, plenty of fluids, call me in the morning, and I’ll recommend you rotate the batteries which is what former Signal Officers do.
Villago Delenda Est
@Gin & Tonic: He confessed to the Subaru, so I’m satisfied.
rikyrah
Feel better Cole
Poptartacus
Pancreatitis is a muthafucker
Believe me
Morphine bearly dents it
Jay S
@David Anderson: I think I need a translation, or explaination. DX is diagnosis? If so do some ER’s bill on that? I can see Insurance Co’s denying claims based on that (and in a case like this would be wrong) but billing? BTW is a Consulting Nurse position common in the industry? You call and get a recommendation for ER or Urgent care or not serious problem.
Gretchen
Better safe than sorry, and I’m glad you’re ok. You’re needed here. Have a restful weekend.
Mnemosyne
I’m watching Questlove explain the birth of hip-hop on “Drunk History.” He’s surprisingly coherent while drunk.
jl
John Cole, your a good man, decent man, but you think too much. It wears you down.
Eat your peas! Have you eaten your peas today?
p.a.
@Poptartacus: Ditto. Not something to just slough off.
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: Just make the fucking radios work.
@ Cole: WTF, dude, how does your life contain this much drama?
jl
Cole, just thank God you are not Steve Bannon, when you count your blessings.
Bannon is so nuts, we need ‘Bannon so nuts’ jokes. I think he did read a lot history, but obviously was on acid when he read it, or maybe being nuts was enough. Below is some Bannon wisdom on the Oprah anti-patriarchy threat.
Bannon: ‘Anti-patriarchy movement’ will ‘undo ten thousand years of recorded history’
Oliver Darcy CNN
“It’s a Cromwell moment!” Bannon is quoted as nearly shouting, referring to the 17th century political leader often characterized as a fanatical dictator. “It’s even more powerful than populism. It’s deeper. It’s primal. It’s elemental. The long black dresses and all that — this is the Puritans! It’s anti-patriarchy.”
Bannon, Green wrote, watched Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as he was watching Oprah Winfrey on stage delivering a politically-charged speech.
“He’s ruined his career,” Bannon said, according to Green. “If you rolled out a guillotine, they’d chop off every set of balls in the room.”
Green, who is also a CNN political analyst, writes that Bannon believed Oprah could threaten the Trump presidency if she were to become involved in the 2018 midterm elections. He argued, Green wrote, that her activism could assist the Democrats in taking back the House, allowing Democrats to impeach Trump.
But Bannon went further than that, declaring, “The anti-patriarchy movement is going to undo ten thousand years of recorded history.”
http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/09/media/steve-bannon-times-up-movement-devils-bargain/index.html
Emphases added because I felt like it.
Let us count to nutso here. Oprah = Oliver Cromwell. People against Trump are puritans. The Rock has ruined his career by standing next to Oprah (=Oliver Cromwell) except the Cromwell-Oprah beast has such a popular message that she, single handed, can deliver the House to the Democrats.
And, most of all, the idea that Oprah could not afford a guillotine for every woman in the audience. “Look under your seats! A guillotine for you! A guillotine for your! And You! A guillotine foe everybody! Now get to chopping those nuts!”
Bannon is nuts. He’s been soaking his brain in blotter acid for decades. Only thing that can explain it. No booze could do that.
Denali
Glad you are ok. Everything will work out.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
NY’s Dem gubernatorial candidates should campaign on turning the NYT building into a crater
Mnemosyne
@jl:
Bannon is saying what a majority of white dudes thought when they voted for Trump in 2016. They really do think that feminists want to castrate them.
Villago Delenda Est
@jl: Bannon’s fear of having his dick cut off is palpable.
Jager
Mrs J and I rented a house in Westport, CA a few years ago, great place, on a cliff overlooking the ocean, had a little artist’s retreat hanging off the cliff, fantastic place. Anyway the 3rd day we were there I felt a ass-kicking pain in my jaw. Swollen face. Impacted tooth. I’d had one before, knew the symptoms. I knew that a dentist couldn’t do anything until the infection was gone, so we went to the ER in Fort Bragg, CA. Doc looks me over, listens to my heart, says he’d like me to take an electrocardiogram. An hour later he tells me I have Atrial Fibrillation, that was a surprise in the middle of a vacation, he gives me the pills to kill the pain in my jaw and the antibiotics to kill the infection. When I got back home, I find out he was right and I’ve been on blood thinners ever since. My blood is so thin that when it drops below 60, I’m freezing my ass off if I’m not exercising. The kicker is the bill was $1781. I handed them my Kaiser card and they billed Kaiser. Kaiser gave them $390. We went back to the house, did I mention it had an outdoor shower overlooking the ocean, I drank a couple of whiskys and went to bed, we had a great final two days in the house and drove home through wine country. When you’re old and feel shitty, get your prune ass to the doc!
chopper
cool it, man! you’re going to give yourself Skin Failure.
jl
@Mnemosyne: We men are all turning into Chris Matthews? I’m afraid to look in the mirror now.
Ruckus
Cole, the docs tell me I’ve had an HA a few yrs ago and yet I didn’t even know. When I asked the doc he said that 60% of the people never know. Either they don’t feel it or they are dead. It was a bit disconcerting to have him say that so matter of fact but it’s true. It’s nothing to mess around with because most of that 60% can’t talk about it later. And now a few yrs later I’ve just finished a year of hell because of something totally unrelated to cardio, to find out in the end that everything cardio looks fine. Two echos, angiogram, 2 weeks of wearing a Zio patch, an MRI of my brain and months of waiting in between all that to find out the overall result. Of course it wasn’t all a waste, the original symptom wasn’t cardio, but neuro, which gave them a direction to go in rather than just waiting to see what develops.
What I’m saying is that you aren’t alone in both the issues and in your response to them. Far too many of us have similar stories.
Petorado
Cole — the medical stuff was humorous when it was mustard and naked mopping, but as this community all ages together (we’ve all seen the meet up photos!) this stuff isn’t funny anymore. Take care, we’re all hoping for the best for you.
jl
I’m glad Cole is OK. Appears that he had what used to be called ‘the galloping fantods.’ Twain described the dangerous condition in his medical case studies.
Edit: Speaking seriously, I commend Cole for seeing a doctor and getting a medical work up. A lot of men won’t do that. Some older male relatives didn’t check out signs like that, and after a while, very bad things happened. I think Cole knows how to handle himself.
Ruckus
@Villago Delenda Est:
And considering the gang he runs with, shouldn’t be at all unreasonable.
Jay S
@Villago Delenda Est: In his case given his history, he might be justified to be afraid.
GregB
Wyoming Secretary of State is resigning. This may free him up to become a new Trump appointee.
https://politicalwire.com/2018/02/09/wyoming-secretary-state-quits/
Aleta
Are you kidding you did the absolute right thing. For that situation you gotta go in. You got a good result, stuff got ruled out, which is the point.
Staying hydrated is one of the best things for the heart, says my cousin’s heart guy. (Could eat A banana, or drink an emergen-C for electrolytes.)
Must be rough being loved by so many. (No sympathy)
Ruckus
@jl:
It’s not the specific type of booze, it’s the amount of it. And yes, booze can do that.
But you do have a point, drumpf supposedly doesn’t drink and he’s quite delusional.
Petorado
@jl: “The long black dresses and all that — this is the Puritans! It’s anti-patriarchy.”
JFC, conservatives and their obsession with the symbolism itself over the true intention behind it is the undoing of us all.
Aleta
@Villago Delenda Est: Look behind you to see if you’re plugged in.
Omnes Omnibus
Interlude
Peale
@jl: the first 4,000 years of recorded history in that timeline is largely midden piles, but why quibble.
Citizen Alan
@Villago Delenda Est:
This is because in his heart he knows he deserves to have his dick cut off.
Villago Delenda Est
@Aleta: Or if the radio is turned on…step one of the troubleshooting process!
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus: Soothing.
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: It was off when my driver started the HMMV. I swear.
Redshift
Sounds like you made the right call, even though the ER is annoying under any circumstances.
Fair Economist
Chest pains and BP of 200/100? Damn straight you should have gone to the ER. Hope it turns out to be something not too problematic.
SRW1
@jl:
They’re coming for your balls! Kill the witches! Protect your balls at all cost!
SRW1
Seeking medical attention was the right thing to do, Mr Blog Master.
Omnes Omnibus
@SRW1: Why are we killing our watches? I would really rather avoid that if I can.
Starfish
The stress of mailing out all the calendars got to you.
JR
@jl: Bannon is the Earl of Strafford?
Jay S
@Omnes Omnibus: Wrong post. Watches are one down.
Omnes Omnibus
@JR: Who knows at this point? I doubt it though.
ArchTeryx
And here I am sitting pretty with an average bp of about 150/100 and a heart rate of 105 bpm. (Yeah, I’m seeing a cardiologist; yeah, this is very recent, and probably a side effect of a medication. So the answer is…more medicines, of course!)
Mary G
Glad you went, glad you seem to be OK and that you will follow up with your own doctor. Maybe someone else should take charge of next year’s pet calendars ? (Not me, though.)
scott alloway
@Mnemosyne: I hope it is castration by hanging.
Jay S
@ArchTeryx: Diet and exercise is the universal panacea.
seaboogie
@Mnemosyne: Have to check that out. While I don’t love the stinking drunk aspect, it is so good – the raconteurs and the acting/featured actors are stellar. Harriet Tubman is my favorite so far.
I’ve been to the hospital for myself exactly three times. Once when I was four to have my tonsils out. Twicet as an adult for acute anxiety attack. Not fun. The last time I took my own self in and drove both ways, because I am a singleton now. That is a particular feedback loop from which it is nearly impossible to extricate yourself. I loves me some Ativan.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
You made the right call. A diastolic BP 100 and over is dangerous. Hope everything turns out well for you.
cckids
Very glad you’re ok, John, and that it wasn’t your heart!
My son spent the day at the ER a week ago; he had had the flu for 3-4 days & kept having chest pains that got worse & worse; finally he gave in & went in. And yes, even though he’s only 25, when he said the magic words “flu” and “chest pains”, the staff descended on him & he had many, many tests. It was also not his heart, and (the tests said) NOT the flu. The doctor diagnosed gastritis and an undetermined virus & sent him home. He’s still very sick, a week later, and going to see his regular doctor tomorrow.
Speaking of healthcare problems; here’s one: my son spent 9 hours in the ER, got a doctor’s recommendation to take at least 3-4 days off (even after having the weekend off), and his job wouldn’t hear of it. He works for a small graphic design company; he’s only been there 8 months & just got insurance in November, and he’s afraid of losing the job, so he went, in a lot of pain, and quite probably infectious, to work every day this week.
I’m hoping he gets something tomorrow that helps him feel better- the ER gave him anti-nausea meds, but no antibiotics. Also, they didn’t do either test that usually pinpoints gastritis, so . . . I have also been trying to stay off WebMD & not be long-distance diagnosing, but it is difficult.
seaboogie
I’m really glad you are okay, John. Sending all good wishes to you and your pancreas. I’m feeling expansive, so sending good wishes to everyone’s pancreas in the BJ community, and efgoldman’s kidneys, also too.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD):
Watch out. I remember I made a similar throwaway comment about the NYT several months ago and got chewed out for it. Probably deservedly so.
Jay S
@cckids: If it really is a virus he would need antivirals and not antibiotics, and it may be too late for an antiviral.
McMullen
Glad you are ok!
lahke
@Anne Laurie:
Gallstones often track to the 4Fs: female, forty, fair and fat.
I’m not a blonde, but all the rest led to my having my gall bladder out a year ago. Now I can’t eat fat or dairy (bad, sad), and I’ve lost 30 pounds (yeah!).
Czanne
@Mnemosyne: …. not all of them.
Glad you’re okay, John. Good for you for going. I’d say it’s some random variant of gulf war something or other, if only because you’re the third person I know who was in country then who is having that set of symptoms right now… but *shrug.*
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Jay S:
We can sorta blame that on Baud for that one. Although I did start complaining about people who use their phones for telling time as opposed to using wristwatches.
MomSense
We found out today that we don’t have Marfan Syndrome. That should be good news but the specialists at Cleveland Clinic still think there is something genetic causing generations of us to have our aortas blow up. All of us on the tall, thin side of the family are going to send a bunch of dna samples to Cleveland Clinic to see if they can find something
Aleta
@seaboogie: “feedback loop from which it is nearly impossible to extricate yourself”
I understand this now. But still wonder why it is so difficult. I never really understood what anxiety was until a few years ago, but now, do I ever. It is impossible, as you say, but I still believe I should be able to control it.
Jay S
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: We should all watch what we say ETA and where we say it. We should have had a watch post. To synchronize our watches.
MomSense
@ArchTeryx:
Have you tried yoga breathing to slow your heart rate?
Matt Smith
Glad it wasn’t a heart attack. That shit’s scary.
Anne Laurie
@lahke:
That’s what I said to the surgeon, but he *still* insisted men just didn’t speak up as often. (Insert shruggie emoticon here.)
Suzanne
Glad you’re okay, Cole.
And yes, STAY AWAY FROM WEBMD. I convinced myself that I have leukemia last week because the waistband of my tights made me itchy.
lgerard
Have you considered that the cause may have been toxic glue from the envelopes?
It did happen on Seinfeld after all
GregB
Cole.
Take care if yourself.
Jeesh.
PS. Israeli fighter jet downed by Syrian anti aircraft fire. Israel reportedly shot down an Iranian drone.
SWMBO
My mom has had pancreatitis 3 times. The only thing she can eat without pain is jello. After soothing her system, she can move on to broth, water and juice. She spent 10 hours 10 days ago in the ER. Not pancreatitis but diverticulitis. At least she’s changing it up a bit. Morphine doesn’t do it. It takes dilaudid to get the pain under control.
My brother, who has had 3 heart attacks, was certain he was having a heart attack. Just got off work and was driving home. Made it home and told my mom he was having a heart attack. He looked gray and slick and she took him in. They did all the tests and said nope. No heart attack. He was on antibiotics for a boil just above his butt crack. They ran a bunch more tests. It turns out the boil was a brown recluse spider bite that he probably got at work (he’s a corrections officer at a prison). He got to spend a couple of days on IV antibiotics and is fine now. They did tell him that he wasn’t much longer for it if he hadn’t come in.
Always err on the side of “if I live to tell it, it turned out good.”
ArchTeryx
@MomSense: I have. Doesn’t seem to help much. The racing heart and sudden spike in blood pressure is very recent, though. I think it’s a combination of weight gain (due to the antidepressants I take) combined with the Remicade that keeps my Crohn’s at bay. As another poster said, though, diet and exercise is probably the long term answer. I need a LOT more of the latter and less in the former!
Matt McIrvin
@jl: We already undid all those years of recorded history the moment we decided women were people with rights, instead of property like a piece of furniture. That horse is out of the barn, and that’s what freaks out people like Bannon.
bystander
On an up note – ahem – we had a wonderful dinner in Santa Monica, after a beautiful day of sun and Pacific Ocean. Bette Midler was having dinner there, too. I love LA.
That Cole’s vitals are holding steady is just chocolate icing on the devil’s food cake.
NotMax
Real men would use the old underwear that’s scattered about on the floor.
;)
Amaranthine RBG
Dude, you remind me of my 78 year old mother. Always a problem that just feeds on itself again and again. ‘
I love her and you, too.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Jay S:
Lol. How long did it take for you to come up with that?
Sister Golden Bear
@Mnemosyne:
Well in Bannon’s case, I’d be happy to oblige his fears.
Cole, glad you got yourself checked out, and things turned out OK. Now about that lung cancer….
Ruckus
@ArchTeryx:
Proper diet and regular exercise helps with a lot of things. Maybe most things that ail us.
Duane
Saw you blaming us, I figured it the calender thing. Well, you’re better. With blood pressure like that, lucky your head didn’t pop off.
m0nty
Keep well, John.
Eljai
Glad you’re feeling better, John. Sending good thoughts your way. I do see doctors, but I avoid WebMD. Before the internet, my parents had a set of medical encyclopedias. I swear I developed every symptom as I was reading about it. I was a full-fledged hypochondriac by the time I turned thirteen.
Sab
@Eljai: My dad was a physician. He had old medical books lying around the house. He used to laugh at us whenever he found us reading them. “You will convince yourself that you have every disease in that book. Happened to us all in med school.”
Kristine
I can’t read the medical stuff online either, Cole. Glad you took care of yourself.
mai naem mobile
Glad you’re okay Cole. Maybe it was the calendars that did it. Anyhow,you should try yoga and meditation. I think it would be good for you.
Aimai
Isn’t the fucking drama queen of west virginia Joe Manchin? We love you, John. Take care.
Silent no more
@MomSense: Have you looked at Ehlers-Danlos syndrome?
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
This sounds like Mr DAW only his lipase was at insane levels so pancreas it is. Feel better, John. Pet the animals.
Argiope
Listen, John, I feel you. I’ve had a two tumors in the last 18 months–neither of which turned out to be real. I blame Republicans. Chronic stress is bad for the body, and we all need to fight its effects however we can and reduce it whenever possible. I probably owe all you front pagers a kidney, since I’ve pretty much given up all news, Twitter and Facebook, and just come here instead so I can stay informed and at least get some laughs with the shitshow. You guys are absorbing it all in real time and packaging it in a more tolerable form for the rest of us. Please take good care of you. And let us know if you need a kidney or anything.
zhena gogolia
I hope all works out well. We love you.
zhena gogolia
@Argiope:
Same here. I subscribe to NYT, WaPo, Guardian, but I get ALL my news from BJ. I can’t bear to read an actual newspaper since Nov. 7, 2016.
zhena gogolia
@mai naem mobile:
I know, I thought he was going to say that stuffing the envelopes threw his shoulder out.
Kay
I’m glad you’re okay. They do go nuts when you go to the ER with those heart attack symptoms you read about. I had a bad disc in my upper back so my left arm went numb and I felt like I had a band around my chest. Don’t wander into an emergency room and say that. The response is terrifying. My son brought me to the emergency room and he was kind enough to say “they think you’re having a heart attack”.
Betty Cracker
Thank dog you’re okay! You’re right to stay away from WebMD. If my husband were technically savvy enough to do so, he’d block that site on my devices.
Skepticat
Very, very wise move, JC. As a former EMT, I’ve seen or heard of too many people (especially manly men) who died rather than admit to pain or worry. Trite though it may be, safe is indeed better than sorry. Be well.
Gelfling 545
Having gone to the er with just the same symptoms last spring I would advise you to ask your doctor about your gallbladder. Turns out thst gallstone pain can mimic heart attack pain. I’m supposed to be calling the surgeon soon to get the thing yanked out.
Svensker
Wishing you all good things. And no more time in the ER and docs figure out what’s going on which turns out to be not much and easily tuned.
My hubcap is an insane hypochondriac. He’s discovered the university databases he has access to have way more crazy detailed sites than WebMD to tell him how he’s dying slowly painfully and inexorably from some barely detectable chemical he ingested 28 years ago. Do not go there.
Lizzy L
Glad you’re okay, John.
J R in WV
@Kay:
Same thing happened to me, I went straight in to my family doc, who wisely determined that I was having an upper back spasm, prescribed muscle relaxer, PT, take it easy, light exercise, etc.
Same thing happened 40 years ago, kayaking on the New River back before it became a National Park, leg went numb. Terrified, hard to get off the water, was dark when we got to the take-out. Lower back spasm, pinched nerves, Doc asked “Does it hurt down here?” while feeling the lumbar muscles. Nope I said, “Well, it will…” he said.
That was when I gave up caving, not wanting to need rescue from deep down. And kayaking, same reason. Took up building things, not a bad idea, fun, creative, wore out my shoulders, tho. Always have loved creating things, real things or meta like software.
ChrisGrrr
@seaboogie: Aaaaw.
My pancreas thanks you.
Similar good wishes for everyone’s scapulas…
Jak
A family member died of acute pancreatitis last year. Age 33. Don’t mess with this.
You were right to seek medical help.
barb 2
Take care of yourself– your furkids need you. My guys still haven’t gotten over the time I spent in the hospital last year. They are my chief nurses — always close. Asthma turned out to be a heart valve problem. (Shortness of breath — all asthma symptoms but it wasn’t.) A problem I’ve had for years — arteries failed and minor arteries took over. The body has a great capacity to heal itself — first, you need to take care of yourself.
Get rid of high fructose junk in your pantry. That can be a killer — for the liver which cannot process the vast amounts found in the diets of most Americans. My furkiids need me.
Warmings, like you had, are good — make the changes now before it is too late.
Iamhbomb
I hope that everything turns out okay for you, Mr. Cole. And here’s something that your post header reminds me of.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TihR4ggXzow
Big Picture Pathologist
You’re about my age, Cole. The rest of your life – at least internally – can go way more smoothly with only minor changes to your lifestyle. Old age is hard enough without the self-inflicted damage. GOOD LUCK!!!