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The Doctor said, "Okay. Your vitals are normal. What's up?"
"I'm not sure. I'm feeling a little uncomfortable."
"What do you mean, "uncomfortable"? Do you hurt somewhere?"
"Well .. yeah. I have this pain in my neck that won't go away. It's right here." And with that, he put two fingers to his neck, on the right side, just above the collarbone.
The Doctor left the room saying, "I'll be right back." A minute later she was back in the room. "Here, put this pill under your tongue."
Then he said, "I feel better." And she said "Nurse!! Call an ambulance!!"
The above little snippet is true, as near as I can recollect it. Almost 5 years ago 'He' was me, and 'The Doctor' was my doctor, Dr. Farah T. After two days in the hospital taking a series of tests which all came back "Normal" (remember the last word we had?), the Cardiologist finally did an angiogram and found an artery in my heart that was 95% blocked. And angioplasty was performed immediately and a stent placed in my heart to hold the artery open. All of this happened because I was "uncomfortable" and I was bothered enough to go to the doctor.
I didn't want to, really. But some instinct told me to go. Whatever it was, I'm glad I went - and I'm glad they persisted in testing until they found what was wrong - and then they fixed it.
The alternative is not pleasant to contemplate.
Ndinombethe.
12 comments:
Some times it is best to listen to the body. I'm so glad you did and all has turned out well. My life would have something missing if you hadn't.
Yikes!
Glad indeed that you did go!
The fact that you listened to your body kept you alive to tell others the story so they can do the same. From a nursing perspective, if it was your left anterior descending artery, it is called the widow maker because if it gets totally occluded the heart can't beat. My husband had the same thing and also listened.
I'm glad you listened to the little voice telling you to get that 'uncomfortable' feeling checked out.
I'm so glad that you went.
When the body speaks, one should always listen. I am so glad that you did. Otherwise, I might be an only child.
Incredible. I am amazed when I hear stories about blocked arteries. What indicated to the Doctor that you had a blockage?
The reason that I ask is that I have been living with (among other things) a tightness in my chest. Each time I mention it to my GP, they do a stress test and it comes back fine. I am NOT imagining this and as for their 'test', I still work out and run, so it isn't like they are going to wear me down unless they run me all day, literally.
Going on, because I don't know how to describe what I am feeling or how to get a doctor's attention.
Hope everything is going well.
Wow. A reminder to listen to our bodies.
That is scary. I am so glad you listened and everything turned out ok!
I'm really glad you followed your gut. Kind of funny, given the post I found tonight at the blog you sent me to: A Whole Lot of Nothing. Sometimes, a whole lot of nothing can be a something.
Your body's wisdom never lies. Good thing you listened to it and your doctor did too.
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