Medical Scare

[Lynn LeFey]

My hubby took off work on Friday, so we could go eat cheap curry buffet, go to the art museum, and play disc golf. Everything went to plan, but as I am allergic to pretty much everything outside, I was hacking and coughing by half way through the round of disc golf. Some chest tightness/discomfort afterward.

Around 10PM, we're hanging out with friends, and 'discomfort' starts becoming pressure, and pretty serious pain, running the entire length of my sternum up toward my throat. It's persisting, and getting worse, and making breathing uncomfortable. I ask my friend for some aspirin, and take three 81mg tablets. This is the recommended dose for someone having heart problems. Like... a heart attack.

We get home at about 2AM, and start the going-to-bed routine, but the pain is getting serious. I can't sleep, and start getting seriously concerned. On the pain scale, it's a constant 4, with occasional spikes to around 7.

It doesn't feel like gas. I've had gas that radiated pain all over my torso. But it came and went, and never had the long, constant pain in one place.

This is weird, and feels like it's right under my sternum, along the whole length.

We get in the car and head for the Emergency Room. And we get pulled over for speeding. Not even joking. Officer takes a FEW MINUTES before he approaches the car, when he starts into his speech, I tell him I'm having chest pains and we're headed to the hospital. We were maybe 3 blocks away at that point. He follows us there. I calmly tell the receptionist I'm having chest pains, and OH BOY, do you get front-of-the-line attention. I had stuff stuck all over me, in my arms, and people buzzing. Cartiogram fine, X-ray a little weird, so CT with contrast... fine. Blood enzymes fine.

Meanwhile, hubby looks worried to death, and I'm making jokes. "Delete my browser history", "The baby's not yours" (Only funny because we don't have kids).

They get the results back from the CT scan, and I was saying "at least it's not a blown-out aorta" and he said "Jesus, I never even thought of that."

They poke, and prod some more. and it boiled down to "Uhhh... we don't know. You might have strained/sprained your sternum coughing."

Wait... What? That's even a THING that can happen?

So, 1000mg of acetaminophen every six hours, a scrip for pain medication, and 'call us if it persists or gets worse'.

So we went home, I took a bunch of Acetaminophen, and went to bed. Slept through all of Saturday. Felt crappy when I got up at 6pm. Went to bed a few hours later and got up this morning.

No pain. Or at least, not enough to really be called pain.

Not dying. I guess I just coughed too hard. 

I mean, I KNOW people have broken ribs coughing, but... really? 

[Chako]

I haven't heard of a sprained sternum either. Happy to hear your on the mend. 

[David Bowen]

Glad your ok, I can relate to heart/chest stuff and it can be scary. Rest up and take care of yourself.

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[MadPlumbarian]

Huh, that’s interesting, glad your ok!
JR

[kaput]

GERD? Like heart burn, but gnarlier?

[Lynn LeFey]

I think the official term is 'Costochondritis'.

Inflamation of the connective tissue around the Sternum.

[SteveC]

Glad you are okay Lynn 

[Lynn LeFey]

Thanks all.

It really seems so minor NOW that I feel stupid having gone to the emergency room for it. But I absolutely HATE seeing doctors, and it takes something extremely troubling to get me to go, if that puts the pain into perspective.

I'm 47, and I know I'm overweight. I try to get regular exercise, but the important word in that is 'try'. Everyone in my family dies of stroke/cancer/heart attack, but I'm guessing that's what MOST people die from these days. Oh, and some die from complications of diabetes.

Maybe this will be the end of 'cheeseburger Wednesday'.

[Blackbeard]

glad your better Lynn. I did the same thing from coughing, but it has never healed and I may have broke a rib, but I thought I was just sick at the time, the cartilage between ribs is hard to heal (think baby back ribs where the meat is). Honestly when I read cheap curry buffet thought you were a goner  . Hope you get well soon.

[styx]

really glad you're ok

[Alan K.]

At least you went to the ER and you have nothing at all to feel stupid about.  A doctor told my mom once after a late night trip to the ER that lots of women die in their sleep after having chest pains because they convince themselves it's probably nothing, and they don't want to be a bother, and that they'll feel better in the morning.

[magentus]

Glad you're still with us Lynn  I would say that as it was completely un-heart related, there's really no need to end Cheeseburger Wednesday - In fact you could take it as a sign to start Taco Tuesday  Just don't cough so hard.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I'm glad you are ok... BUT AT WHAT COST?

I would rather die than give up Cheeseburger Wednesday.  Or Cheeseburger Thursday.  Or even Cheeseburger Friday through Monday!   

If it makes you feel any better, here is my amusing story of wasting a doctor's time:

I had chicken pox when I was 25.  They say that when you have it when you are older it is even worse, and if that's the case then I say send those whiny kids to school, because it wasn't a big deal.   

That was the first time, and just posted to give some background info, because I had it again a couple of years later.   

I started to get hives all over and, while they didn't itch as badly as the first time, I figured I would go and see a doctor, because this is one of those things that you aren't supposed to get twice, right?  Plus, at this time I am already laid up, having just broken my first ankle and had just had surgery, so the concern is, did I get something in the hospital, will this affect my healing etc.

As I am in the doctor's office and we are trying to figure out what's wrong, it occurs to me that it isn't chicken pox at all....  I have sensitive skin issues, and can't use certain laundry detergents because they make my skin break out in- yup, you guessed it, hives.   

Of course I haven't used an offensive laundry detergent in a very long time... at least, not on clothes.

We'd bought a brand about a year before called Gain as it was on sale and it turned out to be a very bad thing for my skin so we stopped using it and went back to the regular brand.  But, me being cheap, still used it in the carpet shampooer, and, thanks to my injury I'd found it more comfortable to sleep on the floor in the living room (on the carpet) because I could keep my leg elevated and my tossing and turning at night didn't wake anyone else out there.

So, in effect, I was rolling around all night in the detergent that irritated my skin.  All of this hit me in less time than it took you to read all of that, and I felt remarkably stupid.  I think I made some excuse and ran out of the doctor's office, assuring him that I'd keep an eye on it and let him know if it got any worse.... 

Def

[Smashie]

Hi Lynn,

Glad to hear is wasn't as bad as you first thought, there is nothing more sobering than staring your own mortality in the face.

Mark

[Zhenchok]

Glad you are ok, health issues are scary when you can’t diagnose them


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[redmond]

I've had the same experience and it really hurts.Never ignore chest pains! Glad you are OK. Ya done good young lady.

[Lynn LeFey]

I'm glad you are ok... BUT AT WHAT COST?

I would rather die than give up Cheeseburger Wednesday.  Or Cheeseburger Thursday.  Or even Cheeseburger Friday through Monday!   

Well, Cheeseburger Wednesday is sometimes Pizza Wednesday, which of course, then makes Lasagna Friday into Cheeseburger Friday. That inevitably turns Bucket of Bacon Crumbles in Lard Monday into Lasagna Monday. And no one wants Bucket of Bacon Crumbles in Lard Saturday. That is reserved for Intravenous BBQ and Cheesecake Saturday, and i am unwilling to compromise my ideals on this one.



Again, thanks all.

Redmond, kind of you, but I don't think anyone who is 47 can be called 'young' with a straight face.

Strange thing. I went through tech school with a guy that we then ended up sharing a house when we moved off-base. Not a 'relationship', we just got along really well. We're the same age. He had a heart attack about 6 years ago. One of my Second Cousins had a stroke at age 30. My oldest brother has back issues, my middle brother has some skeletal issues and other health concerns, and my sister has intestinal issues. I just keep waiting for the hammer to fall. I think I was made from cheap Chinese parts.

[magentus]

I'm glad you are ok... BUT AT WHAT COST?

I would rather die than give up Cheeseburger Wednesday.  Or Cheeseburger Thursday.  Or even Cheeseburger Friday through Monday!   

Well, Cheeseburger Wednesday is sometimes Pizza Wednesday, which of course, then makes Lasagna Friday into Cheeseburger Friday. That inevitably turns Bucket of Bacon Crumbles in Lard Monday into Lasagna Monday. And no one wants Bucket of Bacon Crumbles in Lard Saturday. That is reserved for Intravenous BBQ and Cheesecake Saturday, and i am unwilling to compromise my ideals on this one.



Again, thanks all.

Redmond, kind of you, but I don't think anyone who is 47 can be called 'young' with a straight face.

Strange thing. I went through tech school with a guy that we then ended up sharing a house when we moved off-base. Not a 'relationship', we just got along really well. We're the same age. He had a heart attack about 6 years ago. One of my Second Cousins had a stroke at age 30. My oldest brother has back issues, my middle brother has some skeletal issues and other health concerns, and my sister has intestinal issues. I just keep waiting for the hammer to fall. I think I was made from cheap Chinese parts.

Uh oh, you just put yourself on Butch's radar now. 

[Aloha]

Glad it was just a scare. 

[AimlessWanderer]

Glad it's nothing too serious, Lynn. You did the right thing getting it checked out though, so don't let feeling a bit silly this time, doubt going back there for anything else in future. It's always worth checking

[Lynn LeFey]

Again, thanks all.

I very often feel disconnected from humanity in general. It's nice to know that there's anyone out there in cyberland that has even a slight concern for my existence and well-being.

It gives me that... what's the word? Not-angry feeling. I'm sure there's a better word for it, but I've forgotten it from disuse.

Happy. That's it! A HAPPY feeling.

And Lynn's heart (which was not in peril) grew three sizes that day. But not really because that's not healthy. LOL

[ironraven]

Experienced it, no. Read of it, yes. Mistaking it for a cardiac event is probably what I'd do to.

Good it was just this.

Could have been really lucky and pulled your diaphragm. Can happen.

[Lynn LeFey]

I'm just glad it wasn't as stupid as a bad case of gas.

"I'm dying, I'm dying"
Lynn cuts one that sounds like a Mack truck horn.
"Uhhh... never mind. Might wanna air the place out..."

 

Because that can happen TOO, and that would be embarrassing. I mean, not as embarrassing as rolling around in carpet scrubbed with a detergent you're allergic to, but still...
 

[LoopCutter]

Had similar experience some 43 years ago.  After 3 days of testing they determined a gall stone blocked a duct, and pain was result of intestines shutting down. 
I thought I was having a heart attack at 21.  Real scary at the time, pain medicine only numbed it. 
I can relate to your concerns. 


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[Lynn LeFey]

I had a gall stone at 21, also. Had my gall bladder removed, but the stones can apparently recur in the ducts.

My gall stone pain felt like I was being stabbed in the back by a very slender blade. Strangely, the pain didn't feel particularly close to where my gall bladder was. It  was lower left kidney area.

Yeah, that was a 9/10 pain for me. It hurt every time I inhaled, and was near to passing out from taking little shallow breaths.

The pain I had the other day was not the intense/local pain of the gall stone. It was a whole area, dull 'tightness' along with the pain, with occasional spikes into a more sharp pain.

Sorry to hear you had to deal with a gall stone, too. That was terrible for me, so I sympathize.

[WoodsDuck]

Had similar experience some 43 years ago.  After 3 days of testing they determined a gall stone blocked a duct, and pain was result of intestines shutting down. 
I thought I was having a heart attack at 21.  Real scary at the time, pain medicine only numbed it. 
I can relate to your concerns. 


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Weird how your intestines dying feels so much like a heart attack, isn't it? Thank smurf for modern medicine.

Anyhow... glad you're not about to kick it, Lynn. Who's going to provide postal workers with complimentary sharps if you kick the bucket?   

[Lynn LeFey]

Anyhow... glad you're not about to kick it, Lynn. Who's going to provide postal workers with complimentary sharps if you kick the bucket?   

Seriously. 

 

For those not in on the joke, I sent a nice knife to Duck, and on the way it 'liberated itself from its packaging' probably 'donating itself to a postal employee' in the process.

[Whoey]

Redmond, kind of you, but I don't think anyone who is 47 can be called 'young' with a straight face.

Strange thing. I went through tech school with a guy that we then ended up sharing a house when we moved off-base. Not a 'relationship', we just got along really well. We're the same age. He had a heart attack about 6 years ago. One of my Second Cousins had a stroke at age 30. My oldest brother has back issues, my middle brother has some skeletal issues and other health concerns, and my sister has intestinal issues. I just keep waiting for the hammer to fall. I think I was made from cheap Chinese parts.

Yeah, I lost my mom to heart attack at 56. She had previously had a stroke in her 40s. Better safe than sorry. Anyways, glad it turned out to be something less worrying, albeit an odd one...

[Gareth]

Glad it's nothing too serious, Lynn. You did the right thing getting it checked out though, so don't let feeling a bit silly this time, doubt going back there for anything else in future. It's always worth checking

Exactly this.  While it's obviously great to hear it was nothing life threatening this time, that doesn't mean that you didn't do the right thing in having it checked out and should do the same if it ever happens again. 

[pomsbz]

Glad you're ok!