My Saturday morning in the ER:
So in my last entry, I stated I was giving up caffeine. What prompted that decision was a condition I seemed to have developed since Thursday afternoon: A feeling like my heart is racing, and that it's beating way too hard to be considered normal (almost to the point where if feels like it'll punch itself out of my chest). I initially dismissed it as too much caffeine, and decided to cut myself off to see if things would improve. When I awoke this morning with the same symptoms, I started to grow concerned and finally decided to seek medical attention. Luckily, I live about two blocks from the nearest emergency room, so I threw on some clothes and took a walk to check myself in.
The ER was an interesting experience. A parade of doctors, nurses, and ER staff came and went, asking me all the same questions, collecting my insurance info, taking my blood pressure and temperature at least three times during my stay, and wheeling me to and from the X-ray room (that part was kinda fun). The ER doctor that was primarily involved in my case could have played an extra on The Sopranos: He looked like he hadn't had a physical or taken any of his own medical advice in at least 20 years. He decided to take no chances and gave me the works: EKG, chest X-rays, blood tests, etc. You don't fuck around with the heart, yo.
I spent a good three hours in that ER bed, waiting for my blood test results, and I passed the time watching other patients come and go with more serious injuries, and started to feel a little guilty that I seemed to be wasting everyone's time. I finally told myself I'd be better off being preventive rather than dropping dead without warning. I did enjoy watching the staff dart to and fro in their cute little scrubs. Why do I find women in scrubs so damn attractive? Must be a professional thing. Or the fact that they help people for a living. Good Samaritanism = hot.
So once the x-rays and blood work came back, Dr. Paulie informed me that I was physically fine. There was nothing wrong with my heart, and the only thing he could think of that would be causing this is stress. He told me the best thing I can do is schedule a stress test with my doctor. Soon after, I was discharged and on my way home.
So it turns out the only thing wrong with me is too much stress. Which makes sense, as my work just handed me a shitload of new tasks to handle. I'm just glad it's nothing too serious, and I won't die in my sleep tonight. But at least knowing it's not serious is a great load off my mind. A friend of mine that's my age just had a heart atttack, and it's been on my mind a lot lately. But Dr. Paulie assured me that with no history of heart disease in my family, it's incredibly unlikely for me to have one at my age. So that's a relief...
So how's by you?
So in my last entry, I stated I was giving up caffeine. What prompted that decision was a condition I seemed to have developed since Thursday afternoon: A feeling like my heart is racing, and that it's beating way too hard to be considered normal (almost to the point where if feels like it'll punch itself out of my chest). I initially dismissed it as too much caffeine, and decided to cut myself off to see if things would improve. When I awoke this morning with the same symptoms, I started to grow concerned and finally decided to seek medical attention. Luckily, I live about two blocks from the nearest emergency room, so I threw on some clothes and took a walk to check myself in.
The ER was an interesting experience. A parade of doctors, nurses, and ER staff came and went, asking me all the same questions, collecting my insurance info, taking my blood pressure and temperature at least three times during my stay, and wheeling me to and from the X-ray room (that part was kinda fun). The ER doctor that was primarily involved in my case could have played an extra on The Sopranos: He looked like he hadn't had a physical or taken any of his own medical advice in at least 20 years. He decided to take no chances and gave me the works: EKG, chest X-rays, blood tests, etc. You don't fuck around with the heart, yo.
I spent a good three hours in that ER bed, waiting for my blood test results, and I passed the time watching other patients come and go with more serious injuries, and started to feel a little guilty that I seemed to be wasting everyone's time. I finally told myself I'd be better off being preventive rather than dropping dead without warning. I did enjoy watching the staff dart to and fro in their cute little scrubs. Why do I find women in scrubs so damn attractive? Must be a professional thing. Or the fact that they help people for a living. Good Samaritanism = hot.
So once the x-rays and blood work came back, Dr. Paulie informed me that I was physically fine. There was nothing wrong with my heart, and the only thing he could think of that would be causing this is stress. He told me the best thing I can do is schedule a stress test with my doctor. Soon after, I was discharged and on my way home.
So it turns out the only thing wrong with me is too much stress. Which makes sense, as my work just handed me a shitload of new tasks to handle. I'm just glad it's nothing too serious, and I won't die in my sleep tonight. But at least knowing it's not serious is a great load off my mind. A friend of mine that's my age just had a heart atttack, and it's been on my mind a lot lately. But Dr. Paulie assured me that with no history of heart disease in my family, it's incredibly unlikely for me to have one at my age. So that's a relief...
So how's by you?
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take care of yourself!