just a lil ER visit

Just to document...two weeks ago Wednesday I had a little ER visit.  I had gone to bed REALLY early and would wake up to pain in my chest that would happen about every 20 seconds.  It would go away for a while, and then be right back,  I have severe heartburn that I have had for YEARS but this was different.  A stabbing, or someone squeezing my heart like they wanted to make it pop.  My dad's mom passed away from a heart attack at 52...so heart problems are not something my family can mess around with.  

This was only my second visit to the ER which I am very thankful for...and lemme just tell ya, when they ask what's wrong and you say "chest pains" they getcha right on in there!  Which I am VERY thankful for!

I had an EKG and they set me up in a room where they monitored my heart.  Everyone was very nice and sweet...which was a little unexpected considering the horror stories you hear about the ER.  I guess we got lucky! ;)

I was told my heart rhythm was "beautiful"---even when I was experiencing the pain, it didn't affect my rhythm so that was a good sign!  They took my blood which is something I don't do well with, but I survived!  They sent me in for a chest x-ray and poor me...I don't know if it's because I have a little bit of "blonde" in me or if it's the fact that I'm a teacher and teachers spend almost, but not quite 100% of their day GIVING other people instructions...we aren't quite used to TAKING instruction! :P  But the x-ray tech told me to put my chest against the board and I put my back against it and just stood there.  He said it again with a little more emphasis on the word chest, "CHEST against the board."  All I could do was laugh...just like I'm doing now as I share this story with all of my readers! ;)

They basically told me it was my heartburn and all that stuff is "up there together" but I just knew they were wrong.  HEARTBURN DOESN'T HURT RIGHT ABOVE MY HEART (where you put your hand over your heart).  But oh well...at least whatever it was wasn't affecting my heart rhythm.  

Two days later I got this sweet letter in the mail!  It made me laugh, but I was thankful for it at the same time!

A little update since I have gone to see my PCP for a post ER visit.  He determined it was a {druuuuummmm rollll please!!!!} strained pectoral muscle.  WOMP WOMP.  But I am VERY thankful for this news...it's the best outcome I could receive!  Again, as someone with family heart issues, I do not regret responding to the signs and taking a trip to the ER.  Even if it was just a muscle strain, heart disease is the NUMBER ONE killer in woman and it is SILENT.  So when you have even the SLIGHTEST sign---TAKE NOTICE!