Well, That was Interesting

[Niall Munnelly]

I was on the beach, idly throwing a stick around for the
dogs, when the dizziness hit.  There was a sudden pressure
in my chest and my left arm went numb {but it also hurt, if
that makes sense}.  I thought, "Well, this is a pretty good
place for it," and waited for the inevitable to come, but it
didn't.  I just felt like shit.  Shivering and sweating, I
drove to my aunt's house.  She's a nurse, so she took my
pulse and blood pressure, which were both really high, and 
she took me to the doctor.

The doctor has this prosumer ECG thing {they don't say EKG
here} with attendant software that spits out probable
results.  I looked at the screen while he was away.
Possible myocardial infarction.  Atrial fibrillation,
something something ischemia.  Visions of cheeseburgers
danced in my head.  When he returned, he took great pains to
assure me that the program is very conservative, that is to
say liberal in its diagnosis.  It's best to err on the side
of caution when an overweight guy's talking chest pains.

I spent the night and most of the following day sitting
around between batteries of tests, including three or four
more ECG readings.  Clean slate.  Blood tests indicate
/slightly/ elevated cholesterol, but no damaged tissue in
the heart.  ECGs show a perfectly happy, healthy heart,
ticking transient after transient in better time than a 909
ever did.  I even did that treadmill test and just about hit
my target heart rate, but I'd been fasting and ran out of
steam.  All this bog-trotting out here's done me some good -
I'm healthier than I look.

So, they sent me home, citing a plethora of probable causes
- a strained muscle in the thorax.  Pleurisy.  Anxiety.  My
chest and arm still feel like a great dane is sitting on
them.

-- 
Yours,
Niall.
.. .  .   .    .     .       .           .             .                 .
Aleph Null.                             A Simple Insinuation Around Silence.
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