I had a shitty week last week. Started off the week with chest pains. I get a pain on my left upper chest because of anxiety but I didn’t think I was anxious. I took it easy Sunday and still had pain on Monday. The pains were a little different, moved lower than normal, so I got worried. I also had pains in my shoulder (which isn’t too unusual for me) and pain down my arm. Plus I had shortness of breath at times, worse on Monday. I told my boss about it and she said to have our clinic do an EKG. By the time I got back to the clinic for an EKG the pain had subsided but I thought what the hell, I should just have it done to be safe. One of the nurses (boss) in the clinic came in while they did the EKG and she wasn’t happy because she told the staff I could still be having a heart attack (elevated troponin) but not have anything show on an EKG. Well, true but I thought if my EKG was normal or abnormal I’d know a little more if I had to worry or not. Foolish me. I would hate to go to the ER for anxiety! And I wasn’t feeling anxious about anything…or so I thought. My EKG, according to the nurse practitioner, came back abnormal. She said I septal t-wave inversion and that I should go to the ER. UGH. So I went. They did an EKG–looked the same as the one I had done at work–they did bloodwork, and a chest x-ray. The ER was relatively sane when I got there, looked kind of slow, but steadily got busier as I had my tests and waited results. I guess I wasn’t there too long–I think I was in and out within 2/2.5 hours–but I finally got to see a doctor. He said my EKG was normal, which I didn’t catch at first because he was so quick and dismissive of it, and he said my troponin levels were 0 and did not indicate I was having or had a heart attack. He said he would urge me to follow up with a cardiologist because I had several risk factors but no reason to admit me to the hospital. I asked about the EKG, what would cause it to show abnormal and he said it was “people reading it” so meaning that it was read incorrectly. SIGH! A trip to the ER for nothing and I wasted everyone’s time. Plus I left work early and missed out on overtime. I wasn’t (I’m not) sure if I should trust the doctor but I am glad I didn’t have to be admitted to the hospital and that my troponin levels were normal. I still had chest pain off and on–and funny little pains too– for a few days after. I will follow up with the cardiologist they recommended but I have some things I can work on before I go. Truthfully, I’ve been feeling like shit for a long time and I think some it may be due to my asthma (diagnosed last year) but a lot of it has to do with my big belly. Also, I think the weather may be playing into my chest pain. I know it sounds silly but because this weather has been changing and the barometric pressure has been all over the place, it has been making me feel like shit. My chest pain on Monday was relieved once it started snowing that the barometric pressure stabilized or started going down.
My friend messaged me via Facebook Wednesday night. Her dad passed away suddenly, at home. This is upsetting. I’ve know her and her dad 40+ years. I haven’t seen them in recent years because of the pandemic and, well, life. She and her family live about 70-80 miles south of me and though that is not a huge distance, it is enough with our busy lives, to keep up apart. I remember her dad as a good guy. He loved his girls (3 daughters) and he was silly. He loved to watch Kung Fu movies late at night. He would always tease me about my name, he’d say, “Jackie Say! Jackie say what??” He had a beer belly that made him look pregnant so in retaliation of his twitting me about my name I’d ask when his baby was due. I remember he drove me back to my hotel after my friend’s wedding because I had too much to drink. I was down in the dumps by that point because of the alcohol and he was sweet to me. It is just so sad that he died suddenly and his family had no warning. It is difficult to deal with. No chance to say goodbye. He was 74, which seems young to me now. I know it isn’t but…IDK.
So that death and my health scare, it made me think of all the participants at work that we have lost. It was just a sad week. I was driving and crying on Thursday and Friday.
Today I am happily working on my Family Tree. It is not what I should be doing or exactly what I want to be doing but it does bring me joy, my ancestors bring me joy, especially when I break through a brick wall, which I did early this morning. So I am hoping for a better week.
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