A Day in the ER

Well, the pain in my chest began Thursday afternoon and it felt like a pulled muscle on my left rib cage and a sharp jab between the ribs when I twisted or turned in a different direction. Now I knew it wasn't because of heavy lifting or exercise because I hadn't done either! Like a typical male, I chose not to mention it to Carolyn as I didn't want her to worry and I went to bed expecting/hoping the pain would be non-existent at dawns break.

At around 1 a.m. Friday morning I awoke with the same pain and as I turned from my back to my side I'd get that sharp pain. I got up and got on the internet and did a little googling on "heart attack and pulled muscle" as well as making sure that Saddleback was on our hospital provider list for Blue Shield. As I got back into bed, Carolyn woke up and wondered what was wrong. I gave her my symptoms and we discussed whether or not I wanted to go to the ER. After a short mulling period, I said yes and we quickly dressed and drove over to Saddleback's ER.

It wasn't too busy, but putting chest pains as your symptoms when you're a 56 year old male generally gets you to the front of the line unless you have blood spurting. A nurse did the normal triage and soon I was in a private room in the ER hooked up to a machine which monitored resting pulse rate, blood pressure, and heart rhythms. And then the fun began.

Two guys working on their paramedic degree were prowling the corridor and they came in to practice putting in a line to infuse saline or extract blood samples. The first guy worked on my left arm and made comments like "oh, this is difficult" and "darn" - comments which don't engender confidence and I have the bruise to prove it. The second guy was quieter but his bruise was 'purpler'. But finally with the male nurse's assistance they were able to get a line in and take the first of about three blood samples.

Carolyn was with me in the ER and after about two hours (4 a.m.) I convinced her to go home to catch a few hours of sleep. She made several calls and e-mails to Ashley, Pattie and George our church's application group leader. I slept fitfully as activity occurred in the halls outside and the blood pressure cuff automatically inflated every 15 minutes or so.

Carolyn showed up again around 7 a.m. and we waited for the requisite number of blood draws to determine my enzyme levels which are indicators of a heart attack. Then George showed up at the foot of my bed with his youngest son and prayed with us. It was a wonderful gift of Christian brotherhood.

Around 9 I got a breakfast plate for the heart un-healthy - decaf coffee, those special eggs, OJ, and oatmeal. I ate enough of the pablum to satisfy my hunger if not my taste buds. Then more waiting and by this time I had been moved over to another section of the ER which was the 'holding' area for those awaiting hospital admittance. Dr. Chong finally showed up and went through the four possibilities for my pain and he thought it unlikely I had had a heart attack but he was scheduling a stress test to rule out other heart problems.

I continued to try to catnap while Carolyn sat beside me reading, knitting or watching. She was getting really tired around 12:30 so I convinced her to go get something to eat and she walked over to the food court in the mall. By that time we knew that people in the hospital were not doing early check-outs and getting a bed would take some time.

But finally, after being told I couldn't eat for two hours before the stress test, it became obvious that since my blood chemicals looked OK, they were going to send me for that and if it showed no problems, I'd be discharged.

Around 2 I was wheeled through the hospital corridors in a wheelchair (finally with my pants on and not just a gown) to the test room. I had two nurses who took pleasure in ripping off the old leads from my chest and shaving and roughing up the areas for the new leads. Although I did lose a lot of chest hair today, they were actually quite humorous about the whole situation. Primed for my walk on the treadmill the doctor was paged who came in a few minutes later introducing himself as Bob - not even Dr. Bob! He was a real nice guy and let Carolyn stay in the room. He also told me right away that it wasn't my heart but more likely an inflammation of the nerves between my lungs and ribs.

But we had the test anyway, and my blood pressure and heart looked just great through a full ten minutes of increasing speed and incline! Not bad for someone whose major exercise comes on the weekend when working around the garden.

Released a little while later, Carolyn drove us home and I've had a shower, shaved and dressed much to my wife's delight. Now, I think we'll take a little nap!

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS!!