A Bad Thursday Evening

[Fiesta Red]

Short version:

Thursday afternoon…driving home, I developed severe pain in my back, chest and stomach.

Weird. I didn’t feel good all day, but just a generalized “bleh” rather than a specific problem…and no pain, outside of the pain of being at work.

While driving home, it got worse…couldn’t breathe, very nauseous, threw up three times.

Chest pains actually scared me. I thought maybe a heart attack. I’m not afraid of dying, I’m afraid of being disabled.

Stomach pains and vomiting made me think my appendix was inflamed or about to rupture.

Got home, agreed to go to ER.

That’s when my wife and daughter panicked, because I *never* go to the doctor, much less the ER. I hate hospitals, especially after working in hospitals and medical clinics for 25 years.

Two EKG’s, one CAT scan (with contrast), six hours of continuous vital signs monitoring, and one IV with nausea meds and muscle relaxers later…and the diagnosis was muscle spasms in my back and obliques.

Never had this before, hope to never have it again.

Added to all this, I found out the next morning that my Mavericks lost in the Western Conference Finals.

Stay healthy, my friends.

 

[Vibroluxer]

Quite glad to hear it wasn't worse. Enjoy every sandwich.

 

[Killing Floor]

Same to you. The Mavs didn’t have a chance. They just were out played and out coached by GS. Too bad. Get’em next year. Was sad but I was still excited to see them get that far. Was thrilled they clawed back against Suns. Feel better.

 

[kuch]

Hey FR,

Glad you came out of it ok.
If it was me, I would make an appointment asap to get a full physical exam just to make sure everything is aok. When it comes to your health, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Re the Mavs.... no comment

 

[donrichfan]

Glad to hear you’re fine and it wasn’t anything more serious.

 

[dented]

Hmmm, I wonder what the underlying cause of the spasms might be. Glad you feel better.

 

[Fiesta Red]

Hey FR,

Glad you came out of it ok.
If it was me, I would make an appointment asap to get a full physical exam just to make sure everything is aok. When it comes to your health, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Hmmm, I wonder what the underlying cause of the spasms might be. Glad you feel better.

I kinda exaggerated when I said I never go to the doctor.

I should have said, “I rarely go to the doctor, unless I am dang near dying…and then I usually do a tele-doc thing and tell them what medication they should give me—and I’m usually right.”

As I said, I worked in the medical field for 25 years.

Towards the end of last year, I broke my own personal record of doctor-less years (five) at the insistence of my loving (read: short, violent little Mexican woman) wife. I had a full battery of tests ran, two years after the odometer flipped past 50.

After seeing three different doctors (one regular and two specialists), meeting my full deductible, plus another several thousand dollars the insurance doled out, they gave me the following diagnosis:

I’m healthier than most 30-year-olds.

I had one small internal hemorrhoid. I told him I knew about it and named it cuñada, but he didn’t get the joke and insisted I get it removed, so I did.

The last doc told me to start exercising…not because I’m overweight (I’m not), not because of a bad heart (no problems there) and not because I’m out of shape (relatively speaking, I’m doing pretty good)…no, he said to start exercising, “because everybody should do that anyway.”

Thanks, man! I’m glad I made a couple of Porshe payments for you…could you at least let me drive it around the block?

 

[brookdalebill]

Wow, I’m a lot like you regarding going to the doctor.
I have to be coerced.
I’m glad it’s not too serious.
Good on you for getting checked out!

 

[1955]

Very similar thing happened about two decades ago, glad you are ok. Family member thought he was having heart attack, we took him to ER. Many tests and hours later, diagnosis was an intercostal muscle spasm.

ETA: The throwing up thing didn’t happen, though. Like others said, might be good to get a full checkup soon, just in case. After a recent issue with another family member, I’d say it’s good to keep asking questions and getting a second opinion, could mean life or death.

 

[2HBStrat]

Short version:

Thursday afternoon…driving home, I developed severe pain in my back, chest and stomach.

Weird. I didn’t feel good all day, but just a generalized “bleh” rather than a specific problem…and no pain, outside of the pain of being at work.

While driving home, it got worse…couldn’t breathe, very nauseous, threw up three times.

Chest pains actually scared me. I thought maybe a heart attack. I’m not afraid of dying, I’m afraid of being disabled.

Stomach pains and vomiting made me think my appendix was inflamed or about to rupture.

Got home, agreed to go to ER.

That’s when my wife and daughter panicked, because I *never* go to the doctor, much less the ER. I hate hospitals, especially after working in hospitals and medical clinics for 25 years.

Two EKG’s, one CAT scan (with contrast), six hours of continuous vital signs monitoring, and one IV with nausea meds and muscle relaxers later…and the diagnosis was muscle spasms in my back and obliques.

Never had this before, hope to never have it again.

Added to all this, I found out the next morning that my Mavericks lost in the Western Conference Finals.

Stay healthy, my friends.

Same to you. The Mavs didn’t have a chance. They just were out played and out coached by GS. Too bad. Get’em next year. Was sad but I was still excited to see them get that far. Was thrilled they clawed back against Suns. Feel better.

The Mavs were simply outmatched. The Warriors are loaded. Luka has to have help. Luckily Mark Cuban has deep pockets.

 

[24 track]

Short version:

Thursday afternoon…driving home, I developed severe pain in my back, chest and stomach.

Weird. I didn’t feel good all day, but just a generalized “bleh” rather than a specific problem…and no pain, outside of the pain of being at work.

While driving home, it got worse…couldn’t breathe, very nauseous, threw up three times.

Chest pains actually scared me. I thought maybe a heart attack. I’m not afraid of dying, I’m afraid of being disabled.

Stomach pains and vomiting made me think my appendix was inflamed or about to rupture.

Got home, agreed to go to ER.

That’s when my wife and daughter panicked, because I *never* go to the doctor, much less the ER. I hate hospitals, especially after working in hospitals and medical clinics for 25 years.

Two EKG’s, one CAT scan (with contrast), six hours of continuous vital signs monitoring, and one IV with nausea meds and muscle relaxers later…and the diagnosis was muscle spasms in my back and obliques.

Never had this before, hope to never have it again.

Added to all this, I found out the next morning that my Mavericks lost in the Western Conference Finals.

Stay healthy, my friends.

FR I am happy you were OK and glad you were diagnosed it can be a crap shoot on that level.

My wife woke up one day and showed severe signs of a heart attack , chest pains numbness etc , Gave her 2 asprin 80Mg waited for the ambulence, she was diagnosed with a monster case of acid reflux due to scaring from a bad hospital stay where she did not have the enzymes to break down succinocoline forcing the doctor to reintibate her with a tube for a 4 year old as she had gone into analphylaxsis immediately they had to put her into a coma for 6 days and is now on meds for that daily.

we are such resilliant animals and our symtoms disguise themselves under many different colors.

again glad you are OK

 

[Texicaster]

Glad you're OK! Scary! As we age that sorta thing seems more real!

On the lighter side..there's a BBT for every instance:

 

[doghouseman]

Hey FR,

Glad you came out of it ok.
If it was me, I would make an appointment asap to get a full physical exam just to make sure everything is aok. When it comes to your health, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Re the Mavs.... no comment

Agreed. I have had a few miss diagnoses from more than one doctor and it sucked. Get some blood work a physical and maybe a stress test.

 

[65 Champ Amp]

All that, but no funny ER stories?
What’s “my mavericks”? Basket or hockey ball?
Just kidding. I like to poke fun at baseball watchers.

 

[Toast]

I have muscle spasms/cramps that are horrendous due to medication I'm on. I'm very active in a 28k steps per day kind of way. When my electrolytes deplete, my muscles let me know. My recommendation is to start eating a banana before bed or start taking a potassium supplement when you start feeling listless. If you're drinking booze regularly, then make sure you get hydrated regularly. Good luck.

 

[Bourbon Burst]

I'm like you. I'm not afraid of dying but I definitely don't want to end up in the hospital with tubes in my body. That is what scares me.

 

[Fiesta Red]

Update:
After another half-dozen doctor visits and diagnostic tests, the preliminary diagnosis is:

Gall Stones

We’ll see.

 

[Stubee]

Update:
After another half-dozen doctor visits and diagnostic tests, the preliminary diagnosis is:

Gall Stones

We’ll see.

My wife and some in-laws had those and subsequent seriously not fun moments. They had their gall bladders removed. I hope you get some relief.

 

[Tone Quest]

Glad you are feeling better. Hope it was only a one time thing.