Crisis over...

[elfs]

Well, after all that, her EKG came back clean. So "unexplained chest pain" comes down to "we don't know what it is, but it's not her heart." She didn't even want to talk to the contact nurse over the phone, but the nurse finally convinced her when I couldn't, that she should go to the hospital and have it checked out. I'm glad she did. And I'm glad she's home, enjoying the meal we cooked together, then dropped at the last moment to take her to the hospital.

When she got home I said, "I hate to sound like the villain from an episode of The New Detectives, but should you get life insurance?" Given all the things that could happen to her, especially with her epilepsy, it's something to think about.

I'm just glad she's safe and at home again. Thank you all who wrote in, and even if you didn't, for your thoughts and prayers. I'll try not to do this too often.

Comments

[solarbird]

YAY! NOT SUCKAGE! YAY! ^_^

[taxqueen.livejournal.com]

Thank goodness for you all. By any chance does she have her gall bladder still? When I had gallstones, I felt the pain in my chest and back, not my stomach. Just a thought.

[omahas.livejournal.com]

By any chance does she have her gall bladder still?

I do indeed. The ER didn't check anything in that area. One of the things I've found about emergency rooms is that they don't seem to do a huge amount of work on researching your symptoms. I've always felt that was up to me. So anyone who has any other info about symptoms like these and what they might be, let me know so I can look into it and bring it up with my GP.

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

My Dad had symptoms like that with his gall bladder, but it was years ago, so I have little input. Another friend had problems like that for some months from caffeine use. We never found out exactly what the mechanism was, but the doc had the wit to try taking her off caffeine.

[wendor.livejournal.com]

Ditto the other comments. Unexplained chest pain that radiates to the back and/or back pain that radiates to the chest can often be gall bladder problems. Those are the exact symptoms that Jo and I ignored long enough for her gall bladder to escalate into pancreatitis and almost kill her.

One of the keys I remember for gall bladder is whether or not the pain is different after you eat. If the pain increases after a meal (particularly a fatty meal) then gall bladder is the prime candidate.