I'm not dying any faster than usual...

[elfs]

For the past six weeks I've been having chest pains. This past week, they've been pretty bad ones, at times flaring up to take my breath away. Yeah, you're all panicking now, aren't ya? Go re-read the subject before you do.

So I went to the doctor and had a whole bunch of tests done. I take five flights of stairs every day regularly, I walk a mile uphill from the parking lot to work on those days when I do drive, and I've otherwise been in great physical shape. I don't exercise enough otherwise, but that's just life.

I remember when having an EKG done meant being hooked up to a big cart and having all this nasty gel on your body. Nowadays, they put a whole bunch of what look like 3M skin-friendly PostItNotes on your anatomy, connect a lead to each tab, and then stick the other end of the wire into a USB port on the same desktop computer where they do data entry, and call up the program "EKG". Cool! I was biologically hooked up to teh intarweb! "Yeah, we'll email the results to a cardiologist to be sure," said the doc, "but these results look fine." She calls up another screen. "You blood pressure is very good, And your cholesterol level is great."

I celebrated that last piece of news by having a bleu cheese and onion burger, medium-rare, for lunch. Work bought.

I have something called persistent costochondritis, a nasty arthritis-like inflammation of the cartilage lining my sternum. It's not dangerous or life-threatening, and it (thankfully!) doesn't indicate that I have a tendency toward other forms of arthritis. It could mask a heart attack someday, so I'll be doing annual EKGs from now on.

And the advice? "Take two aspirin when it bothers you."

Bleah.

Comments

[mo-hair.livejournal.com]

wow, thank goodness it wasn't your heart! i have have never even heard of that condition, but i empathize with the pain. last year, while incorrectly using a bolt cutter, i tore that costal cartilage, nearly ripping two ribs off my sternum and spine (which would have created something called flail chest.) oh god... the pain was unbearable. i was out of commission of twelve weeks and wasn't even allowed to take out the trash, much less pick up the kids; my husband had to brush my hair. the only suggestion i have are to load up on a variety of remedies for arthritis and the like. i took something called bone, flesh, and cartliage by nature's way. i don't know if it would help with a chronic condition like yours as opposed to traumatic damage like mine, by i suspect it shortened the worst part of my healing time. of course i also took glucosamine. all my sympathy, and good luck.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Real aspirin as opposed to ibuprofen really seems to work well for me, so that's what I take. It's just really disconcerting to sit at my desk and feel the bones in my chest creak like that.

After settling on a diagnosis, I mentioned that my company had recently bought me a membership at a health club. She said I would probably be safe using the equipment, so I'll probably start getting serious about working out.

[lisakit.livejournal.com]

Face it, you're getting old. ;)

[omahas.livejournal.com]

Actually, the kind of arthritis that he has he's had since his early 20's. It's a type that isn't about getting old.

[lisakit.livejournal.com]

None of the arthritises are actually. I've had mine since 19. My Mom since 13 and Gram had her first at age 10. I was just amused at Elf. I could tell from the first paragraph it wasn't anything truly serious.

BTW - you still wanna try and do lunch/tea next time I'm off work? I need your e-mail or other contact info.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Nah, I've had this for years. Yeah, it's flaring up now, but the doc thinks it's more stress-related than anything else.

Electrifying! :-)

[(Anonymous)]

Glad to hear you're not about to fall over. Not sure about using a USB port for EKG's though... In the US regulations are probably more relaxed but in most European countries that I know of, because in Europe you must have serious insulation in medical electronics (i.e. galvanic separation through transformers and/or optocouplers) between the patient and any powered part of the circuit. A USB port on a desktop PC doesn't qualify as such and would probably not be legal for medical use in most countries.

Having said that... I'm having visions of monitoring someone's vital functions live over the internet... I mean, a web cam is so 20th century... :-)

// Frank

Re: Electrifying! :-)

[elfs.livejournal.com]

There were 11 leads coming off my body, and only one USB plug; between them was a small box about the size of a paperback book, which came apart into two halves with some kind of interface plug between them. It looked a lot like an old-school gameport, of all things. The technician commented that the monitor's battery might need to be replaced, so I have a suspicion that the part connected to me was in fact well-isolated from the USB circuit.

[(Anonymous)]

yeah i had costochondritis in high school and i always felt pain when i was about 3/4 into a mile (running track) or when i did pushups. i'm thin and never had any blow to the chest but my pain has come back (about 3 years later). now i feel it if i pick something up or lean to pull on something. i guess i'll start the motrin regimen, too!