OK, it’s not really a planned research, but you use whatever you learn, right? Spent 8 hours in the ER last Monday with chest pains. Specifically, I kept telling them it was stabbing pains when I tried to breathe. After an EKG and chest x-ray, the urgent care place sent me to the ER for more tests (specifically a CT scan and that enzyme test that tells if you’ve had a heart attack). Both of these came back normal as well, so I’m going to be in debt up to my eyeballs and not even have a firm diagnosis! At least the EMT in the ambulance gave me some fentanyl … never had it before. Lovely stuff if you’re in severe pain. Didn’t make me too woozy and cut almost all the pain down where I could breathe without wanting to cry. The ER doctor gave me morphine, which didn’t do as good a job in my opinion. I was still in pain only now I was woozy as well.
After a thorough WebMD search and talking to some friends, I have diagnosed myself with pleurisy, which is inflammation of the lining of the lung cavity. They said it feels like sandpaper rubbing together when you try to breathe and is extremely painful, radiating around to the back sometimes. Well, those sound like exactly my symptoms so I’m convinced that’s what I’ve got. Fortunately it seems to be responding to anti-inflammatories (Motrin-800) and a muscle relaxant at night (Flexeril).
I’m not looking forward to the bills though … American healthcare. My insurance is probably going to reject the ambulance ride which will be several thousand dollars out of my non-existent bank account! Let’s not even start on what those tests will cost … can I cry now?
