It was chest pains that brought me. That's a golden ticket to the front of the line in the emergency room. Within minutes I was hooked up to an EKG machine and they had discovered that every so often my heart would have an extra beat. I thought this might be proof that I had rhythm but it sure made me feel poor. I could feel this pain in the center of my chest and was overly aware of the beating from my heart.
What brought me here was fear. Fear in the sense that my Dad had heart disease that resulted in multiple bypass surgeries and my uncle died in his 50's due to a heart attack. Fear that came from the fact that in the previous week I had similar symptoms that I decided to sleep off and ignore. They went away but I knew my body was telling me something and best I hear it.
There was a connection between both events (drinking coffee late in the day) and I wasn't sure if it was caffeine or what was making me feel this way. I just knew I didn't like it.
The ER that night was awash in pain and humor. The woman who came in via paramedics in the fetal position who when asked what was wrong told the doctor that she "didn't feel well" but wouldn't get more specific. The doctor kept shaking her because she keep dosing off as he tried to get to the root of the problem but she was not going to be "Samantha Specific" tonight. She simply responded "Why are you doing that to me" and when he told her he couldn't help her if she didn't tell her what was wrong she responded " I am not having this conversation with you". He swung the curtain all the way open and left her, she promptly feel asleep and snored louder than the two Mexican jabber jaws that broke the silence of the ER.
Then there was the elderly lady who was stretchered in with an oxygen mask whose face was filled with pain but in the morning after getting some basic treatment had no recollection of having difficulty breathing and "felt fine".
These are not the patients you're looking for...
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