Getting old is a bitch
About a month ago, while I was training for the race, I suddenly noticed a pain in my chest when I took a deep breath. I let it go for a while, it didn't hurt much at all, thinking I had just injured myself because I was training so hard but it not only didn't get better, I started to regress in my running abilities, having less and less energy so I went to the doctor. After blood work and a chest xray came back normal, they did a CT scan which also came back mostly normal except for a few enlarged lymph nodes. They also sent me to a heart doctor today. They did an ultrasound of my heart - pretty cool to watch your own beating heart - and found out I have this:
Pericarditis
The guy said to just take Advil for a few days and it should clear up. I have to go see him again in two weeks. It's really annoying not to be able to go running or work out, I hope this clears up soon.
Pericarditis
The guy said to just take Advil for a few days and it should clear up. I have to go see him again in two weeks. It's really annoying not to be able to go running or work out, I hope this clears up soon.
posted by Big Ed at 3:06 PM
2 Comments:
One thing I have learned after 50 years, it can ALWAYS be worse.
I actually thought I was having a heart attack on Friday. I had a CT scan on Friday morning and Friday evening around 5, my arm, shoulder and neck were killing me. I could barely take a breath. However, that was the only symptom, I didn't have the crushing sensation in my chest, my pulse was strong and slow. It lasted all evening Friday and all day Saturday but when I woke up Sunday, I was fine. I think it was a reaction to the iodine they used during the CT scan. The heart doctor didn't say much when I described it to him.
I live with a bit of pain, that's just the price of staying active and getting older but I know my body and I know when something isn't right. That being said, I could very well be one of those guys who walks around in heart failure for a few days before someone makes me go to the doctor.
It really didn't scare me much. Pain has different flavors, this was a muscle/joint type pain. In fact, it felt exactly like when I had my ribs broken. Now there's a fun experience...
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