gtfpv's HEART SCARE.

[gtfpv]

AS THE TITLE SAYS, i had a heart scare and was admitted to hospital in the emergancy department for 2 days .
i'll tell the story , and i ask that you just be considerate and dont flame this thread over anything you may not agree with , in which case i'll ask a moderator to close it .
i worked 4 mn shifts last week and had the weekend off , on thursday night i developed a toothache quite severe , my daughter was booked for a dental on friday so i made her appoint the priority , took panadol for the pain and hoped it wouldnt get to bad before monday so i could then get treatment for the tooth , i received a call for MN SHIFT ot on saturday night so worked ot , took nurofen and panadol 4 hourly for toothache , during saturday night the pain worsened , when i came home i took 2 panadien forte and went to bed at 7.30 am , at this point on sunday morning i hadnt slept since friday night , i went to bed and woke at 8am with severe burning toothache , the panadien hadnt kicked in yet , i also noticed a small pulse pain in my chest ,i asked my wife to contact an emergency dentist as i couldnt stand the pain as i lay there at about 9 am the toothpain started geting better , at which point i noticed the slow pulse pain in the chest still there . i got up . after 2 hours of this mild pain every minute , i decided to cancel the dental and go to the doctor, i did this , and got sent to hospital emergency with a gp letter, scary place indeed, within 1 minute i was on a bed with wires needles and nurses and doctors everywhere , my ecg was abnormal but my awarenes was fine , at this point panic set in , they ask me if i was cold , i wasnt , they tried to take blood from my arm and none came out , they said it would work at my hand and blood did come out of my hand , a senior emergency doctor stated right side heart block and couldnt understand whats going on , look at him he said he is conscious and ok , makes no sense, i was then sent for a chest xray which was good . i then laid in emergency for several hours waiting for blood gas results , they came back negative= good .
at this point i was given grim news , i could die at any minute if i have what they suspect, a clot on the lungs pulmanary embolism , the blood test discluded this , and so did the xray, but the ecg showed them a different story , i was then imformed i have a choice, a very high radiation cat scan equivelent to 4 1/2 years of sunshine in 2 minutes now , which would double my risk of cancer or wait 48 hrs for a lesser / safer scan , the doc said i may die waiting , i decided to take the now option and go high dose scan under his advice ,
i went straight down to radiology, and got thrown into the scanner , the radioligist cam over to me and told me straight , this scanner is high dose 4.5 years in 20 seconds, it was thought the cancer rate was 2000/1 20 years ago , 1000/1 10 years ago today it's 620/1 . and he said in his opinion it is closer to 1%, furthermore he suggested my xray was clear, my bloods were clear, indicating no sign of a clot, my feet werent swollen , i have no cough, and no pain when breathing in ,however an ecg symptom of a clot , that is only 1 indication out of several , he said in 12 hours i could get a different scan equivalent to 7 1/2 months radiation instead of 4 1/2 years , a much safer option, he also stated that this is part of a study , do i wish to proceed, i then declined .
this was now a horrible experience , as i may have just killed myself , a was then transferred back to emergency , the 3 docs said i'd made the wrong call, but the radioligist believed i made the right one .
after 1 more hour the doc said he was going to treat a clot with blood thinners regardless, he said he is going to treat me as if' i'd had the scan and it confirmed a clot . the treatment was blood thinner injected in my stomach, 2 times in 24 hours , whilst waiting for the safer scan .
over the next 24 hours i was in short stay emergency with bloods taken 6 hourly meds for toothache , anti biotics , and fluids , and monitored intensley , everything remained normal other than ecg tachychardic .
i then had the safer scan , which came back negative for clot, i was then told , it is not definitive but very low probability , as the tests cant be definitive , then i was booked in for a stress test, and informed that if i pass this the the test results would be confirmed negative , if not i would have a heart attack on the treasdmill and possibly die there . at this point i'd only managed 4 hours sleep over 36 hours , anyhow i passed the stress test, with a sprinting finish with no chest pain or irregular heart beat .
i was then discharged with a letter saying i did not suffer a heart attack , all tests were negative, and due to the stress test am unlikely to have one ,
the shest pain was deemed unknown cause .
think of the stress in that .
in saying that, dont take risks .
i would say out of 10 people admitted with chest pain 5 go home without a heart attack, 4 are saved and one die . this is just a guess through the many i shared a room with over 2 days .
overall though it's amazing how they save people . it's where you want to be if this happens . beofre i was let out everything including my ecg was normal accept my pulse which was around 100 . after 16 hours sleep at home , i feel great and my pulse is normal .
i wont take my health for granted anymore , i'm cutting down on coffee, going to take up more consistant exercise , only work night shifts when rostered, go to the gp more , will get myself a cardioligist that knows my history , may look into anxiety, and get regular tests and medications accordingly . i am blessed i have left with a good health bill , but i will not take this for granted. lifes different when you go through something like this , the biggest worry is not yourself ,but your loved ones . give em a hug and tell them you love them FOREVER. i was given the oportunity to do this . if i part company , there isnt anything i can do about it , but it is important to know the message can stay to people you love .