i didn't have a heart attack today

Strangely enough, I mean that in the literal sense.

No, I didn't fall and couldn't get up, but I did start having chest pain last night while I was reading before bed. I was sure it was my asthma, so I got up and used my inhaler to try and make it STFU. When that didn't work, I tried Tums. Must be heartburn... or something. That didn't work either.

Of course, then I got on the internet-- the mothership of all hypochondriacs. I was looking for something that told me that chest pain does not mean I'm having a heart attack. Of course, the internet totally failed me in that regard. My sleep quality last night left quite a bit to be desired.

I woke up this morning [Hooray! Not dead!], and my chest still hurt. Now I'm just getting annoyed. C asks if I should go to the doctor, and I shrug it off. I mean, what am I going to do? Call my GP and say, "Yeah, I'd like to make an appointment.... I'm having chest pain." No. The first thing out of their mouths would be "Hang up and call 911." I'd be damned if I was calling 911. That's just ridiculous. I'm not sick. I do not need an ambulance. I'm not going to the ER. (Sound familiar?)

I went to work this morning, and just walking in with my purse and my laptop bag was enough to make me think that maybe I was having a heart attack. So I walked down the street to my friendly local ER. (Working on a hospital/university campus has its perks.) It was pretty quiet in there at 7 in the morning, so I got right in. [I'm sure with a complaint of "chest pain," I would have gotten in right away anyway, but still. It was nice.]

They did all the testing and the x-rays and all that jazz, and it appears that nothing really serious is wrong. No heart attack or pulmonary embolism for me. [Whew] It's likely just an inflammation of the chest wall, which is annoying and kind of painful, but likely not serious. I'll be loaded up on Advil for the next few days, and hopefully it'll go away.

In the meantime, this is seriously cutting into my #4weeksfit. How am I supposed to exercise when I can't take a deep breath?!