While the professor and I were in San Francisco, I had almost overwhelming pain in my chest. When we finally managed to get back to our hotel room, the professor promptly called our family physician and made an appointment for me to see him at 7:30 on Monday morning.
My doctor was concerned about the chest pains. When his office tried to set up an appointment for that day for further tests, the clinic said that there were no openings available and they could not see me. Instead I went to the ER at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.
I now know more than I ever wanted to about being tested for heart problems.
Information from an American Heart Association cite:http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@hcm/documents/downloadable/ucm_317626.pdf
It is even possible to view a procedure on YouTube:
After watching this particular video, I am not sure that I am any better informed than I was before. However, you may notice that the doctor talks about treating women more aggressively than men because for so many years women were not considered at risk for heart problems.
I now know that there is no damage to my heart. Does that mean that I have never had a heart attach? I don't know. I do have heart disease and have all of the symptoms associated with it...diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. I need to exercise regularly and to change my eating habits. We'll see how well this old person can do at changing bad habits of a life time.
I am so grateful for the care that I received in the hospital and for the warmth and sympathy shown to me by my family.
I really did not mean to alarm anyone. Hopefully I will live for many, many years yet.
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