I just spent several days in a hospital. For over 30 years I've had problems with chest pains. The first time I went to a hospital the doctor asked the usual questions...smoke, drink...etcetera.
I said I smoked a cigar or pipe at times when I was out for a walk. Doctor said that was the problem, ordered me to stop and we moved on.
Several years later the pain returned. Went to a hospital, doctor asked the questions, decided it was because I enjoy spicy foods.
Ok...cut back and shortly the pain was back. IIRC this time it was because I needed to lose weight (5'10" 190 pounds, they wanted me at 160 which made me feel "light").
So I lost weight. Next round was excersize. I started walking more and got an excer-bike.
Pain returns. Now during all this time I kept saying I thought it was some sort of GI problem or something other than Heart/arteries/lungs.
No matter I'm NOT the doc.
There were several other incidents which I won't go into other than getting a complete going over last August and being told I was healthy as a horse...an old horse...get used to age.
Then this past weekend I was watching Deadliest Catch and over the course of an hour Memorial Day afternoon the pain returned with a VENGANCE! Wife took me back to the hospital. The pain was BAD! So much so that the first thing they wanted to do was give me morphine which I refused until I was doubled over on the floor and Wife gave them the OK.
Never had it before and I ended up loopier than usual for 2 days. Mouthed John Prine songs and "O Death" to anyone who dared come near.
The pain was so bad some of the nurses, God bless 'em, were worried that I would go "postal", but they still took great care of me.
This time I got a GREAT Heart MD. After all the usual tests - which I had been through several times before - he realized my heart, arteries and lungs were COMPLETELY CLEAR despite my smoking, eating artery clogging foods and indulging in Brews.
Wife was disappointed that my diet didn't cause high blood pressure, High Chloresterol or clogged arteries.Wednesday they came to me with the diagnosis...that EVERY OTHER FREAKING DOC HAD MISSED FOR 30 years!
Years ago I had an infection...possibly typhus....and I contracted a chronic case of pericarditis, inflamation of the sac containing my heart.
Symptoms the same as heart attack but usually no sweating. Usually self limiting but in some rare cases it can induce a heart attack or other life threatening problems.
They immediately started treatment and within a few hours I was basically fine! They discharged me with limitations for a day and after that no limitations other than taking the laundry list of meds and follow-up examinations in a few weeks.
So (and getting to the point of this thread) why didn't ANY of the previous docs diagnose me correctly? It's my belief they were good docs but tainted by PC...smoking, diet, etcetera. They disregarded the test results in favor of what the "evil" was at the time.
And my family wonders why I don't trust hospitals.
prisoner6
Wow. I’m amazed that you’re still with us.