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   Harshad Sharma (harshad@mastodon.sharma.io)'s status on Wednesday, 29-May-2024 14:07:05 JST Harshad Sharma

   in reply to

   • M.S. Bellows, Jr.

   @msbellows glad you're okay!

   had to rush my father to ER ~15 years ago because of similar symptoms, he was speaking and looking okay, but turned out he was having a heart attack and only survived because we reached the ER in time. It's good to take this seriously first and then laugh how it was nothing than the alternative.

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     M.S. Bellows, Jr. (msbellows@c.im)'s status on Wednesday, 29-May-2024 14:07:06 JST M.S. Bellows, Jr.

     I'm gonna share some completely anticlimactic TMI for the benefit of other middle-aged men:

     The day before yesterday, I was very stressed and anxious for a variety of reasons, and we were moving some furniture out of a storage locker, and I was feeling lethargic and a little lightheaded and generally out of it, and then I began feeling nausea and indigestion and my jaw was tight and then my left arm and hand started feeling a little numb. Nothing terrible! Just: feeling meh, and those minor symptoms.

     And then guess what crazy thing we did?

     We went to the nearby emergency room.

     Yep.

     And they were very nice to me, and quickly administered an EKG and blood tests, and guess what?

     I *wasn't* having a heart attack.

     I was just stressed and tired and anxious. That's all.

     But if I *had* been having a heart attack, going to the E.R. could have saved my life. And even though I wasn't, they were very nice to me. No one made fun of me. No one called me a whiner or a hypochondriac. My wife expressed gratitude that I took my survival seriously. And I was home again in less than two hours.

     So this is for my fellow typical men, who are inclined to ignore health issues because: John Wayne or something:

     Don't ignore stuff. Don't wait until you're sure. Be willing to overreact. Be willing to waste everyone's time. It's okay! The world won't end! (And you may even get to take a nap under a warm blanket, like I did!)