Chest pains and a Sunday reminder

This isn't a Halloween costume. 

It's a Sunday reminder to take care of yourself, or else you'll end up hooked up to monitors for EKGs and nuclear stress tests. 

One day I had a sharp steady pain in my chest while standing at my desk. The kind like a gas bubble (tmi?) you just need to breathe through, so I did that while continuing to work. Five days later I was still working and breathing through the pain convinced it would go away. When breathing became difficult, shallow, and I couldn't roll over in bed at night without the pain waking me up, I finally called the doctor.

Cue the tests.

I'm smiling here before the first one, thinking it was fine, joking with the staff that they had an 'A student' on their hands who doesn't like to fail tests.

An hour later the doctor came in with that look on his face. I didn't pass. He thought I might have a blockage. More tests were ordered, but I wasn't smiling this time. How quickly nightmares of the hospital, surgery, gurneys and white gowns resurface after 12 years.

Luckily it turned out alright. A weekend of sleeping in and a restorative yoga class worked. I passed the other tests and the doctors didn't have an explanation for why all symptoms vanished.

I did. It's called stress.

When you don't listen to your body, it speaks louder until you do.

So take a nap today, okay? Hug people you love. Watch a movie. Take a long walk and eat your vegetables. Listen to your body.

I love you guys. 💛