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Well, it wasn't a heart attack. That's what the cardiologist, Dr. Khosla, tells me.

side note: Dr. Khosla's name is pronounced KOLE-SLAW. Before he came to Phoenix he had a practice in Florida. His partners were, no kidding: Dr. Burger and Dr. Shake.

Anyway, after much interesting (and very, very expensive) testing, poking, prodding, injecting, scanning, squeezing, & waiting, Dr. Khosla came sauntering into my room and announced that he didn't think it was my heart, no matter what the radiologist thinks.

Huh? Radiologist? Apparently the radiologist thinks that there might be something going on, but both cardiologists on duty (Dr. Khosla and Dr. Okigawa) think that the problem isn't my heart. Don't ask me what exactly the radiologist thinks, I was too much in the "you're not going to die today" moment to think to ask.

They sent me home right after that. By the way, I want to state here for the record that the world's greatest unsung heroes are nurses. They really help, and it is apparent that they care. Thank you nurse Mary Ann, nurse Trracie, and nurses' aides Jeff and Vanessa. You helped me get through this terrifying time, you provided comfort and caring, and I am very, very grateful to all of you.

I have a follow-up appointment with my doctor on Friday, and one with Dr. Khosla in three weeks. I'm planning on asking them then what the radiologist thinks, and more to the point, what is wrong with me. I'm glad that it's not my heart, but I sure would like to know what it was.

It still hurts, but the pain isn't nearly as bad as it was. For a while there, it felt like Oscar De La Hoya was playing fandango on my heart. Now it is just a dull ache, kind of like when you pull a muscle or exercise too hard. I'm going back to work today, but I'm going to take it very easy for a while. And absolutely no more caffeine, period.

-Devin

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Comments

1 - Glad to hear your scare was just a scare. Take care,

-rich

Posted by Richard Schwartz At 12:59:03 PM On 05/02/2005 | - Website - |

2 - Take care of yourself. And be very aware of how you're feeling. My co-worker had a massive heart attack shortly after the drs told him he was fine in a routine checkup. He's doing ok now, but has major blockage, around 98% in two arteries. Don't want to scare you, but just be aware and knowledgable of what's going on. It's your life afterall, not the drs. Best to you.
Deb

Posted by Debbie At 05:40:30 PM On 05/03/2005 | - Website - |

3 - @Dude......

Glad to hear your ok....

Take care of yourself. Let Gayle or I know if there is anything we can do for you.

Warm regards,

Bruce

Posted by Bruce Elgort At 08:04:35 PM On 05/03/2005 | - Website - |

4 - woah!

man glad you are ok!

btw my mom told me a story about a guy (husband of a friend) who went to the emergency room. they looked him over, figured out he wasn't having a heart attack. then the doctor asked him, "how much mountain dew do you drink?"

the guy drank a lot of it every day. he doesn't drink it any more.

which may not have anything to do with anything, but i know geeks like to drink that stuff.

send me an email if you need anything brother. or ping me at jonvonham on AIM.

take care man!

Posted by jonvon At 12:58:06 PM On 05/05/2005 | - Website - |

5 - Wow. I missed the earlier posts (had my own system release today, so I was head-down for a bit). Sorry to hear about your scare, glad to hear it doesn't seem quite as scary any more, and hope it all works out for the best soon.

If I may, two minor (related) thoughts on the medical front:

1. You're right. Do find out what the radiologist is worried about. Cardiologists deal with heart attacks for a living, and they know all kinds of things about the heart that radiologists don't know. Radiologists, though, read scans for a living, and if this one thinks there's something funky in yours, there probably is. It may be minor (it may even be irrelevant), but you have the right to know everything about your case, and this isn't the time to let one expert brush aside another. Turf wars happen in hospitals, too. Fortunately, you're not exactly the sort to be easily intimidated

, so I'm sure you have this issue well in hand.

2. I'm quite sure the docs will take care of the medical issue (and the nurses will take care of the person who has the issue!), but sometimes specialists like cardiologists do a lousy job of communicating. Again, since you're not the shy, retiring, afraid-to-say-boo type of person, you're probably good at making sure you get your answers. My wife's a pediatrician, and she is always amazed to talk to her patients after they've seen a specialist and find out that the patient left without really understanding what was going on. The more technical these docs get, the less time and effort they put into communicating with the patients. Don't let them brush off any of your questions or concerns. I don't mean to imply that they don't have your best interests at heart, just that it literally won't occur to them that you might want more information unless you beat them over the head. Repeatedly.

As with jonvon and Bruce, anything I can do, just say the word. Take care of yourself.

Posted by Rob McDonagh At 01:38:51 AM On 05/07/2005 | - Website - |

6 - I just happened on your recent posts (I have been way too busy to read many blogs recently), and I am very glad you are OK, and hope that this continues to be just "one of those scary things". There is nothing like sitting in the ER waiting to hear what is the matter, and fearing the worst. I'm glad the worst will wait for another day, and let me know if there is anything I can do.

Posted by Ben Langhinrichs At 11:02:46 PM On 05/08/2005 | - Website - |

7 - Thanks very much to all of you for your thoughts and prayers. I'm feeling a heck of a lot better now. I had my follow-up appointment with my regular doctor on friday. While he doesn't know for certain what it was, he is confident that it wasn't my heart.

After reading the reports from the radiologist and both cardiologists, he thinks (he can't be sure, as he has not yet seen the "films") that I might have a condition (don't remember the name) where my heart is physically resting on my diaphram. This isn't all that common, but it's not ultra-rare either. It affects something like 5% - 8% of the male population. It isn't fatal or even problematic. The only real "problem" caused by it is that it makes reading heart "films" (x-rays, ultrasounds, nuclear-stuff) a bit more difficult because the very bottom of the heart appears slightly compressed -almost as if it isn't getting enough blood. In reality, it is getting plenty of blood; the pressure of the diaphram causes this "illusion".

Ok, so that explains the disagreement between the radiologist and the 2 cardiologists, but it doesn't explain why I had every symptom of a heart attack, but wasn't really having one (they call what I had a heart "episode" -which makes it almost sound fun). In order to figure that out, he (my doctor) has ordered some fun (and again, very expensive) sounding tests. I'm to be scheduled for an "upper GI", as well as an "abdominal CAT scan". WooHoo! Sounds exciting.

-Devin

Posted by Devin At 11:43:33 AM On 05/09/2005 | - Website - |