A friend of ours - let's call him David - was feeling a little "off". Not quite right, nothing he could put his finger on, but just not right. He went to his doctor and told him "Something's not feeling right, but I just don't know what it is."
His doctor said, let's take a look. Took a blood pressure reading, hooked up the EKG, looked at David, and said "I don't want you to be alarmed, but some things are going to start happening fast. I'm sending a nurse to call your wife. You've got something going on with your heart, and I'm calling a cardiologist to meet you at the emergency room."
Two hours later, they had a diagnosis of a large blockage. It wasn't a surgery that needed to happen that day, but it did need to happen within a week.
David went to watch his son graduate from college. He let his work know that he'd be out for several weeks. And then, he checked himself into the hospital and had heart surgery.
His doctor told his wife not to worry. "I almost never see people when they have more than a fighting chance. They've almost always had a massive coronary before I see them. He is going to be fine. We got this taken care of before there was any damage to the muscle."
David found out later that if he'd waited as much as two weeks to see the doctor, he would not have survived the massive coronary that was waiting for him.
It bears repeating. Know your normal.
If things don't seem right, call your doctor. If your doctor won't listen, find a different one.
Today, I'm happy to say that David is celebrating his six month new lease on lifeaversary, and is looking forward to walking his daughter down the aisle next month. His story had a happy ending.
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