My Heart Attack

Summer job, working for the CS department. Yesterday's task was moving pallets of paper around. Fun! Glad I skipped my morning workout in anticipation of heavy lifting. ^_^

When we got to the last load (finally!) I began to get dizzy/lightheaded. I crouched down for a moment, and that seemed to help. But we were so closed to being finished! So I pressed on.

Paper moving done, I took five and sat down with a bottle of water. Still dizzy, even sitting, and now my arms were tingling.

In fact, the more I sat, the worse it got. I made a joking comment about (haha) my arms tingling, and then my face and legs. Haha. My boss asked if I wanted to lie down on the bench nearby. Probably a good idea, I thought. Just for a moment. Just until I feel better.

Things got worse lying down. My hands went cold and numb. My entire body felt the pins and needles of when your leg falls asleep. Even my EYES (an entirely new experience).

Paramedics were called.

I had great difficulty moving my hands at this point. The hands and fingers seemed pulled back. Very strange. I also had trouble speaking, due in part to my now-numb face and tongue, and also because I stutter when I'm nervous, and I was beginning to be VERY nervous. My boss pointed out that these were signs more of a stroke than a heart attack. Strokes are one of my big fears. ^_^

Fire department arrives (hi, Kenny!). Ken tries to put me at ease while they check my heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar... everything seems fine. What? I can barely move, but apparently I'm OK.

Ambulance arrives. The recommendation is that I go to the local clinic for further examination. I opt for a car ride instead of the ambulance, because I'm poor.

When I stand up to go to the car, I nearly pass out. MUCH worse standing up than lying down. My teeth begin to chatter for no explained reason.

Game time elapsed, roughly 30 minutes so far.

I spend the next hour and a half at the clinic, and they draw blood and trace my heart and take my vitals lying/sitting/standing. Still no solution to the medical mystery. Where is the REAL Dr. House when I need him?

I'm stilling waiting to hear about the last of the blood work, but so far, I still don't know exactly what happened. It was ... a new and unpleasant experience. :-/

Anyway, just thought I would let everyone know the adventure I had yesterday. ^_^ I spent most of the day after the clinic in bed. I still feel a bit out of it, but much better than earlier (I can move all my fingers, for example). It's now after 2am, and I'm still nervous about falling asleep. What if this is the time I don't wake up? Ah, life.....