The False Alarm may have Saved my Life!

The False Alarm may have Saved my Life!

We had the most relaxing Christmas that I can remember in years. No drama, no stress that's why this story I'm going to tell you made no sense to me.

The afternoon of December 26th I was sitting in my comfy chair in my bedroom working on my blog when I started having chest pains. I went to the Living room to tell my husband. We talked about it a few minutes as the pain moved from just my chest into my upper back and my neck.

We decided to go to the hospital. I put on my coat and waited for him to gather whatever he needed and to back the car out. During those few minutes the pain went away and I began to feel better. I almost changed my mind. Who wants to look like a hypochondriac?

We went anyway, just to be safe. At the ER they did all the standard tests, EKG, bloodwork and a CT scan. Everything came back negative but the Doctor strongly suggested that I call my own Doctor the next day. I did and was a little surprised that he told me to come in for an exam and a stress test.

This past Thursday was my appointment. I was not concerned. After all, the tests at the hospital were all negative and I exercise several hours each week. We run/walk 15 to 20 miles half of which is at Warner Park, and extremely hilly.

Heart scan showed strong heart muscle, blood pressure a little higher than my fall exam. Now for the treadmill. This should be a breeze.

Oddly enough, I felt fine as they increased the speed and the incline. What was unusual, to me, was that she kept taking my blood pressure. Each increase in speed and incline she checked again. By the 4th time, my blood pressure hit 210 over 105. Oops. Even I knew that wasn't good.

Next, the doctor's prescribing a mild blood pressure medicine and telling me to cut back to no more than 2 miles on flat terrain. It seemed crazy to me and I negotiated up to 3 miles. After all, I'm used to doing 6 on the major hills.

I'm totally not thinking at this point. All I know is that I don't want to be attached to medicine the rest of my life.

I head to the pharmacy and drop off the prescription. They are really backed up so I agree to pick it up Friday morning.

Fridays I lift weights with my trainer. Before starting I warm up on the treadmill. Usually walking 5 minutes.

Today I decided to do a slow run. The first couple of minutes stressed me out but as I relaxed into it I felt fine. Even good.

After a good workout, I head to the pharmacy to pick up my new meds. I have so many questions like why can't I run or do the hills? What should I expect? What side effects might I have? I'm totally not used to taking medicine. Besides, I'm meeting my running partner the next morning for our first run since Christmas.

The pharmacist was a kind woman probably in her mid 30s. She is answering my questions and asking about the results of my tests and about my physical activity.

The more we talked the larger her eyes got. She STRONGLY suggested I start off walking a couple of miles on FLAT terrain until I got used to the new medicine. 

The more she talked, the more it finally started to sink in. When I was struggling with some of the hills and trying to push through what was bothering me it wasn't because I was being lazy or a wimp.

My body was talking to me and I wasn't listening. This took our motto "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" to a whole new meaning.

I let my running partner know last night that I'd be walking with a friend today if she wanted to join us. The dog's going. That should keep us at about 2-3 miles per hour!

Your health is one of your most important assets. Take care of it, and it'll take care of you.