You're No Spring Chicken

My left arm was feeling numb for the last couple of days. I ignored it pretty much all day on Thursday. I thought it would go away and I had a lot to do. I shifted in my seat through Victoria's spring concert, but was very uncomfortable on Thursday night. I tossed and turned all night long, pretty much convinced something was wrong.

I got up in the morning, the arm worse than ever. I could not tell if it was numb, painful, or what! I got in the car to drive to work. On the highway, my chest felt hollow and I started to sweat. Was I having a heart attack or a panic attack? I don't know what a heart attack feels like and if this was a panic attack, this was the mother of all attacks. My father had a heart attack at 42 years old, and the thought was haunting me.

I decided to drive on to my parents house but changed my mind and went on to work. As soon as I got to work, I felt light headed. I figured I had ignored symptoms long enough. I pictured myself on my death bed with someone saying, "Your left arm bothered you for how long before you came in for help?"

So I called 911. I have NEVER called 911 for myself before. They arrived quickly and I was in the ambulance, all hooked up to stuff. Riding backwards in an ambulance made my already feeling of nausea worse. 9am arrival to the ER is good timing, not too much going on it seems. They hooked me up some more, drew blood and took CAT scans and Xrays. Hours later, the doctor came over and said, "good news is, there is nothing wrong with your heart." Thank heavens! He said the scan showed some degeneration in the C3/C4 area of the spine.

Oh no! I'm degenerating! How could this happen, I asked him. He said, "you're no spring chicken."