Monday, May 08, 2006

well, that's just swell.


Last night right after I got all comfy and tucked away in bed, I had a sharp stabbing pain directly below the sternum, that radiated into my back below the shoulder blades. It seriously felt like someone had just knifed me.

As I tried to sit up, I started to feel all dizzy and clammy, and thought I might be nauseous, but wasn't entirely sure. I kinda stumble-walked to the bathroom, and hung my head over the toilet, but then decided the bathroom smelled really bad, and I didn't want to be in there.

I climbed back into bed, and tried to find a position that didn't feel like I was dying of something horribly painful, but ended up groaning, "Owwwww-unnnnhhh, that hurts worse," everytime I shifted my weight, which was about 20 times.

I seriously thought about calling Tifling to come and get me because I was dying and clearly needed to go to the hospital, but the phone was really far away from the bed. Plus, I'd have to buzz her into the building, and that would have required standing up clear across the room.

Somehow, I managed to find position that only really hurt, instead of really really really hurting, and passed out.

Today, I still have some pain below the sternum when the flesh is pressed downward, mostly to the right. My back also still hurts, almost in a band across my back. And it kicks Tylenol's sorry ass.

When I got home from work today, I typed in my symptoms and got hits for the following:

Hiatal hernias can cause pain behind the sternum, which can be aching or stabbing. "It sometimes feels like a sharp knife goes in unwarned! That can either be from the diaphragm being too stretched from a hernia, or it can be from a heart condition, since it's in the same vicinity."

Gallbladder issues can create similar symptoms, although generally located to the right of the sternum, in the upper right quadrant.
Aortic dissection
, also called aortic aneurysm-dissecting.
Symptoms can include sudden, severe, sharp, stabbing, tearing, or ripping chest pain located below the sternum, then radiates under the shoulder blades or to the back, intense anxiety, anguish pallor, rapid pulse, profuse sweating, dry skin/mouth, thirst, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, fainting, excessive yawning, clammy skin.

Okay, I do have a previously diagnosed small hiatal hernia, which could be the culprit, and most likely is.

However, the symptoms described by aortic dissection almost perfectly match everything I experienced last night. And I'm always yawning, seriously. I can't help but yawn. It drives me crazy.

Well, we'll just have to see.

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