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My Night in the ER

I spent a good part of last night in the hospital. It was an incredible waste of time, and I don't think I've ever been treated so badly by a doctor.

Over the last few weeks I have been having sudden chest pain and shortness of breath. It would last only for a second or two before it went away. Along with this I have been waking up at night with the same symptoms. Sometimes I would wake up every hour or so.

So last night I'm watching TV when it happened again. It went away quickly like it had before. But a few minutes later I was walking in our hallway when I collapse having chest pains and shortness of breath. I couldn't talk and hurt a lot. This time it wasn't going away.

Serena called an ambulance. When they arrived I was laying on the floor holding my chest. One of the paramedics asked me to put on my shoes. While I was doing this he started asking me about my computer. Call me crazy, but I don't think that it was an appropriate time for chit chat.

Once at the hospital the docs were complete assholes. They kept accusing me of being on drugs, over and over again. I swear that they thought I was faking it in order to get some good stuff. Well I don't have insurance so there are much cheaper ways of getting them. They kept asking Serena as well. I don't like being accused of something that I would readily admit to if it was true.

The doctors were incredibly patronizing. They kept saying that I was fine, that nothing was wrong with me. My vitals may well have been in the normal range, but I felt horrible. They ran their test and took some x-rays, but they said I just needed to relax.

Finally they decided that it was just an "Anxiety Reaction". I have had panic attacks before and they were nothing like this. And I haven't had one in almost three years. They just would not listen to me. I know what a panic attack feels like and this was not one.

Today I called my Dad who just happens to be a doctor for some advice. Maybe he could recommend a doc or something. Within a few minutes he knew what was happening. He just listened to my symptoms and asked a few questions.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease or GERD. Nothing serious at all. A simple prescription should make it go away.

This whole thing is going to cost me several thousand dollars now. I should have just called my Dad right away. I just felt bad calling him. We're just now starting to talk again after several years, and I didn't want to impose. Well I feel a lot better about everything now. What a scary night.

People wonder why I don't like going to the doctor's.