Just after Christmas I had some sharp stomach cramps, not unlike indigestion. Over the last year I've lost some fat, put on some muscle, and greatly improved my aerobic capacity. During the holidays I worked out extra hard to max out the benefit of eating a lot of rich food. So the likely culprit was GERD, an ulcer, or maybe even a hernia. But just to be safe, a number of tests were ordered.
This week one of those specialists, a cardiologist, laid it on me: a mild heart attack. He hastened to mention no heart attack is mild, but they do come in much worse versions than what I probably had. There is no evidence of a badly enlarged heart, the signs are consistent with the type of cardiac event that patients make a full recovery from. But I will have to be cathed on Monday, a stent may be indicated, it's even possible I could require bypass surgery. The facility I'll be at has wi-fi, I'm going to try and tweet/blog about it here at FreeThoughtBlogs, follow on Twitter @SAndrewDKos, as facilities and consciousness allows.
The good news, aside from the fact that I survived the widow maker, is I have comprehensive health insurance, including short and long term disability. I shudder to think what this ordeal would be like if, on top of all the anxiety and copays already facing me, I had to navigate whatever is left of Medicaid and other social safety net programs after they've been gutted for trillion dollar wars and tax cuts for zillionaires. The year 2014 can't come fast enough for millions of our fellow uninsured Americans, whose lives are literally in the balance.
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