Apparently my uncle (with a pre-existing heart condition) had been feeling poorly for about a week. Last night it got bad enough that my Aunt finally got him to agree to go to the hospital. He had a massive heart attack while at the ER and died. Now maybe it was just his time and nothing could have stopped that heart attack. But maybe, just maybe, if he had sought medical attention on Tuesday or Wednesday he would be recovering from surgery tonight thinking about what a close call he had.

This is not a thread seeking sympathy. The man lived thru that little dust-up in southeast Asia and saw his oldest grandchild graduate from collage so he did ok. Still, with a little more care he might have been alive to see a great-grandchild.

Don't be a stubborn old fool. Go to the damn Dr.

Yeah. Been there.

Yep. Had strange feeling in upper chest. My Best Friend said go to ER immediately. I did. Had blood tests and imaging. Got scheduled for bypass surgery the next morning (a Sunday). Surgeon said I was having an attack while he was operating.

flashguy

I've seen it too many times.

As a result of losing several friends, I recognized symptoms of a stroke in myself several years ago. I got immediate treatment and suffered minimal damage, instead of death or crippling injuries.

My sympathies on your loss. I'm trying to change because I've been thinking someday my wife or boys will tell a similar story about me.

Hell, go to the damn doctor even if you AREN'T ill.

My dad didn't see my college graduation or my wedding and never met his three grandkids, because he was dead.

He was healthy and in shape and didn't like going to the doctor, so he didn't, until he had to get a checkup to go to a Boy Scout summer camp with me when I was in middle school. Turns out, he wasn't healthy. He was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer (at 49) and died when I was a sophomore in college, which was years longer than anyone expected him to make it.

Sad story. My step dad has a widow maker. If my mom hadn't called the ambulance when she did, he would have been dead. Luckily, years later he is still with us.

First, sorry for your loss. Family losses are awful.

Second, you are so right about going to the doctor, whether ill or just for an annual wellness exam.

Old men are so bad about not going to the doc. One of my 50ish co-workers constantly bragged about not having been to the doctor for 12 years. Two years ago, out of the blue, he had a major stroke. He's had a great recovery, but he knows he'll never get back to 100%, and he now warns all of the "old men" to go.

One of my other co-workers, who is my best friend, also mid-50s, wouldn't go to the doc no matter what because he knew the colonoscopy was going to be recommended. Even after my other co-worker's stroke, he wouldn't go. I finally called my doc, a dear friend, and had him call this co-worker. The co-worker went in, had a great checkup, and finally did the colonoscopy last week. He had 2 polyps removed. Future problems averted.

A good friend of mine used to be a SWAT doc and worked in the ER in Little Rock. Great dude in his 60s. He wouldn't have the colonoscopy. Developed cancer, found it too late, and he didn't make it.

Guys, if you're over 50, get the colonoscopy. No news is bad news, not good news. Colonoscopies are no big deal. Ketamine takes care of you. Don't be stubborn. Have annual checkups and take advantage of heart scan clinics in your areas. Families need you.

Relevant as it's father's day. My dad laid on the couch moaning years ago. After a few days my mom called a friend and forced him into a car. Turns out his appendix had burst and he just wasn't going to the Dr. The only thing that saved him was some weird pocket that formed around it. They just left my place so it worked out but I'll be damned if that wasn't almost the end of him.

I've had 2 colonoscopies and 1 sigmoidoscopy. Colonoscopies are nothing--they put you to sleep and you wake up not knowing anything happened. Sigmoidoscopy numbs you but you're awake--not as much fun.

flashguy

I got diagnosed with a duodenal ulcer on Friday after an endoscopy.

I told the doctor back in December I was miserable, but he chalked it up to the shingles vaccine reaction, but ordered a sonogram to see if I had gall stones, bile duct, pancreas, liver problems. It came back unremarkable. Cost me a $750 copay.

Well, this time I told him the commode looked like a murder scene. He ordered the scoping immediately and discovered the ulcer.

Definitely go to the doctor. My sister’s beau of ten years woke up one morning not feeling well and having vague chest pain. She spent all morning trying to convince him to go to the ER. She made him take some aspirin. She called his best friend to come over to plead with him. Nope, not going. Said he’d refuse transport if they called emergency services. “He didn’t need no stinkin’ EKG, ABC, KGB…” She, friend and beau had been sitting outside. Beau looked a little better and said he was going to go take a short nap in her spare bedroom. She and friend talked a few more minutes and friend left. Sis went inside and looked in on him. It had been about ten minutes since he went in and he was dead on the bed. Only 56. Aside from the grief, she is still mad at him.

Last fall, I thought it was gall stones again. Went to ER and got bypass surgery. In April I fell. A week later, I again thought it was gall stones and went to the ER. They didn’t find any gall stones, but they did find a cracked rib and some internal bleeding. Took me off blood pressure med and still no gall stones.
My new name is Ima Cashcow, you can call me Ima Cashcow.

quote:

Originally posted by Sportshooter:
Last fall, I thought it was gall stones again. Went to ER and got bypass surgery. In April I fell. A week later, I again thought it was gall stones and went to the ER. They didn’t find any gall stones, but they did find a cracked rib and some internal bleeding. Took me off blood pressure med and still no gall stones.
My new name is Ima Cashcow, you can call me Ima Cashcow.

I had my gall bladder removed a couple of years ago. Medicare and Tricare for Life covered it.

flashguy

A few years ago I suddenly got really dizzy at work one afternoon. Went to the urgent care clinic, they ran an EKG and everything else they could think of and came up with nothing. Finally an actual doctor came in and asked me to explain the symptoms. I did, and he said "Oh, you mean like vertigo?" "YES", sez I. So he put on his eye/ear/nose/throat hat and took a look and said I had some fluid in my ears that was messing with my equilibrium. Said to go get some OTC Nasacort. That took care of it.

Two years ago I had the same symptoms again. Went to the urgent care place again, expecting it to be the same thing again. I almost skipped that and went for the Nasacort instead, but something made me go see the doc. This time the EKG found something he didn't like. He sent me to the ER. They ran the same test and saw the same thing, and sent for an ambulance to take me to the serious cardiac hospital up on the hill. It turned out to be a bilateral pulmonary embolism, not the heart attack they thought it was. The (5!) cardiologists in the room seemed disappointed, but oh well. I've been on blood thinners ever since and doing fine.

Point being, when you start to get older, self-diagnosing things is not a good idea.

When I was 47 I was scheduled to have a relatively minor surgery to repair a herniated disk in my neck. A routine pre-admittance blood test came back extremely anemic, RBC way below the bottom of the scale. The surgeon said "Let's figure that out first and then deal with the disk" and cancelled the operation. Well, "that" turned out to be colon cancer. I lost an uncle to colon cancer when he was still fairly young, so I was planning to start having the colonoscopies at 50 like they say you're supposed to. If I'd waited until 50 I likely wouldn't be here now. As it turned out they caught it early enough that removing of part of my large intestine took care of it and 16 years later I'm still clear of it (just had yet another colonoscopy last week).

3yrs ago Wife went to a regular checkup at our VA(veteran) clinic. Just complained of being tired and lack of sleep. After a EKG the doctor asked her if she had driven herself to clinic because she was calling for a ambulance for immedate transport to local major civilian hospital 1/2 mile down street. I drove her straight to the ER and they we already waiting for her. Released next day with heart afib(?) with more treatment at VA hospital(New Orleans, La). All is well today with medication after surgery. .................................................... Finally at the age of 70 yrs I had the colonosocpy (??)) thru the VA(veteran) with a all clear report. Had put it off for many unfounded reasons. The actuall event as totaly uneventful. .............................. do not put off today what might ensure that you have a tommorrow. ....................... drill sgt

I’ll skip the details, but the punchline is my doctor told me if I hadn’t come in when I did, I would’ve been dead in “three to six months, tops.” I didn’t like going to doctors, and I didn’t like needles. I have since gotten over both.

When you have an HSA and high deductible plan and you know that setting foot in an ER is going to cost you more than 3K out of your own pocket, you think twice about doing things my mom wouldn't have thought a minute about when I was a kid. Hell, ER cost like $100 copay back in the "good insurance" days before Obamacare. My son had to go once and I protested the absurd cost and the insurance company said you paid your copay and it's done, why do you care about the full cost?

Now it's a ton of money that will come out of the HSA account but it's effectively out of pocket except for the tax savings. I usually go to walk-in urgent care for anything that can't wait until I cam see the regular doc or his nurse practitioner, and it costs the same as a regular office visit.

At 49, I have no signs of heart disease that I know of, but yeah, signs of heart attack or stroke are serious. My mom had a minor stroke (TIA I thin) and had double vision and instead of going to the ER she decided to go to bed and see if it would go away. It didn't, so she went the next day and and since then it's pretty clear she's impaired a bit.

Remember Henny Youngman's old joke - Why do men die before their wives? Because they want to.

Timely thread for me. Having issues last night then early this am. Was thinking about this thread telling myself get the ER.
Finally caught an episode on my Kardia mobile device. A fib. That was it, headed to the ER. Laying in ER now.

quote:

Originally posted by BOATTRASH1:
Timely thread for me. Having issues last night then early this am. Was thinking about this thread telling myself get the ER.
Finally caught an episode on my Kardia mobile device. A fib. That was it, headed to the ER. Laying in ER now.

Best wishes Boat. I hope all is well, and glad you went to get checked out.