You're welcome, Snookums. I'm glad he went, too, but I'm sorry the ER was such a bad experience. Did y'all go to the Hermann ER by any chance? ERs are notoriously bad, and people often do have to wait far too long to be seen because the places are so full of uninsured people who use the ER for routine health care. If they have decent triage nurses, the desperately sick people get sorted out and seen sooner and don't die while they're waiting, but sometimes that still happens anyway.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to follow up fairly soon with a regular doctor in his office. I know that's the last thing you want to hear, Slipknot, but it won't hurt you. If, as the ER doc suggested it might be, it's a chest wall problem, then that's likely to be pleurisy, which is basically when an air bubble gets trapped in the double-layered membrane that surrounds the lungs. It can cause serious chest pain and be very painful. Happens when people have had lung infections like bronchitis or pneumonia, and it sometimes happens for no reason at all, especially in smokers. Like I said, it hurts like the devil, and it takes a while for that air to reabsorb and for things to feel better. If it's a big enough air bubble, it'll be visible on the X-rays, but often they're not visible.

I was so worried about you yesterday, Slipknot, and am glad you went in. Even though I know you hated doing that, it was a good thing you did because, if that'd been a heart attack, you would have been in deep doo-doo if you'd waited. Sorry it felt like a wasted trip, but I don't think it was. Still, if you keep hurting, I think it might be prudent to follow up with someone who'll take a bit more time with you and help you figure out what's up.

Take care, my friends!
birdgirl73 Reviewed by birdgirl73 on . any clue what this is? (birdgirl perhaps?) ok i'm having a problem.... my entire right upper side is hurting... like from my heart, to my shoulder, to my elbow... it's like pulses at that, it'll hurt for a couple of minutes then go back to normal... it's a very unusual pain as well, it burns, stabs and feels like i worked out way too much all at the same time. i still got a couple of weeks before i go to the doctor next, but i'm kinda worried, i'm not exactly what you'd call 'healthy'. i get pains and shit all the time, never worries me Rating: 5