Could have been

Chagrined, I'm home healing the hole in my femoral artery.

When I woke up Saturday morning (grades in late Friday, little sleep for days, the usual student grievances taking their toll on my psyche worse than usual, no yoga, no exercise to counteract the stress) with tightness and pressure in my chest, I wondered...

While I drove around doing errands and eating lunch, it was still there, and I worried...

I remembered hearing about tragedies from symptoms ignored and women being prone to less than obvious symptoms, and I worried...

Finally I drove myself to Urgent Care and slid down the slippery slope of better-safe-than-sorry. EKG okay, but you never know. Emergency transport carted me off, across the street, to hospital ER for enzyme tests, injections for imaging, stress test, echocardiogram. Inconclusives led to definitive angiogram (hence the hole), and at last I was told I have the heart of a teenager.

I missed my flight to Ireland and freaked out my long-distance partner. But I'm okay. Pampering my groin (no bending or lifting or driving for a few days), but healthy.

The hospital wasn't bad; I had lots of time to nap and read. My nearby son was an angel, bringing me more stuff than I could possibly use to entertain myself and great food.

I'll be spending Gifting Day on a plane to Ireland. Great fares on major holidays for those who don't need to be someplace on time.