Scary Friday

So... we had a bit of a scare yesterday...and you could even say maybe a "near death" experience...for me, at least....I will elaborate. So, during my faithful running this summer, I often would feel slight chest pain (on my left side)...it would come and go, and I honestly just blew it off, thinking to myself....I am young and in good shape...this can't be anything...well, on Thursday of this week, I started experiencing the same pain randomly when I was out to lunch at the mall with a friend...again, I thought to myself, "Hey, this is weird, maybe I should get this checked out..." But it went away again after I started walking and getting on with life, so I just forgot. Then, yesterday morning, I woke up as usual, went in and got Jonas out of his crib, and decided that due to a very dirty diaper, we would just go take a morning bath...as I was washing him off, I started feeling the same pain again...and it was increasingly growing in intensity...I was on my knees and any time I lifted my left arm, the pain intensified...so, after considering that it was my left side and I could be having a heart attack, I called Jason at work...and HE ANSWERED...praise the Lord...this normally would not happen, but God is good, and he did. I didn't fill the tub with water because I was afraid that if something happened to me (if I passed out or something) I didn't want Jonas alone in water unsupervised...so there we were: me laying on the floor crying and wondering if this was the end, and Jonas, buck naked, playing in a bathtub with no water. Jason kept me on the phone and wanted me to talk to him until he made it home just in case something happened and he would know to call 911. The minutes seemed to drag on forever until he got home, but he eventually made it, got Jonas (still content as ever, I might add) out of the tub and into some clothes and helped me up and got me into bed, and, after some debate, about whether to call the ambulance or not, decided to bring me into the clinic...where I was immediately taken in for x-rays and blood work...they were worried about a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs). I am still in pain during all of this..and very overwhelmed and confused..., but the doctor, after seeing the results, told me that my heart rate and blood pressure indicated it was not an issue with my heart, and the x-ray and blood work made it clear that there was no infection and no clot in my lungs... good news for sure...she went on to say that what I was probably suffering from was costochondritis...which is an inflammation of the joint between the rib and the breastbone or between the bony part of the rib and the rib cartilage...and the symptoms are exactly what I had been experiencing...pain or tenderness in the front of the chest that most often occurs on the left side...usually a sharp pain that gets worse if you press on it or move certain ways.... all also key symptoms that indicate an impending heart attack. There is really no way to know what is going on until you are checked out, my doctor told me...because so often the pain is confused with heart attack pain, and chest pain is always something to take seriously. Oddly enough, costochondritis commonly appears more in women than in men, and often to younger women, usually due to an injury to the chest or an infection, but many times, the cause cannot be found...So, needless to say, it was scary...I was scared for myself, scared for Jonas and scared for Jason...but I am so thankful that it is just a condition that has nothing whatsoever to do with my heart or lungs, and while it will continue to bother me for multiple weeks at most and can reoccur at anytime without warning, I am thankful. Thankful for life and thankful for another chance to take it seriously...counting every day and every breath as a gift. So, my friends, don't waste your life...it can be taken from you at anytime without any warning. Having experiences like this can be good for the soul...because it is a reminder that I am not in control and that my life is hidden with a God that gives and takes away. But He is so good. Even if the worst had happened, he still would have been good. But I will be thankful for more days on this planet--however many they may be. Carpe Diem.