Thursday, September 23, 2010

Costocondroititis.

Yeah, that's a mouthful.
For most of today and yesterday I've been having chest pain.  I didn't know the name of it until today.  My doctor just told me that there's interconnective tissues all throughout your body.  This includes the place where your rib cage connects to your sternum. Lupus attacks those tissues... add it up.   
I think especially for folks with a history of asthma- having difficulty breathing is pretty scary.  If you also happen to have knowledge of some of the pretty bad things that lupus can do (fluid in your heart, lungs) then the feeling of weight on your chest is terrifying.
I remember calling Dr. Mansour the first time it happened last year.  I went into this big long monologue about how I know it's not an asthma attack, but I took my inhaler anyway and it didn't work and now I'm jittery and then I thought maybe I was having an anxiety attack but I wasn't worried about anything but now I'm REALLY worried and OH MY GOD AM I HAVING A HEART ATTACK?!
Dr. Mansour's response: "Does the pain go down your arm?"
Me: "No... IS THAT BAD?!"
Dr. Mansour:  "You're fine, but if it persists for longer than a day call me back".
                    .......Whoops.  Probably shoulda called him today.
I'll do it tomorrow morning.  I just thought I would inform you all about this very-hard-to-pronounce perk that comes with my lupus.


Be jealous.  


Have a good night, everyone!

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