Author: J.D. Roth / Source: Get Rich Slowly
Three weeks ago today, I had a major health scare.
Because it was Monday, I was at the family box factory. I had just finished running payroll and had taken paychecks out to the shop. I exited the building and *bam* my chest just sort of seized up.
“Ouch,” I thought.
But, being a Roth, my thought process didn’t go much farther than that. (We Roths don’t like doctors and we tend to deal with injuries for weeks or months or years before having them looked at.)On the way back to the office, I stopped to talk to my cousin Duane. He was digging in the dirt, prepping a spot for his summer garden. We chatted about blueberries, tomatoes, and greenhouses. We admired the warm spring day. After a few minutes, I realized that my chest still hurt.
“I don’t want to alarm you,” I said, “but I’m having chest pains. It’s probably nothing. But just in case it is something, I thought you should know.”
I walked back to the office and sat down at my computer. Instead of going back to work, however, I googled heart attacks. I read the list of symptoms. I wasn’t experiencing anything except chest pain but still…Every site said the same thing: Don’t mess around. If you’re having chest pain, have somebody drive you to a doctor.
Duane came in. “Are you feeling okay?” he asked.
“I’m still having chest pains,” I said.
“Do you want me to drive you to the doctor?” he asked.
I debated things in my mind. “It’s probably nothing,” I thought. “Or maybe it’s a panic attack like twenty years ago.” In 1998, I experienced two similar episodes that turned out to be panic attacks. I was under a lot of stress then. I’m not under a lot of stress now.
“Plus, if I go to the doctor, it could end up costing a fortune. My health insurance sucks,” I thought. “But if it is a heart attack and I don’t go in, I could end up dead.”
“Well?” Duane said.
“Tell you what,” I said. “I know I’m not supposed to but I’m going to drive myself to urgent care. If you don’t hear from me in fifteen minutes, come find me.” (There’s only one logical route from the box factory to the nearest clinic.)
I gathered my stuff, hopped in my pickup, and drove slowly to the clinic.
Hurry Up and Wait
At urgent care, they expedited my case. Within minutes, I’d been hooked up to an EKG machine. While he worked, the doctor asked me lots of questions about my past and current health.
“Everything looks normal to me,” he said. “Your blood pressure is high, but the EKG is good. So is everything else. Are you still having the pains?”
“Yes,” I said. “And they’re now in my back too.”
The doctor frowned. “I don’t think you’re having a heart attack,” he said, “but we should make sure. I want you to drive yourself to the nearest emergency room.” He gave me a printout that explained my situation and wished me luck.
Twenty minutes later, I was in the ER for the first time in my life. (I’ve been there for other people but never for myself.) A nurse ran another EKG. “Everything looks fine,” he said, “but we’re going to do some more tests.”
First, they drew blood. Then they ran chest x-rays. Then they ran another EKG. Then they ran a CT scan. “Oops,” the doctor said when he saw the results of the CT scan. “They didn’t scan the right spot. That’s my fault. I goofed up. I pressed the wrong button. I guess we’ll do an ultrasound to check out your abdomen instead.” So, I got an ultrasound. Then more blood tests and another EKG.
Can you guess what I thought when the doctor admitted he’d run the wrong test? That’s right: “I’d better not be charged for this!” In any other business, if the service provider makes an error, the customer isn’t…
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