Going to the hospital! On my birthday!

Ugh. That was a horrible way to spend half the day. But what are you going to do? When you’re suddenly feeling a burning chest pain slightly above your heart after eating or drinking, it’s probably best to go to the hospital. That’s what normal people do, right?

And it was not nearly as funny as Scrubs!

As I’ve mentioned a few times, though refuse to show any picture proof, I’m a pretty hefty guy. But I’ve never had any heart problems, nor does anyone in my family have such problems. But this pain was new and it lasted more than one day. I had some time to kill Wednesday afternoon so I thought I’d go get it checked out. I haven’t been to a doctor in years, plus I have health insurance through work, so I thought maybe it was time to get something done.

But then after some tests showed high blood pressure, they wanted me to stay overnight.

Next came hours upon hours of waiting. God, the waiting! Waiting for a bed to free up. Waiting for the doctor to come talk to me. Waiting again for the doctor to come talk to me again in the morning. So much waiting! Good thing they had an uncomfortable bed and a TV. I caught up on more Comedy Central over the past two days than I have in years.

Though anytime The Daily Show and The Colbert Report came on, some medical person finally did show up to take my blood pressure or take some blood or something else. I could watch several hours of Dog the Bounty Hunter uninterrupted, but when the topical show I want to watch comes on, here come the people!

Hospital folk fear him

Anyway, I think in the end they decided a combination of high blood pressure and heartburn probably caused my chest pain. Or at least it wasn’t something more serious. All the blood tests and heart scans turned out fine.

But still, that was my trip to the hospital, and why I didn’t post anything yesterday. Nothing saps the will to write like spending the first half of your birthday in the hospital, most of it waiting, and then finally getting home and being all groady.

At least my parents came to see me. And we went to visit my grandmother, who treated us to dinner. And at the end of the day, I finally got to sit down with my girlfriend and watch The Avengers.

So good birthday!

Would anyone like to hear a cool Sean anecdote? I know my blog is mostly about geeky stuff and pop culture references, but it’s about me as well. And the story of May 12, 2000 is a pretty exciting tale. One of the busiest, wildest days of my life – though in hindsight, ‘wild’ is a pretty mild term. But still, it’s a fun story involving bombs, babes, tuxedos and dancing…it has it all!

Though it mostly has Seans

On the 12th of May, in the year of our Lord, 2000, your favorite blogger was the ripe old age of 16 and attending Dana L. West High School in the hamlet of Port Byron, New York. We have a Thruway stop, perhaps you’ve heard of us. Still basking in the glow of surviving Y2K a few months prior, I woke up that clear Spring morning knowing full well that my day was going to be pretty cool – I just had no idea how cool or weird it would get by the end.

For you see, the Gods of Scheduling had pulled a fast one. Despite having a full 365 days in a year, May 12, 2000 had been scheduled for both my Advanced Placement American History final and my Junior Prom.

So I already knew I was going to have a busy day. Click the jump to continue…

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