A lot of people, mostly men, tend to ignore certain kinds of pain.  Chest pain, for instance.  I have treated many people, mostly men, who have had chest pain for several hours, even several days. Whether it is out of denial, or fear, they can't seem to accept the fact that something may be wrong with them.  Very rarely does this happen with a woman.  I guess they aren't as stubborn as the y-chromosome carrying members of the human race.  This is the story of one woman who didn't quite fit the mold.

I can't remember the time of year this happened, all I can remember is that it was 1991, and during one of the busiest shifts of my career.  If memory serves me correctly, we treated about 10 patients, and were dispatched to about another 8.  We got a call for 'chest pains' sometime during the latter part of the shift, I would guess about 4:00 AM.

When we arrived at the house, we found an elderly woman who was complainign of chest pain.  Her description of the pain was fairly vague, but this was not out of the ordinary. Often times, those suffering chest pain from a cardiac condition are vague in their descriptions.

I was performing the physical assessment, while my partner tried to gather other information.  I began to ask some standard questions about her pain:

• Did it get worse when she moved, I pushed on it or took a deep breath?(This could be a sign it is not cardiac related)
• Did it radiate into her arm or shoulder?
• What were you doing when it started?
• How long ago did it start?

The answer to this last question was, 'Right after my husband died'.  I was thinking that maybe her husband had died earlier in the week, and maybe things were quieting down, she thought that maybe it was something more serious.  I would even have understood if she just got lonely.  My next question was one that anyone would have asked, but no one would have been prepared to hear the answer.

I asked her, 'When did your husband die?'.

Her response, '1972'.

After stiffling a laugh, I asked her if anything had changed in the last 19 years to prompt her to call for an ambulance now.  She replied, "No, it feels the same, I thought it was time to get it looked at".