No word of a lie, I thought I was a gonna!

Thursday seemed like any other day when I got up, but within a few minutes I was experiencing a severe tight pain across my chest. It was like a band pulling ever tighter and tighter, squeezing and stopping me from breathing. To be honest, initially I thought I had a bout of indigestion and took some ant-acids to no avail. The pain was getting worse and I had no idea what to do.

I returned to bed a few minutes after the pain started, just to see if that alleviated the discomfort, but nothing I did worked and by now the throbbing had moved around my back and down my left arm. I was sure that I was having a heart attack, so reached for my mobile and rang 999. Explaining my situation to the operator, she immediately signalled for help and an ambulance arrived within ten minutes.

Immediately I opened the door they had me wired up and took an ECG of my heart as well as monitoring my blood pressure, which was sky-high. One of the paramedics then sprayed something under my tongue and asked me to chew an Aspirin tablet and the pain began to subside, almost immediately. I was then asked to get ready for hospital as I would need to go in straight away. Feeling OK, I asked if it was entirely necessary, but was told in no uncertain terms it was and not to argue!

I was strapped in a seat in the ambulance and given some Co-codamol and paracetamol, whilst trying to give the paramedic my details. With a pain in my chest, left over from my experience with suspected COVID-19 in April, they were interested in getting as much information as they possibly could.

Within a few minutes we arrived at a very different Accident and Emergency Department at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham, greeted by Doctors wearing full PPE, who directed me away from the COVID Red area and into the 'Green Channel' as he called it. I was then shown to a chair, not a bed, in what looked like a makeshift triage area.

It must have been half an hour when I was taken into a small room, full of boxes and equipment and given a series of blood tests. The room had clearly been adapted and was probably a sluice room previously. Squeezing between boxes of medical supplies I was able to lay on a bed. The nurse, whose Birthday it was, the day after mine was fantastic in every respect and made me feel at ease, after I explained my aversion to blood tests, and she told me not to worry and to try to relax, despite the pain that was starting to return.

Next a chest X-ray and brief chat with a Doctor who asked me a series of standard questions, eventually steering me back to chair 8 in the main concourse. Sitting there I was struck by how empty it was. There were just four of us sat there waiting. Before I was taken in to hospital, I asked one of the Paramedics if it was safe, and they said it was probably safer than it had ever been, commenting on how few admissions there were at the moment, with people unwilling to go to hospital during this crisis. I could finally see that for myself and it was stark, I had never seen QA quite like it and it was certainly a reminder of the unusual times we are living through.

After a couple of hours, I had received my test results back and was taken into a private room to discuss them. The Doctor said that I didn't have any cardiac issues, but I did have a Hiatus Hernia, which had been responsible for the excruciating pain. In his words 'A Hiatus Hernia mimics heart attack pain and is responsible for many admissions of patients thinking they are having one.'

I couldn't quite believe that a hernia had caused such agony, but was thankful it was nothing more serious. I was prescribed omeprazole and given some brief dietary advice and finally congratulated for phoning an ambulance in the first place, rather than taking risks with my life. Every NHS healthcare worker I came into contact with were extremely professional and looked after me perfectly. I can only really echo their advice and encourage you to go to hospital if you really need to, don't take a chance, look after your life first and foremost. We may well be in the middle of a pandemic, but hospitals are still working normally and your health is still their priority.

Today I feel a lot better after taking the prescribed medication and am grateful I was given answers to what transpired last Thursday. If anything I know what a heart attack feels like now and won't hesitate to phone the emergency services if I need to in the future!

Thanks NHS!

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