Worries Thwarted

Whenever somebody I care about has something wrong that could be associated with more serious conditions, I worry. I am a big hairy worry wart. The last few days Michael has been complaining about pain in his chest. That pain was located on the upper left side of his chest too close to his heart for comfort. I wanted him to go have a doctor look at it before, but it was not until yesterday, three days after the pain had started that Michael agreed it should be checked out. I got him an appointment and we went in to see a doctor in Cottonwood today. It was a very different experience being the one looking on as somebody else sits on the those cushioned tables covered with that uncomfortable, loud paper and is probed by all sorts of medical instruments. At one point the doctor had Michael lay down on this table while he shoved, not just tapped, on areas of Michael's stomach and chest, waiting for reactions of pain. He got them. I saw Michael wince, which of course made me wince. We were immediately sent over for x-rays, an EKG (checking the heart), and blood tests. The nurse laughed at Michael's caveman legs and then maybe, enjoyed the reaction she got from him while pulling the sticky things off of them, a little too much. Let's just say they didn't come off clean. I couldn't watch as she stuck the tiny little needle in his arm, but could definitely tell he was fascinated with how quickly the blood ran through the itty-bitty tube into the little vile. From the hospital, it was back to the doctor's office to see what the doctor had to say. The doctor had good news. The x-rays looked perfect, as did the EKG. The blood tests were not back yet, but the doctor highly doubted there would be anything wrong with them. It turns out, Michael probably just has inflammation of a joint in between his sternum and ribs that can be dealt with by taking over the counter ibuprofen. Yet again my worries amounted to nothing. Imagine that.