Am I the most devoted Fisher Cats fan EVER?

Thursday was a sucky day.  I had the panic attack from hell, which was so bad, I really thought it was going to be a massive heart attack, and that I was about to die.  Mike drove me to the ER at the Lahey Clinic, and I swear, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it there alive.  That is how bad these panic attacks can be.

Obviously, I did not croak from a heart attack or anything else, because I am here to tell the tale.  But I was annoyed because I was made to stay in the hospital for almost too long…mostly because this other dickwad hospital I was in refused to fax over my records of previous cardiac tests, which were due to my thinking I was having a heart attack then.  Yah, this has been going on for a while.  I was on meds, but had to stop taking them due to having lousy insurance and all.  Plus, they did go away for a time, anyway.

The AM ER doc said that if only the other place had faxed over my old records, a cardiac stress test would not have been needed.  But they didn’t, so I had to stay overnight and have the thing done the next day.

Only they were going to let me rot there in that little cube in the ER until at least 3:45PM!  We had tickets to the Fisher Cats game that night (Friday), and I was determined to be there.  The previous ER  doctor had told me that the stress test wasn’t needed, that everything else looked fine, and I’d be getting out in the AM.

In the AM, a nurse came in and told me about the 3:45 PM stress test.  I was royally pissed, because I needed to get out sooner than that for the game, and that I felt that I was lied to by that doctor.  And why make me sit in that crummy cube in the ER all night and day, when it was needed for other patients?  Why not give me the test ASAP, and as long as they found nothing wrong, get me out of the place ASAP?

I swear, office furniture is more comfy than hospital beds.  My back hurts now due to that horrible bed, and this is still going on after sleeping in my own bed last night.

Anyway, I begged the nurse to PLEASE, if at all possible, schedule the stress test for sooner, so we could still go to the game.  I told her how much this meant to me, that the docs already said that my problem was panic  attacks and not cardiac related, that they wanted to do the stress test to just be sure.  I said that going to baseball games was good for my health, that I never have panic attacks at the games, so could she please help me if at all possible.

They came through, but only because there was a cancellation.  Turned out I passed the test with flying colors…good to know.  Nothing wrong with the old ticker.  But it was still a scary feeling when The Panic Attack From Hell was happening.  The whole thing actually subsided shortly after we got to the hospital.

Even so, by the time someone came around with my discharge papers, it was past 4PM.  Still better than a test that would start at 3:45 PM!

Mike was there, and as soon as I signed the papers, we were out of there.  I was in serious need of a shower (I was too sick on Thursday to take one).  Also, I needed to change my clothes into proper Fisher Cats gear.  When we got home, I was showered, changed, hair done and made up in 35 minutes…a record for me.  We were out the door by 5:35PM.

I knew that by this point, we had a snowball’s chance in hell of getting the stadium replica thingies they were giving away.  The traffic on I-93 North was hellish.  And when we did get there, parking was difficult to find.  We finally did find a spot, which was a bit of a hike from the ballpark, but it was worth it.

But dammit, I made it to the game, just hours after being released from the hospital!  If this isn’t true fan-dom, what is?