How come i'm just seeing all of the preceding comments? I agree with what everybody said. i think i missed the rest of this thread because last week, i was staying over night at a nearby hospital after my daughter carted me off to the emergency room when i complained about "activity" in my chest and shoulders, the closest i could come to describing what i was experiencing. i got so frustrated when the staff kept describing me as being in pain, that my blood pressure spiked to a dangerous level.
Once i settled down in the waiting room, distracted by the odd collection of other people waiting, i forgot about the nurse not understanding that it wasn't pain i was experiencing, but was simply - "activity", and when they finally took me in and started monitoring my blood pressure, it dropped way down. That, along with my EKG , blood work and Xrays showing nothing abnormal, I was ready to leave. Not so fast, old lady with Blue Cross federal workers insurance and Medicare. They weren't letting me go home. No sir. The doctor probably wanted to observe me more, because he seemed totally riveted when i told him that i have these episodes from time to time and they were like out-of-body experiences, where everybody's voices sounded faraway, and i felt like i had weights on my feet when i was walking. i don't know whether it was the psycho ward or not that they eventually rolled me into.
Anyhow, to make a long story short, the next morning after enjoying a hearty breakfast in bed, and refusing a stress test and a flu shot, they let me go with blood pressure prescriptions as well as one for anti-biotics. I know my blood pressure will spike again when i get the bill. i'm lucky that my insurance and medicare will cover most of it but my premium will probably rise, considering that it is not unusual for an emergency room visit to cost at least 12 thousand dollars!
Old age can be a bitch.