I Thought I Was Dying. It Was Just GERD.

It started with pizza.

One huge slice of supreme from Dough & Co. That’s how my Friday began. Well, that and the blissful ignorance of thinking my body could handle anything I threw at it. Later that evening, I went to the Mainframe Studios open house with Sam. We nibbled on chips and salsa. Then came dinner at DZÔ Korean BBQ: fried chicken, chicken fried rice, and a lychee lemonade cocktail—basically a dream meal. Until it wasn’t.

The pain crept in like a bad Yelp review.

Around 7pm, I started feeling a dull ache in my left shoulder. I’d heard enough over the years to know that left shoulder pain could be a sign of a heart attack. I did what any rational adult would do: opened Google and spiraled. At 8pm, the pain expanded to my left chest, then the center of my chest. I couldn’t inhale deeply without feeling like someone was jabbing me with the blunt end of a chopstick. (Yes, chopsticks. Fitting.)

By 10pm, I was lying in bed, watching TikToks and trying to convince myself it was nothing. It didn’t work.

Midnight ER trip, solo edition.

By midnight, the pain was unbearable. I have a high pain tolerance—ask anyone—but this was different. I drove myself to the ER, checked in, and was quickly whisked into a room. Vitals, EKG, bloodwork, aspirin, wires, beeping machines—the whole hospital drama package. The doctor came in around 1am. I explained that the pain felt like heartburn... but different. Like the kind that doesn’t fully bloom, just lingers in a threatening way.

By 3am, I was in serious pain. Imagine someone pressing down on your chest from shoulder to shoulder. I paged the nurse. (It felt like it took her forever to arrive. Time moves weird when you’re panicking.)

They gave me a combination of liquid meds and an IV injection—later I found out it was ketorolac (pain relief) and a glorious cocktail of lidocaine + antacids (basically extra-strength Mylanta). The pain finally eased, and I drifted off to sleep.

The diagnosis: not a heart attack.

At 5am, the doctor returned with results. Blood tests looked good. EKG was normal. No signs of a heart attack. No blood clots. According to the discharge notes on MyChart, the likely culprit: GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). 

I went to the ER thinking I was dying. Turns out, it was just gourmet acid reflux.

The sensation lingered all throughout Saturday and part of Sunday. By Sunday evening, I was feeling better, but still hyper vigilant that I might actually have a heart attack.

Takeaways:

• Chest pain is scary. Don’t ignore it. Even if it turns out to be heartburn, better safe than sorry.
• Google is not a doctor. It’s a panic button with a search engine.
• Our bodies aren’t indestructible, no matter how delicious the food.
• That said… I’d still eat that fried chicken again. Maybe just with a side of antacid.