What a Relief!

Well... That's a deep subject for shallow minds... :-P As one of my favorite movies, "White Christmas" so eloquently expresses about doctors... "I know of a doctor... sad to say, one day he fell... right into a great big well." "Oh, that's too bad." "No, no, not at all!" "Why speak in such a tone?" "He should've attended to the sick and left the well alone!"

Some of you may know that my husband has been plagued with chest pains off and on for almost the past year, starting with a bout of Pleurisy last April (We spent Gabi's birthday in the ER and he had to stay for 2 days in the hospital for tests... not fun!). Two other bad attacks and more test later, and no answers were forthcoming, yet Everardo says he hasn't felt 100% ever since the last April. Finally, we got him some insurance through work, and he was referred to a thoracic specialist, who we went to see on Tuesday. This Dr. was very professional and thorough, and when we were done talking and he had examined Everardo, he said I think he has Tietze Syndrome, or an inflammation of the cartilage that connects the ribs to the breastbone. He said it is a post viral response, which makes total sense considering that the bout of pleurisy they said was caused by a viral illness that had settled in the lungs. He said that it is generally benign, although it can be VERY painful, but seemed to think that we can break the cycle with a strong course of anti-inflammatories, and maybe some steroids after that, if the NSAIDS don't work after 2 wks. It was just such a relief to find someone who says "I think it is THIS", instead of so many others who only said, "Well, I can tell you what it's NOT..."

Hooray! There are still a few docs out there who aren't total idiots! My dad will never believe it! lol!