It happened.
My desk phone rang at work. The caller ID displayed JD’s cell number. He NEVER calls me during the day because they’re so busy, so I immediately knew something wasn’t right.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, alarmed.
“I’m having trouble breathing, so they’re sending me home. I have a doctor’s appointment later,” he replied.
“Do you want me to come pick you up?” I asked, worried about him driving himself.
“No, they’re having someone drive me.”
So, I talked to my supervisor (who, luckily, is very understanding) and left to meet JD at home. I didn’t want him to be alone at the house if he was having trouble breathing, and I wanted to be home in time to drive him to his appointment.
He told the doctor that he’d been coughing the past few days, and that he’d starting feeling a tightness in his chest that morning, along with some nausea. The chest tightness got worse when they were doing something active or when he was stressed, which made it difficult to breathe.
“Well, we want to rule out an angina attack,” she said.
I felt my body tense. His HEART?! I’d considered many scenarios throughout the afternoon, but that was certainly not one of them.
However, once she listened to his lungs, she quickly diagnosed him with bronchitis, saying he “wasn’t moving air properly.” She prescribed 2 inhalers and told him he didn’t have to take any time off since he probably wasn’t even contagious anymore.
What JD didn’t tell me till later was that his instructors had sent him to the nearby fire station earlier in the day so they could check him over and make sure it didn’t have to do with his heart. I’m glad he didn’t tell me that earlier because that would have sent me into a panic for the rest of the afternoon.
So all is well and he’s back at work... just in time for pepper spray day....
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