Philadelphia: Cheesesteaks

[elSicomoro]

It would seem that after only living in Philadelphia a year (as of Sept. 30th), my days of cheesesteak connoisseurship may be severely curtailed, if not over.

Off and on for the past few months, I've been experiencing chest pains. I wasn't having symptoms of a heart attack, more like bronchitis. I also figured that maybe I had pulled a muscle, or slept on my left side wrong. In addition, I was without health insurance from the beginning of July until September 1st, so I was hoping to hang on until then. The pains would come and go, but nothing serious...until noontime today.

As I was taking a claim, a severe pain hit me in my chest...I then felt a head rush so intense that I felt as if I passed out for a second. The pain lessened, but I felt very woozy. I then went on my lunch and figured I would see how I felt afterwards. The pain and wooziness continued...by this time, I was in tears. For the first time I can recall, I was truly terrified of dying. By 1:30, I decided this was enough and left work. Given that my doctor and hospital are within 2 blocks of my house, I decided to make the 45-minute drive back home. Trying to call my doctor was useless--couldn't get through. Since I have the option of going to the ER directly (w/o a doc's authorization), I chose to do so.

To my surprise, I was seen rather quickly, and the staff at Frankford-Torresdale Hospital were very courteous. At one point, they had to wheel me from the ER over to radiology. Rather than use a wheelchair, they wheeled my whole bad, which was actually fun.

Fortunately, I was told that I didn't appear to have a heart problem. When I went in today, I had a pulse over 110 and a temperature of 100 degrees. (Which could probably be attributed to my fear.) My EKG looked okay and my rhythm was normal. But then I got the bad news:

--First, they tell me that my heart may be abnormally large. They say it could be proportional to my size (b/c I am a big guy), but they're not sure. More tests will be needed.

--Secondly...the obvious:

RN: "Do you smoke?"

Sycamore: *looks guilty* "Yeah..."

RN: "Well, I smoke, so I'm not going to give you a big lecture. But we noticed that you have diminished lung capacity, which could be due to your smoking."

As I said, the obvious. I've only been smoking for 6 years, but I smoke...a lot. I've tried to quit on several occasions, most recently in January. I've seen people with voice boxes and have seen the pictures of emphysema-damaged lungs. I already know that they're bad for me.

But for some reason...something went off inside. I'm not sure what to call it...an alarm, a sign...I dunno. After being released from the hospital after 3 or so hours, I decided to have a bit of a gorge:

--one 2-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper
--one 2-liter bottle of Sunkist Orange
--one pack of Marlboro Milds
--one king size Almond Joy
--a $9 buffet at the Farm (at Franklin Mills)

I will probably have a cheesesteak tomorrow...preferably from Philip's in South Philadelphia.

I can't say for certain that I can easily kick my bad habits. I may even cheat along the way. But I already had one alarming situation in June, when Rho was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure. I knew my time was coming...and that time was today.

I certainly feel I have a right to enjoy life to its fullest, including surveying the world for that next awesome cheesesteak. But I'm only 2 weeks shy of 26, and I'm not ready to wreck my body so easily. It's time to not take it to such excess...