photo by Lara Herscovitch

When the Herald calls, you’re supposed to go tell the story. Sometimes the message isn’t for you, it’s for someone else.

In case it’s also for you — here’s mine.

Last fall I was stressed. It led to my up-chucking and having chest pain. And not doing much about it.

I was scolded by a doctor friend. He said: “If you’re having chest pains, you should address it — it could be a heart condition.”

So, I went to a cardiologist. EKG — ok. Stress test — passed. The good news, nothing wrong with my heart. I went to a GI doctor next; there is colon cancer in my family, so it was good to get all checked out. And, that was what was wrong. I got an endoscopy, which showed an infection. I took antibiotics for 45 days, now all good.

A couple months later, my cousin in Cleveland told me he was having chest pain symptoms. Having been scolded myself, I told him to go get checked out by a cardiologist. The Wednesday before Christmas week, he took a stress test, and failed after 3 minutes. They admitted him to the hospital five days later to put in a stent, which turned into triple bypass surgery.

Now three months later, he has returned to work and resumed normal life functions. He’s lost some weight, is eating a better — all those good cautionary things.

Sometimes the message isn’t for you, it’s for someone else. Heed the Herald. He was a walking time bomb.

Medical miracles are very much in my mind. As we get older, we all have difficulties. We’ve all gone through some things.

I had a surgical procedure in late October. My cousin had a triple bypass. And my sister had significant back surgery, including for spiked bone spurs on vertebrae. They took out discs, straightened her spine, put her back together. She got out of the hospital before Christmas and amazingly was walking again. She is now walking without pain.

It all falls into the miracle category, where we are with technology.

Heed the Herald, and get all the testing. When you have a doctor’s appointment and they say, “anything else?” — tell them. That one little thing may be something.

To reach Cornell directly: cornell168@aol.com

Learn more about Cornell at his YouTube Channel, Brown Liquor and Bad Ideas

print