Wanna go bleed? They called me down to NIH for more platelets today. Going at 12:00. Have you explored this yet?<P>They joke with me and say my platelets are the only ones with a "head" on it.<P>Dave

WAT -<P>I know you won't believe me, but I still have the telephone numbers, etc. that you gave me on donating. I haven't called yet, because I have a few health concerns and wanted to make sure that I wouldn't give anything to anyone.<P>I guess that's why I haven't been posting as much, either. I know you don't want to hear this, but oh well . About 2 weeks before Christmas, I started having chest pains, shortness of breath, and chest pressure. I thought maybe I was coming down with a chest cold or something. Anyway, three days before Christmas my MIL and my H took me to the emergency room. In addition to all of the above, I started feeling nauseous. Now, mind you, I'm only 32 years old - so I hoped I wasn't having a heart attack - but it felt that bad.<P>Anyway, they ran a bunch of tests - EKG, Xrays, Enzyme Tests, yadda yadda - and thank God, I wasn't having a heart attack. They were able to rule out immediate concerns, but needless to say, I had to follow up with my doctor - who ordered an echocardiogram this past Friday. <P>I haven't heard anything, but it's really weird. I mean my pulse rate is 45, my blood pressure is 120/70, EKG was fine - so there's no blockages, but they still can't figure out why I still have shortness of breath, and chest pains - they think it could be an inflamatory thing, but I guess they need to rule out other possibilities with my heart, lungs, and others.<P>It's actually gotten pretty pitiful. I've always been a very active person - playing sports all though high school and volleyball in college, working out, lifting weights, running, cardio, etc. . .So, it's frustrating that yesterday I went to the gym to ride a stationary bike (the first thing I've done in over a month) for 30 minutes and could only go 20 minutes without feeling like I was out of breath. Normally I work out at least an hour a day - plus a couple of hour-long workouts in the evenings, and volleyball on the side.<P>They've pretty much ruled out Asthma, Bronchitis, Pneumonia, heart attack, blot clots, but they still don't know what's causing my symtoms. Last night I went to volleyball practice (and I'm used to playing in day-long tournaments, beach tournaments, etc.) and I was dog-tired after 20 minutes or so. <P>At first everyone thought it was muscular - pulled a chest muscle or something - but they have kind of ruled that out, too. They think it could be an inflammation around the lining of my heart - or it could be something with my lungs. Or it could be nothing.<P>So, I didn't mean to share my medical problems for all the world to see, but I wanted to let you know that I still have the information on my desk here at work (and I try not to keep too much on my desk - I'm a neat-nik). So, I know it sounds like I'm making excuses, but I'm not, just postponing the donation thing - at least until they find out what's wrong with me.<P>Anyway, happy bleeding, again. I am going to try and talk a walk at lunch time - wish me luck. I usually get out of breath within 15-20 minutes - it's horrible. I've never been this immobilized in my life. I hope and pray that it gets better.

SKM:<P>Don't want to bust in on WAT's thread, but I sincerely hope that you're doing okay, feeling better, and that this turns out to be nothing serious. I can only imagine how scary it must be to have a health problem like that, and I'm FULLY aware of how frustrating it can be to not work out as you were used to (I haven't that much since d-day, and it's been driving me crazy).<P>Good luck at the doc's, hope your walk is enjoyable!

Whoa! - OK, get better. Keep us posted. I'm nearby (I think) if you guys need anything.<P>Dave

Thanks, guys.