False alarm

I'm sorry for the lapse in my blogs, but on Saturday I woke at 4 am with a terrible pain in my left shoulder, something that has happened before, but not as bad.  I took my blood pressure (I have a little machine) and it was high, so I waited a while and took it again and it was higher, so I repeated that and it was very high (210/90).  So we drove to Laniado Hospital and they checked me and admitted me. 

They said it was good that I came in, but it wasn't a heart attack, the pain in my shoulder was not connected.  But, they had no explanation for it.  They gave me an injection of voltaren and that relieved it (so must be muscular).  Also they gave me something to lower my blood pressure, but my pulse went down, eventually to 35, much too low.  My pulse is usually very low in the 40's-50's.  I told them I don't take hypertension tablets because they lower my pulse.  But, I got two contradictory responses from the cardiologists, one said there are drugs that lower the blood pressure but don't affect the pulse and another cardiologist told me the high blood pressure was because of the low pulse, in other words they are connected.  I'm confused, but I'm going to see my GP today with the results and the write up from the hospital.  In summary, they told me I probably need a pace-maker, but I can put it off until I actually pass out!  What kind of a scientific test is that.

There are two mysteries involved here, why do I have this sudden extreme pain in my left shoulder (it is still there, only lessened) and why did my blood pressure read so high on my little machine, that has worked consistently well until now.  Was it a true reading or not?  I believe the machine, after working consistently well and giving what seemed to be accurate readings in previous days, may have misfunctioned, so I'm taking it to the doc for testing.  I thought of that at the time, but I couldn't take the chance that the reading was indeed correct and ignore it. 

Actually I was glad that they kept me only 3 days in the hospital (and part of it on the weekend, since Laniado is a religious hospital nothing much happens on Shabbat).  I wanted to be out by Monday for the beginning of Wimbledon, but I couldn't tell them that.