Hi Canned....I've had this for many, many years and this one thing I'll say: It does seem to get better with time. In the beginning even breathing was a problem. Have you ever been told about "Tincture of Time".....it's true, a lot of things settle down with time. In a certain manner of speaking, it's its own medicine. I hope that's true of yours. It always hurts, if I think about...which I did just now.. And yes, mine starts in the abdomen, very deep and seems to work it's way up. A good Osteopath or even a PT who knows what they're doing may help with what is known as myofascial release. Look it up, it's far too detailed to go into here.
I do know how difficult it is to have both the heart and the ribs to worry about. Often the symptoms overlap, and that's extremely difficult. That's why I ended up with Congestive Heart Failure in April....and it wasn't much fun. Thank goodness it was right before the worst of COVID began. My feet are still swollen and I still have plenty of rib/chest pain. I'll wait it out, as the doctors, nurses, etc., have examined me and assured me that my lungs are clear (where does this very thick cough come from?) and so it goes. I've learned, all these years later, that getting upset doesn't help one thing. I have learned meditation, and proper breathing techniques (by all means learn the breathing...it's on youtube.com is quick and really does help). And then I have severe allergies overriding everything. Do you, out of interest? I now have 5 stents and yes, realize that I'm on a pretty slippery slope. That's fine, I've been fortunate and above all, I have learned and helped many others. These are the important things to me, apart from my family being the most important. I love talking to younger people, finding out what goes on in their minds today, and what their hopes and plans for the future are? In return, I hope they've learned something about me and what it's like to be in the older age range. Well, yesterday I was young; today I'm old. That's how fast it all goes and we're swept right along with the current. But I've learned, oh how I've learned and yes, this illness has played a huge part in it. Sometimes it isn't an enemy...think about it. Take good care, and I hope you feel better and feel better soon. Yours, Lenora.
