Lockjaw

Mid salami sandwich, the pressure and pain of what feels like a golf ball suddenly lodges in my throat and doesn't respond to multiple efforts to swallow.  The sensation of choking borders on intense and then without any warning, radiates into my jaw, flowing evenly up both sides of my face until it reaches just below my ears. I remember a post I recently read about heart attacks in women and with a panicky kind of shock realize that this was exactly what was described and my mind races trying to recall the other symptoms.  I'm still doing this when it stops as suddenly as it started and after a minute or two I'm inclined to shrug it off but the jaw thing has gotten my attention.

Listen, I tell my handsome and gentle natured doctor a day or so later as he listens to my tale of woe and then to my heart, I understand that you can't smoke like a chimney, not exercise, live on chocolate and get to be 65 without expecting some consequences but please tell me that these are symptoms of something besides cardiac arrest.

Like what? he asks and his smile gives him away.

Indigestion!  I offer, acid reflux, eating too fast, lockjaw!

Lockjaw? he asks, raising his eyebrows and peering at me over his reading glasses, An intriguing possibility but not likely.  He patiently explains to me that the nerves in the heart are connected to the nerves in the esophagus and that if something catches in your throat - a chunk of salami on white bread, let's say - pressure and pain radiating to the jaw aren't all that uncommon.  You had no other symptoms, he adds calmly, and it passed quickly.  I'd bet my bass guitar there's no heart issue but I'm sending you to a cardiologist for an evaluation, just to be thorough.  He gives me a hug and a wink and sends me on my way.

Considering my age and lifestyle - both on the regrettable side - I am in remarkable health.  Granted, I do keep my teeth in a glass at night but I have no replacement parts and no chronic complaints.  Still, I think as I leave, it might be time to make some changes.  Chocolate honestly isn't a major food group and a daily walk isn't likely to kill me.

On the other hand, there's always time to worry about such things tomorrow.