I’d like to make a different kind of report. When your body tries to talk to you, please listen. On Monday, August 24, 2009, I was out for my usual morning workout. When I was reaching the halfway point, something did not feel right. I was having trouble breathing. As a result I stopped and began walking slowly. Was I too hot or too dehydrated? No, this was something else. However, the slow walking did help me be able to breathe better and I was able to return home. There I decided that it was time to go to a doctor as this was the second change in what is normal for me. For the past few days I had noticed that my resting heart rate was 8 beat more than usual. I was convinced that there was something wrong in my circulatory system. When I arrived at the doctor’s office, I found that the next available appointment would not be until September 14. I insisted that that would do me little good as I was having serious problems now and there was tightness in my chest. Finally Physician’s Assistant Arthur Powell talked to me. He agreed that I needed help now. I was given an EKG and was examined by Cardiologist Michael McIvor. As I did not appear to be having a heart attack or a stroke, Dr. McIvor decided to have me undergo several blood tests, as well as an Echo Cardiogram and a Nuclear Stress test on August 31. In the mean time I decided that I should cut back on my exercising and only do leisurely walks which did not seem to stress me. When I did the Nuclear Stress Test, I was able to perform the exercise reasonably well; however, the recovery produce labored breathing. On September 3, the day to discuss the result of my tests, I went for a leisurely walk. I had much trouble breathing and had to sit down several times. It was obvious that my condition had gotten worse. Later I sat down with PA Arthur Powell and began going over the results of the tests. Everything was normal with the exception there was a somewhat elevated pressure in the flow to my lungs. After checking my lungs and noticing that my breathing was a little labored, he said that he wanted to do a blood test that would check for clots. It would be done right away and the results would be ready in 15 minutes. Of course I agreed. A normal result would have a number of 400 or less. My value was 5000. I definitely had a clot somewhere, most likely in my lungs that came from somewhere else in my body, such as my right calf, a place where I had experienced a strange pain a few days before this all began. To confirm the diagnosis I was sent to the Keys Diagnostic Center for a dye injected computer scanning test. Later in the afternoon when the results confirmed the diagnosis, I was told that I needed to begin the treatment immediately as clots could be life threatening. If I had not listened to my body and insisted on being seen, I could possibly have died.