Not a Heart Attack: Costochondritis Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe costochondritis, the sore, tender ribs that many writers first took for a heart attack. Most stories begin with a scare: a school bus driver who drove herself to the emergency room, a student whose roommate called 911, a man who went three times in one month, a woman whose father died of a heart attack at fifty-eight. Causes writers point to include chest day at the gym, a rugby tackle, a baby carrier, a bike fit, a sofa used as an office, shovelling snow, a cello resting on the breastbone, chest compressions on a night shift, pneumonia and a falling scaffold clip. The voices include a family doctor, a firefighter, a Lagos bank manager, a Kingston hairdresser, an Accra tailor, a potter in Falmouth, a pastor in Dallas and the mother of a thirteen-year-old hurt during press-ups, from Galway to Manila and Thessaloniki. Writers describe ECGs, X-rays and scans, heat pads, physiotherapy, an injection one woman dreaded for months, and why anti-inflammatories were not an option for another. Many urge getting checked first, every time, especially those with heart disease or every risk factor. Not every story ends neatly: one writer is a year and a half in, another has had four episodes in eleven years, and several describe fear that lingered after normal tests.

Who it's for

For people told their chest pain comes from the ribs rather than the heart, and for the parents, partners and friends who sat beside them through the monitors, the tests and the slow weeks afterwards.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 281 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.