As I’m nearing my 50s, I realize now that if I had just listened to her in my 30s, my 40s would have been completely different.

As I sat there in the thin blue gown, my feet rested on the cold metal tray. The paper covering the bench crumpled and split beneath me as I shifted slightly trying to get a little bit more comfortable. Just as I started drifting off, the door opened quickly bringing me back to reality as my doctor walked in. She pulled up my electronic chart where she had just received the results from my heart monitor test and blood work. We were trying to figure out the slew of strange symptoms that I felt like I was too young to be experiencing. Complete & utter exhaustion, heart palpitations, swollen ankles, irritability, unexplained weight gain, stomach issues, shortness of breath, just to name a few. Most symptoms on their own are easily written off but I was in my 30s not my 70s for crying out loud! 

I remember the discussion like it was...