The Night It Started
Hi, I’m James, and I’m 46 years old.
This is the story of my gut — and my journey to medical hell and back.
About two years ago, I woke up around 2am with a searing pain in my chest.
Brutal. First thought? “Well, that’s it. Goodbye. I’m having a heart attack.”
The worst of it passed, but I was up the rest of the night — chest burning, agitated, like something inside me was seriously pissed off. The next day I felt a bit tender, but otherwise okay.
Then it happened again the following night.
Same time. Same burn. Same sense of panic.
Totally Normal… Until It Wasn’t
Before that night, I was pretty healthy — or so I thought.
I’m a normal weight, average height, and relatively fit for my age. I cycle around 200km a week, didn’t have any major medical issues, and had never been the “sick” guy in the group.
Sure, I drank — sometimes too much — and I wasn’t exactly a poster child for clean eating (junk food was a food group, let’s be honest). But overall? I was just a normal, boring, average guy with a pretty average lifestyle.
Nothing that screamed “your digestive system is about to declare war.”