A mom's sudden pain was a deadly heart condition. An ultrasound on an iPhone helped save her life.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. My father's experience with a dissected aorta.

My father was 92 and a retired cardiologist, so you'd imagine he knew something about this condition.

He shouldn't have been driving b/c of the series of MVAs he had. One day, he rear-ended a van at a gas station, hitting his chest on the steering column (no air-bags). He refused medical attention and an ambulance. He took a taxi home and didn't tell me or my siblings about the accident.

B/c he didn't follow up with a doctor's visit, he was unaware that he had a partially dissected aorta, and he was having a slow bleed into his chest.

One week later, he experienced a pronounced backache. Instead of visiting a doctor, he chose to get a massage, which was the last thing he should have done. Let's say it speeded up the evitable and he suffered a heart attack hours later, and he died.

My point: even a cardiologist misdiagnosed a fatal backache. The symptoms may be more nuanced than a crushing pain in your chest.