Whether the treatment was better or worse than a third world country would provide is arguable. It was definitely more comfortable and probably resulted in a more definitive diagnosis. In my case it turns out the heart was definitely not the cause of the shortness of breath and chest pains. As it is my condition is currently classified as a "mystery" so my odds for full recovery would have been the same in either realm - unless a doctor going solely on the presenting symptoms had decided to perform a needless surgery.
This sounds eerily similar to my own situation. For over a decade I've been experiencing exertional/exercise dyspnea (shortness of breath) with concomitant retrosternal chest pain. All manner of stress testing and other diagnostic modalities effectively ruled out cardiovascular and pulmonary causes. So I carried on without definitive diagnosis.
Whatever is going on remains a "mystery". It'd be nice to know how many are in a similar diagnostic limbo. At least it might provide perspective to resolve the issue(s).
