nwr: my mom UPDATE#1

My phone rang this morning on my commute and it was a nurse from the hospital my mom works for....her birthday is MONTHS away and it's not a 'special' one (i mean like 40, 50, 60...milestone..) so i knew it wasn't about a surprise party or something...so i started crying immediately....all she could do was tell me she was there and the phone number to call her at (room) (of course, due to HIPA, she can only do that much)....

my mom (and me too) have always had extremely low blood pressure, to the point that we get asked if we're alive by nurses...except that suddenly my mom's spiked in recent years and has been high for a while now...but her doctors overlooked it and refused to treat it...she changed her diet and everything...finally they put her on meds a few months ago but it didn't help and their neglect resulted in a preventable stroke and now she is sitting in the hospital awaiting an MRI to see how bad it was!!! I am floored...I could've lost my mom....i am absolutely livid with her doctors and have demanded she seek her records and give them to one of the cardiologists she works with (she's a cardiac specialty nurse) for him to see if their treatment was negligent...i am NOT a fan of medical malpractice lawsuits, but this was preventable, treatable and was a huge red flag that went ignored for years. I am grateful she is alive, but i am worried about what lies ahead...she is also 600 miles away otherwise, I'd be right there with her and not at work...ugh, i'm at work. i sent her flowers, nice pretty ones she'll love.

i am not posting this for hugs, though i will take them graciously, i am posting this for you all to read and take to heart....if your parents or anyone are struggling with blood pressure, stress anything that is related to the heart, INSIST they have it thoroughly checked out. another thing to look for is if someone's face becomes flushed and stays that way...not like on a hot day...but if when they are calm and relaxed and their face is all flushed like they just been working out, this could indicate heart disease as well. it could save their life! my mom was smart enough to be worried and when the cardiologist office she called refused to see her for 3 more weeks, she went to the ER.

stepping off soapbox now.




update:

my mom is feeling better and says her face isn't numb anymore. (wow...she never told me that) she isn't going home today for sure, she isn't sure when she'll go home. she just sounds so weak...actually she sounds weaker today than yesterday, but maybe that was the shock making her strong yesterday? my friend is bringing her a toothbrush (only thing she needed...how cute) today (my friend works near the hospital...thank God for angels). i am a little concerned about when she will go home and how that will go down...will she be able to go to work?? hopefully she can but that it will be desk duty for a while? (she is a nurse at the same hospital) I told FH that we are changing our eating habits whether he likes it or not (since we seem to both have some family history developing...last summer his gma got sick with something sodium/blood pressure related) he agreed and didn't even get mad when i pointed out it would cost more to be healthy. i am teary right now and the dang phone keeps ringing!!! grr. i should get back to work ( ) but i wanted to let everyone know she's feeling better.