I called mom today. She’s doing really well. She got up this morning and is now walking around. She had to wait until the incision in her femoral artery healed before she could even sit up.
The change in her voice is startling. She’s clear and alert. Her breathing isn’t labored, like usual. And she said there’s been no pain in her legs, which she’s dealt with for the past 10 years or more. I’m no doctor, but it would make sense. When your heart isn’t pumping efficiently, by the time the blood gets down to your legs, you would probably have very weak circulation, which would make your legs ache. And the harder your heart has to pump to get the blood through those clogged arteries, the more taxing it is on your lungs. Now that she has the stents in, the blood is flowing better and it’s less work for her body.
If you’re a doctor and I’m wrong, please leave a comment.
She said she figures she probably had a mild heart prior to this. She had, what felt like, heartburn. She’s never had heartburn before (lucky woman). It lasted about three hours, then went away and she didn’t think anymore about it. But then Saturday night, it started up again and really hurt her throat. She said the pain went down to about the middle of her chest, and her left arm was tingly. But she’s felt that before, so again, she didn’t think anything about it.
Then early Sunday morning, in addition to the heartburn, she got hot flashes, but then would cool off really quickly. That’s when she woke dad and said something wasn’t right. It wasn’t just heartburn.
The nurse at the hospital said back pain, especially between the shoulder blades, is a clear sign of heart attack as well, but mom has had pain in her back for 30 years so, again, it just seemed normal to her.
She doesn’t know how long she’ll be in the hospital, but I’m much more comfortable with her there right now. I’ve been reading up on stents and blood clots are a concern at this point. The weather is horrible and roads are icy, so if something were to happen, it would be difficult to get her even down to the little clinic in town. With her at the big ol’ hospital (which is two hours away), she’s surrounded by doctors 24/7.
Thanks for all the good juju. Despite mom’s protests (“Did ya have to tell EVERYONE?!”) she really does appreciate it.
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We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog…
2 comments:
Good to hear that update on Mom. And she can't blame just you for telling EVERYONE. Your Dad did a pretty good job telling a bunch of us. I told Lorraine, and Lorraine gave her a call. She just needs to realize there are so many of us who love her and are concerned about her. I'll give her a sermon on that. I still haven't yelled at her, and probably won't, but I can give her ONE sermon. Love You All. MM
It's fascinating how men's and women's heart attack symptoms are so different. The sad thing is that not too much research has been done on women and heart health.
xo!
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