A few short hours ago, ok maybe not short but less than a full day and a half, you got word that your friend Wendy was in the hospital. Some many of you this came as a complete shock. You knew she had been going through a little stressful patch the lst couple months. You may have even heard her mention her swollen legs, or a headache, maybe just tired or overwhelmed. But you knew how strong this lady was, how active she was, and how stubborn she is, so you didn't really think twice about it.
Others of you may have known Wendy a little longer and know she's had a pretty rough life, and anyone who abuses their bodies like that will have to pay for it eventaully. So it wasn't a complete shock, but a little out of nowhere.
We will get to all of that another time.
My family and I headed out on Saturday afternoon for a weekend visit at ma's. We do this regularly (once or twice a month through the summer, spring and fall, 1 every month or so through the winter), and this was no special visit. Meredith's baby shower was this weekend, and Wayne needed KC's help. We would hang out for a day, help ma with a project for the baby, and I planned to help edited her final paper for her second college class.
When we arrived it was whole different story. Mommy pretty much looked like a zombie. She was fatigued, swollen, and not there....more than usual. After only a couple hours she started commenting on her legs. They looked swollen and sore. But to be honest, she's dealt with this as long as I can remember. They were a bit worse than I'd ever seen them. I also know that she has recently had a diabetis test, and it is clear and good, so I wasn't THAT worried.
A few more hours went on and I noticed her taking her blood pressure. OK, a couple weeks ago when she had her blood sugar checked, the doc told her she needed to monitor her blood presssure becasue it was bit high. He suggested she get some follow-up, and get to the bottom of it. Even gave her a couple possible diagnosis to ask about.
She commented on the reading of a blood pressure check that peeked my interest. It was 180 over like 90 something. So I started talking to KC. He suggested I give her an ultimatum, get it checked out before we come down next or we will take you in. He recently had some heart issues to deal with in his family, so this is all still very fresh in his mind.
A couple more hours go by and I see her take another reading. This time she is talking bout a pain in her arm pit, shoulder, and chest that makes her go check her blood pressure. These readings are usually higher than others. Then I saw her arm...swollen, puffy, no wrinkles...and not the good way. I said before that I've seen her ankles and feet swell, but never her arms and hands like this. I got a little worried, and went to researching. I didn't find anything good about high blood pressure and body swelling like that together.
All of this was happening while her significant other, Wayne, was taking every opportunity to let me know how worried he was about her. About stress levels, lack of sleep, refusal to just sit and relax, the pain, swelling, and a bunch of others.
So I took her for a ride to the store and had a talk with her. She decided she would go into the hospital voluntarily, but only because I was there and KC and Wayne were ready to put her in the van anyway.
Upon arrival at the hospital, her pressure was somewhere around 186/99...the triage nurse wasn't too happy to see that. She was very kind and concerning...until mom opened up and was honest about all of this going on at least 6 months if not a year. I am here to say that maybe the worst of it has only been going on that long, but all together she's had something going on since last Thanksgiving.
After a bunch of blood work, EKG, and chest x-rays, they decided to keep her overnight for monitoring and assessment. They couldn't treat or medicate anything because they didn't get a diagnosis. But just being off of her feet dropped the pressure to 176/77 in a few short hours. By bedtime (about 11) it was down to about 160/80 something (I believe)...In the morning it was more testing, including a stress test. Everything came back negative, she looks rather healthy apparently...But they are having her followup with a regular doctor immediately.
She goes in Wednesday afternoon. All in all we are very glad and thankful that she is not still in the hospital, we all know how well she enjoys being tied down to one specific space. But, the problem is not resolved yet, and can't be until the doctors figure what it is.
She is way over stressed, with family things, financial things, and education things...she needs to learn to take time outs for herself...and as her friends, loved ones, and what-not, we need to help her learn how to do this. We can start by showing her acts of kindness. One couple already made a huge effort by providing dinner tonight. That was awesome in two ways. It blessed Wendy and Wayne by feeding them without furthering this condition, and it helped me figure out how I was going to get half of my family home (an hour away) and take care of things around here. See these little things are the things she does for all of us...that we can give back to her.
Thank you again for taking the time to check in....
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