Bad things happen when blood doesn't stay in its vessels!
My granny had genetically high blood pressure from a young age and maybe some genetic weakness in her vessel walls as well.
This lead to aneurysms, 3...
The first one happened shortly after my mother was born, and she had emergency neurosurgery..this is risky now and even more so then!
Somehow she survived but was never the same. She also never bonded with my mother as she spent my moms 1st year of life in the hospital and rehab. I never knew or understood, I just thought my granny was mean! Really mean....hot sauce mean!
When I was 8, we were living in colorado with my paternal grandparents and I stayed up late one night reading...A call came in and I knew it was bad, so many hushed tones in the kitchen. My granny had an unknown abdominal aortic aneurysm and it ruptured during the night...Somehow she survived!
The final aneurysm was in her brain, I was 16.....
She was having regular checks by this point, having survived 2 very rare and severe events already.
My mother worked with my grandfather in their home and my sister was there. My mom and grandfather were in the office and Jenny and my granny were in the living room. My granny made a salad and was eating on the couch. Jenny said she got up and went to the bathroom. She seemed fine previously and didnt hint to any discomfort. Maybe she had a headache come on suddenly or nausea. Jenny grew worried and called attention to my grandfather and mom who then found her in the bathroom. There she had gotten sick and was collapsed. My mom said she seemed to have just a few seconds of awareness and fear in her eyes but then it was gone.
She was on a life support machine for a few days but it was clear the damage was severe and they pulled her off. She was able to donate a few tissues and was cremated.
I wish she could have kept her blood pressure under control and maybe stopped sneaking smokes here and there...although it might not have done much to help. It seemed she was destined for vessel instability. However one thing of note...the last 6 months of her life was the nicest I ever saw my granny be, did she know? She made my sisters and I afghan blankets and just was generally very very unusually pleasant, maybe she had some 6th sense about it.....
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
My heart tale
We are getting into the cardio section of A&P and it takes me back to my big heart scare!
I was having palpitations a lot and feeling really run down. One day while at the med group for something unrelated I started to have another run of palpitations so I decided to ask the dr about them. He really blew me off as I was young and not overweight, had no risk factors. I was so upset and refused to leave until he at least listened with his stethoscope.... He refused, but I wasn't going to leave. Finally another dr stepped in and ordered a EKG. It, no surprised came back abnormal. I was sent for a stress test and that was abnormal too! Then they sent me for a stress test with imaging, and to my horror it showed that at my hearts peak, there was a round area on my heart about the size of a dime that the dye did not perfuse too.
I was sent for an angiogram....I was terrified! They told me how 1 in 300 die on the table and if there was a problem with my heart they may just send me straight to the OR and crack my chest! Here I was with a little baby and I might be dying!!
I wrote Abby a letter the night before my operation, just in case I died and she would never know how much I loved her! That letter is still in the back of her baby book!
They took me back and I felt like I was an airplane on a tarmac, just in a long line of old people waiting for there angiogram procedures. Just a line of hospital beds...it was so odd. I got even more odd looks for being young and healthy looking....
I don't remember the procedure even though I was technically awake..to cough when they asked me too. Coughing clears the dye out faster, before it can irritate things.
They found no abnormalities and that was that!
I moved a month later and as it goes with the military, they lost my records for the 1st of 2 times. I never really had any more follow up.
When I exercise or my heart skips beats sometimes I am struck by fear and just remember that little black circle where red should be...I hope I am ok
I was having palpitations a lot and feeling really run down. One day while at the med group for something unrelated I started to have another run of palpitations so I decided to ask the dr about them. He really blew me off as I was young and not overweight, had no risk factors. I was so upset and refused to leave until he at least listened with his stethoscope.... He refused, but I wasn't going to leave. Finally another dr stepped in and ordered a EKG. It, no surprised came back abnormal. I was sent for a stress test and that was abnormal too! Then they sent me for a stress test with imaging, and to my horror it showed that at my hearts peak, there was a round area on my heart about the size of a dime that the dye did not perfuse too.
I was sent for an angiogram....I was terrified! They told me how 1 in 300 die on the table and if there was a problem with my heart they may just send me straight to the OR and crack my chest! Here I was with a little baby and I might be dying!!
I wrote Abby a letter the night before my operation, just in case I died and she would never know how much I loved her! That letter is still in the back of her baby book!
They took me back and I felt like I was an airplane on a tarmac, just in a long line of old people waiting for there angiogram procedures. Just a line of hospital beds...it was so odd. I got even more odd looks for being young and healthy looking....
I don't remember the procedure even though I was technically awake..to cough when they asked me too. Coughing clears the dye out faster, before it can irritate things.
They found no abnormalities and that was that!
I moved a month later and as it goes with the military, they lost my records for the 1st of 2 times. I never really had any more follow up.
When I exercise or my heart skips beats sometimes I am struck by fear and just remember that little black circle where red should be...I hope I am ok
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Im Back!
Time for A&P II
I am feeling a bit nervous this semester...taking this class and micro at the same time :/
I spend so much time to do the best I can (get an A) and I hope I can do that in both classes!
So we are jumping into the endocrine system and blood the last 2 weeks.
We talked about diabetes insipidus which is when the hypothalamus is not producing or the pituitary gland isn't releasing ADH (anti diuretic hormone) Also it can be caused by the kidneys being insensitive to the hormone.
I had this a couple of years ago and I peed excessively. I went to the doctor thinking I had a UTI and that was not the problem. They had me do a 24 hour urine catch and in that time I had over 6000 ML which is excessive!
They took me to an Italian cancer hospital for a brain MRI, they thought I may have had a tumor in my pituitary gland. There was no tumor altho my pituitary or hypothalamus (I cant remember which one) was slightly swollen and larger than normal. Over the next 6 weeks scans showed it continue to head back to a normal size and slowly the diabetes insipidus ceased as well.
I was an interesting and somewhat frightful experience! I didnt get to ask a lot of questions or have a great understanding of what was going on. My PCM was general and the Italian neurologist was pretty hard to understand at times!
I am feeling a bit nervous this semester...taking this class and micro at the same time :/
I spend so much time to do the best I can (get an A) and I hope I can do that in both classes!
So we are jumping into the endocrine system and blood the last 2 weeks.
We talked about diabetes insipidus which is when the hypothalamus is not producing or the pituitary gland isn't releasing ADH (anti diuretic hormone) Also it can be caused by the kidneys being insensitive to the hormone.
I had this a couple of years ago and I peed excessively. I went to the doctor thinking I had a UTI and that was not the problem. They had me do a 24 hour urine catch and in that time I had over 6000 ML which is excessive!
They took me to an Italian cancer hospital for a brain MRI, they thought I may have had a tumor in my pituitary gland. There was no tumor altho my pituitary or hypothalamus (I cant remember which one) was slightly swollen and larger than normal. Over the next 6 weeks scans showed it continue to head back to a normal size and slowly the diabetes insipidus ceased as well.
I was an interesting and somewhat frightful experience! I didnt get to ask a lot of questions or have a great understanding of what was going on. My PCM was general and the Italian neurologist was pretty hard to understand at times!
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