Life’s Little Reminders

Yesterday we discovered that a very close friend of ours had a “mini stroke”, and had to have his carotid artery operated on to clear it out. That news made our blood pressure go up (thank goodness we both have low blood pressure). The symptoms were worrisome enough that he and his wife, who is a nurse, sought medical care right away, and it is a good thing they did! The older we get, the more our bodies throw crazy, unheard of, health issues at us! My husband ended up with a double lung transplant two years ago (he was never even on oxygen!) and now Tom had a “Transient Ischemic Attack”, also known as a “mini stroke”. He is doing very well, and probably will get out of the hospital today or tomorrow. Scary, you know? I mean, this is the stuff that is supposed to happen to our parents, not to us! Of course, these things did happen to our parents…both of mine are gone now, but I still think of myself and our friends as young. Certainly too young for strokes and heart attacks and lung diseases! Get better FAST, Tommy Boy! We love you.

The symptoms of a clogged carotid artery are the symptoms of a mini stroke…apparently that is how most carotid artery disease is discovered. At your annual check up your doctor could pick up a “whoosh” sound in your carotid artery, but I’m really not sure how many men go for annual check ups. (I found this guide online for checkups every guy needs, for each decade of life, because once there are symptoms, the disease has already advanced).

Stroke and mini-stroke symptoms may include:

• A sudden, severe headache with no known cause
• Dizziness or loss of balance
• Inability to move one or more of your limbs
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden weakness or numbness in the face or limbs, often on just one side of the body
• Trouble speaking or understanding speech

So, I take this as another warning that we cannot take anything for granted. I’m always anxious to do everything NOW. My 90 year old uncle and 79 year old auntie have not been to Dallas in many, many years for a family event. I finally just bought them airline tickets and said, get on the f#%king plane! (Yes, I did use the “F” word.) I pick them up tomorrow. My uncle really wanted to come, he told my aunt, “this may be the last time we see the kids”. You know what? He could be right. So do it now, folks!

Oh, this makes me want to eat fruit and go scuba diving!