If you are a regular reader of my blogs, you will know that Ma has been a bit off and a bit of a trial for me.(oh, and I'm not complaining, just making an observation)
Last week she went to have some bloods done.....complained all the way there...and most of the way back.
She doesn't take well to any incursions into her normal routine of the day.
The blood tests were a preliminary to her yearly diabetic review.....another thing she hates.
When she had her blood tests last week, they also checked her blood pressure....the readings seemed very low to me and I suggested that perhaps the health care assistant should bring them to the attention of the doctor.
When Ma had her heart attack recently and was diagnosed with heart failure, she was put onto beta blockers as well as her other blood pressure meds......I asked if this was normal and was told that it was.
Being the cynical blighter that I am I went away to dear old Doctor Google just to check....yes, what they had told me was right.....how could I doubt them?
Then of course the phone went on the fritz...What we didn't know was that the HCA had spoken to the doc and he had left instructions for someone to telephone Ma to ask her to drastically reduce her ACE inhibitor......that her low blood pressure was affecting her kidney function.....which was why Ma felt tired, lethargic, no appetite, nauseous.
Anyway this message didn't reach us until after the telephone engineer had worked his magic on Monday.
We were asked to go to the surgery on Tuesday as usual......for the dreaded diabetic review.
So I was up at Ma's most of Tuesday getting her sorted for this trip out.
I suggested that she had some lunch before our 2 pm appointment.
She opted for a burger king Angus burger....another food not on her list of approved grub....But I got it for her anyway.
She hoed into it and said she had really enjoyed it.
When we went to see Louise, I explained what had been going on..... And I told her that in my 68 years I had never seen Ma be anything other than positive.....I never saw her cry when we lost my dad, but that in the last two weeks I had seen her cry and get upset twice.
She also said it would be easier to let go of life than to hang onto a life that had no joy, only restrictions in it.
It upset me to see Ma so low because there was nothing at all I could do to make it better.
The good thing about this visit was that Louise had told Ma pretty much the same as I have been saying for weeks.....we can break the rules, we can transgress....we can have something to lift us....one of those banned substances because life is about the quality, rather than the quantity.
What good is it to live to 100, if those extra years are destroyed by restrictions and 'don'ts'?
Louise also reinforced the information about taking meds on time and eating meals regularly....for which I am grateful.
Over the last couple of days Ma has seemed a little brighter....her spirit is not quite so low......and today when I went to see her I took my iPad and tried to link in to a wifi hotspot so that I could FaceTime my sister in Brisbane.
I have tried to do this many times and have failed.....but today, oh joy.....we got through.
So Ma had a face to face conversation with my baby sister in Brisbane.......and she was delighted.
My sister was very happy too.
We have to go for repeat blood tests tomorrow, but I am hoping that the lift in spirits and the face to face phone call will give Ma the heart and the strength to do it.....oh yes, she might just get another Angus burger too!
Last week she went to have some bloods done.....complained all the way there...and most of the way back.
She doesn't take well to any incursions into her normal routine of the day.
The blood tests were a preliminary to her yearly diabetic review.....another thing she hates.
When she had her blood tests last week, they also checked her blood pressure....the readings seemed very low to me and I suggested that perhaps the health care assistant should bring them to the attention of the doctor.
When Ma had her heart attack recently and was diagnosed with heart failure, she was put onto beta blockers as well as her other blood pressure meds......I asked if this was normal and was told that it was.
Being the cynical blighter that I am I went away to dear old Doctor Google just to check....yes, what they had told me was right.....how could I doubt them?
Then of course the phone went on the fritz...What we didn't know was that the HCA had spoken to the doc and he had left instructions for someone to telephone Ma to ask her to drastically reduce her ACE inhibitor......that her low blood pressure was affecting her kidney function.....which was why Ma felt tired, lethargic, no appetite, nauseous.
Anyway this message didn't reach us until after the telephone engineer had worked his magic on Monday.
We were asked to go to the surgery on Tuesday as usual......for the dreaded diabetic review.
So I was up at Ma's most of Tuesday getting her sorted for this trip out.
I suggested that she had some lunch before our 2 pm appointment.
She opted for a burger king Angus burger....another food not on her list of approved grub....But I got it for her anyway.
She hoed into it and said she had really enjoyed it.
When we went to see Louise, I explained what had been going on..... And I told her that in my 68 years I had never seen Ma be anything other than positive.....I never saw her cry when we lost my dad, but that in the last two weeks I had seen her cry and get upset twice.
She also said it would be easier to let go of life than to hang onto a life that had no joy, only restrictions in it.
It upset me to see Ma so low because there was nothing at all I could do to make it better.
The good thing about this visit was that Louise had told Ma pretty much the same as I have been saying for weeks.....we can break the rules, we can transgress....we can have something to lift us....one of those banned substances because life is about the quality, rather than the quantity.
What good is it to live to 100, if those extra years are destroyed by restrictions and 'don'ts'?
Louise also reinforced the information about taking meds on time and eating meals regularly....for which I am grateful.
Over the last couple of days Ma has seemed a little brighter....her spirit is not quite so low......and today when I went to see her I took my iPad and tried to link in to a wifi hotspot so that I could FaceTime my sister in Brisbane.
I have tried to do this many times and have failed.....but today, oh joy.....we got through.
So Ma had a face to face conversation with my baby sister in Brisbane.......and she was delighted.
My sister was very happy too.
We have to go for repeat blood tests tomorrow, but I am hoping that the lift in spirits and the face to face phone call will give Ma the heart and the strength to do it.....oh yes, she might just get another Angus burger too!
