There seems to be no end of icky things the body can fall prey to, and I seem to glom onto the oddest of them. Yesterday, I was feeling the effects of low blood pressure: a bit of dizziness, weakness, that feeling I get before fainting. It came on while I was waiting to be hooked up for dialysis. I mentioned it to the nurse, who took my blood pressure reading and verified I was outside “normal”.
They have a prescription medication for me at dialysis for low blood pressure, which is good because they won’t let me leave at the end of treatment if my blood pressure is lower than 90/60, which it was three times before I got to leave yesterday. I tell you this so you understand why I didn’t post yesterday: With low blood pressure, I felt much better stretched out on my bed than in any other position, so I took a rest.
My pretty boy Andy!
My kitties, of course, came to my bedroom and kept me entertained until I conked out. Andy dozed on my walker, and Dougy walked on me, stopping to knead me from spot to spot. Cats!
Today is “spa day” for the boys. Given my light-headedness from yesterday — I feel a touch of weakness today, too — I was concerned I might not be able to catch the cats to put them in the carrier.
Dougy poses nicely for this profile shot.
My fears were unnecessary! Dougy walked up to me at the computer, and I reached down and picked him up. No problem! Andy was on a favorite box perch in the kitchen. I walked up to him, reached down and picked him up. Again, no problem! I had the boys in the carrier all within two or three minutes. I got them to the groomer fifteen minutes early.
Glad the boys were mellow for you/ I have had some real Mack Sennett Keystone Kops scenarios getting cats into the carrier. Though I try hard not to signal, they always seem to know. My mum had low blood pressure and it can be quite unsrttling, good you are getting help to keep an eye on it.
I’ve learned how to do it. As you note, they seem to figure out that something’s afoot, and find favorite hiding spots, pronto! I learned I have to close doors to places they like to run to to hide (under beds, behind the washing machine). I Also don’t dress to go out until after I catch them because they pick up on that really quickly and put 2 + 2 together quickly. I find that they are easy to catch when I let them do their usual trailing of me. I just reach down, pick them up, and put them in the carrier. If the second one didn’t see me catch the first one, I’m ok, otherwise I can have one captured and the other on the lam for half an hour or more! Of course, when I open the carrier to put the second one in, the first one tries to escape, so that gets problematic.
Hope it will be better soon
It’s controllable with medication!
Good to hear they have medication for you and are treating you now for that condition. Your cats seem to know when they need to cooperate for you, and when to entertain you. That is good! Resting when you need to is a good policy. Hang in here, Doug.
The medications seem to be working out fine, with no side effects!
Cats seem to know when you need help.
They do that!
I understand what you feel ,Doug because with the gardening and the commanded walk after my spine surgery In December 2014 I am also a bit tired at times . This night, for instance ! 🙂
The cats have been adorable with you . They are almost nurse boys !! 🙂
On the picture Andy has a commander look and Dougy is a bit shy. You made a superb photo of Andy’s eye.
Take care of you
In friendship
Michel
Thanks! It’s fun trying to photograph the boys because they are black and hard to make decent photos of.
Yes, it takes some time to recover one’s vigor after hospitalization. I was hospitalized for two weeks, but took seven weeks of therapy to get somewhat back on my feet.
If only we could magically average our blood pressure! Mine has been inching up for years, so 135/ 94 is typical … if that got magically averaged, we’d both be better off.
How true! Mine, on the other hand, hasn’t inched up, and I periodically deal with fainting or feeling like I’m on the verge of fainting. I don’t like the feeling. The big difference is I now acknowledge when I feel that way and let a nurse or doctor know. (Going in for dialysis three times a week has helped me be better about keeping the medical people involved in my care.)
I am not particularly fond of the medical profession, but know it would be wise for me to learn to trust some of them a bit more.
One needs to keep an eye open and ask questions if one has doubts. Ultimately, we have the final say on what they do to and for us.
I agree. A few times, I’ve had the distinct impression they were more interested in padding their savings than fixing the problem…. my opinion of pharmaceutical companies is even lower than my general opinion of doctors…. fortunately, I have a family physician that I trust.
I get that feeling, too. For example, it made no sense whatsoever to send me to a care center in Scottsbluff for therapy when that same service was available in my hometown (less than an hour’s drive away), where I tried to get them to send me in the first place. The only thing that I could figure out was there was a dialysis center in Scottsbluff that was part of a corporate chain of dialysis centers, and that dialysis center was the same chain as the one in Denver, where I had dialysis after I went to a care center in Denver for therapy. (Again, I could have had the same therapy and dialysis in my hometown, but they arranged for a Denver stay over my recommendation they at least check out the ones in my hometown.)
That is crazy! I’ve seen a lot of nutty stuff in the healthcare industry – seems to have something to do with networks, and not much to do with logic.
That article a couple years or so ago in Time magazine on how individual hospitals charge for each element of a bill was appalling and showed good cause to take the healthcare industry out of private hands.
Yep, then once they got it out, they could raise rates as they pleased … kinda like what a Walmart does when the enter an area.
Insidious!
Exactly!
I hear ya Doug. Even though I’m on meds my blood pressure can dip as does my heart rate, When it does…it’s always sudden and lasts for what seems like hours but its probably a few minutes. Yours lasted way longer. It’s just as well you have to stay at dialysis till its up to normal. I feel pretty crappy when this happens so you must feel even worse with the symptoms lasting so much longer. Ain’t life grand!! Where else could we feel this way and not have to spend money for the privilege. To get this feeling at the midway would cost a lot of money and we get the feeling for free! hehe
Andy and Dougie will always make you feel better. Dougie is such a character and Andy is like Kali, a big love.
Jean
I’ve had that thought, too, Jean. Why people would deliberately put stuff in their bodies to feel that icky baffles me.
Yes, I get a lot of love and joy from the two kitties, and that was the thing I missed most when I was in Denver and Scottsbluff getting better.
The boys knew you were not up to enduring their antics and they behaved !
Or were naughty where I couldn’t see or hear them! Ha! No, they were good boys.
Paws crossed fur you Uncle Doug that you feel better!!! Woof!
Thanks, Maggie! Just looking at the beautiful photo of you hanging on my wall puts a smile on my face!
Aww thank you!
My pleasure, puppy!
Helpful animals when you need them to be may be a first!
I get paranoid when they seem solicitous . Ha!
I am sorry you had another complication, but at least you were in the right place for it to happen. I am glad you were able to catch Dougy and Andy easily. I wish I lived near your groomer, they always look good. My Poor snowball looks like ET 🙂
Athena and Sarah before her both do/did great work with the boys. I love the teddy bear cut (which Sarah suggested after the first haircut), and the boys always look great after getting this particular cut. I think the fact that they are cooperative with the groomer contributes to the final look, too, though Andy tends to get bored. When that happens, his groomer knows it’s time to finish up.
Make no mistake about it — your kitties sense when you are not feeling well and they go into protective mode … I am not totally unconvinced that they even have their own way of praying for us when we are not feeling well.” I know that might be outside the box but it is how I feel.
They do have some sense of how we are, for sure. I know I feel comforted when they seem to be trying to make me feel better when I am sick.
Oh dear Weggie, low blood pressure how it is I know, sometimes it happens to me too… I am glad you are better today. Your cats seem so good today, didn’t make you tired… Thank you, have a nice weekend, Love, nia
I’ve had it for years. I have passed out because of it, actually, but it’s only been recently that I’ve had any medical care for it.
I see, take care dear Weggie, and take a rest too.
That’s my best bet at this time.
Take care of yourself…..the BP thing is just crazy….I never had a problem until last year and now I must take meds for a high pressure….what happened? The boys look good….chuq
I have no choice! LOL! The low blood pressure issue seems bizarre to me since most people have the opposite problem if they have a BP problem. Since I can function when it gets extremely low, I’ve never seen it as a problem until recently. Perhaps the benefit of dialysis is my medical issues don’t get set aside, that “guy won’t go to the doctor unless he’s dead” thing….! I see my medical team three times a week, and they make sure I toe the line and see doctors when needed or get prescriptions.
You have a good team…my mother had low pressure but hers was from something to do with her thyroid, I believe……take care my friend.
Yes, that is one of the reasons for it. They are evaluating mine now, with the purpose of fine tuning my medication for the condition. Mine doesn’t seem to be related to my thyroid.
Good luck and be safe
I am more conscious of the condition now, what the signs are that I need to back off from what I’m doing at the time. I also can measure my blood pressure at home, so have that additional information.
With low blood pressure you can live to be 100 – they told my sister. Unless, of course, you faint while driving. So it’s all well that they are not letting you drive.
I do drive, though I’ve never fainted while doing so. I get warnings that I’m having low blood pressure and know to stop what I’m doing and rest till the feeling passes. It may be a minute or two or it may be 15-20 minutes.
I am sorry that you have yet one more thing to deal with. I’m glad your babies were helping you.
You know the kitties would be there for me! Ha! (They know who puts out the food, eh? And scritches their chins and those special spots they like scritched….!)
It is love, I think. More than cupboard love.
I hope so!