What a week ..... and now I'm worried

Hi All - hope everyone is OK?

It has been one of “those weeks” this week.

For any of those of you who are interested in a "wide" range of information, gained via the Internet, maybe interested in trying a visit to digg.com (some stories I found interesting can be found below) But back to the story of my week so far ............

As many of those of you who per-us my missives will already know that I have become somewhat a martyr to my elbow. Well, this week was to be the pre-assessment visit to the local hospital.

As far as I was concerned, this was a formality. We (I) were only going to a short time from having this “inconvenient” elbow pain sorted out.

It was going to be a paperwork exercise.

Your name? Your Age?. Have you had ……?.

I think you can possibly work out what's coming. It was, of course , anything but that.

The whole interview actually started that way – confirmation of all those personal details that all institutions like to take, name, age, address …….

But then …..

“Just roll your sleeve up please – so I can take your blood pressure” – a comment that must be made in the NHS thousands of times a day. The reply and reaction, however, was NOT what I expected. The following 10 minutes turned into one of the most upsetting and frightening (maybe this is too expressive a word – but it will do) that I have endured for a long time.

Far – does to the Nurse, she took my blood pressure several times, and with both electronic, and the old fashioned Mercury Measure and hand pump – but either way, nothing could be changed.

“It’s nothing to worry about – but I’m afraid your blood pressures a little bit high, so we will have to postpone the operation until it can be stabilised”

Not a problem, I thought, its only a little bit high because of worry/nervousness at coming for the appointment – and i said this to the Nurse

I wished I hadn’t. The Nurse then explained the figures (and my “Nurse” type beloved also confirmed what the figures meant). I could have been in very serious trouble if things hadn’t been found out NOW. My blood pressure wasn’t just slightly high. It was very high. So high, in fact, that it was recommended that I take a trip to the Local GP’s ASAP. Even when I got there, a couple of hours later, things hadn’t calmed down any – it was still very high (not surprisingly, I suppose).

I have included a short section of the information about Hyper-tension as a way of indicating how high my reading was: (a link to the full description of Hyper-tension click here, or follow the definition link below)

What's classed as high?

There is a natural tendency for blood pressure to rise with age due to the reduced elasticity of the arterial system. Age is therefore one of the factors that needs to be taken into account in deciding whether a person's blood pressure is too high.

In general terms, people with a systolic blood pressure consistently above 160mmHg and/or a diastolic pressure over 100mmHg need treatment to lower their blood pressure.

People with slightly lower blood pressures (140-159mmHg systolic or 90-99mmHg diastolic) may also need treatment if they have a high risk of developing cardiovascular disease, eg stroke or angina (chest pains).

My average reading over five attempts was 200 over 135 – scary or what?

It was spelt out to me, in no uncertain terms. The possible causes, and potential consequences, the list seemed to be,some how, endless; although I know it was fairly short.

Head pain (greater than I have known with Migraines) – Strokes – Heart Damage – Angina – condition after condition, or so it seemed.

Hyper-tension ( definition )– as the whole thing has been termed, is not uncommon. Many people have the condition. Many people deal with it daily, and, with medication, have few issues and get on with their daily lives.

But,I have to be honest, it has scared the hell out of me. Cathys’ father had the condition. My dad had the condition – and it didn’t do any great favours for either of them.

Even though a follow up visit yesterday to the GP’s showed that the medication (and was I much calmer?)had brought my blood pressure right down to just outside the “that’s officially OK” levels, I’m still concerned. I guess that I will be for quite a while yet.I know this maybe daft to some – but if you have noticed there are no Smilies, no piccy’s, nothing to enliven the whole posting. I guess that its a subconscious way way of showing how worried I really am. Least ways now I know I have a problem, with the help of the medical services and my Family, I can sort a solution.

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