Ranting

[stickmaker]

 
This is me venting. If you don't want to read a rant about personal stuff, feel free to ignore this. I just feel a need to vent. 

I got so little sleep last night I started yawning and fighting a headache shortly after admitting I wasn't getting back to sleep and getting out of bed. Among other reasons, the cats were fussing. The weather is bad enough that even though I opened the cat door after feeding them earlier (then going back to bed and to sleep for a short while) they're mostly staying inside. 

So. Skipped breakfast, had an early lunch, lay down for a nap. About ten minutes later - just as I've managed to doze off - the phone rings. It's my Mother. I figure she's calling to ask if I'm going to Lexington tonight. Nope.

"What happens when your blood pressure is too low?"

"You pass out."

"Oh, don't say that!"

She gave me her number - something line 95/60 - and I said that didn't sound all that low. How many times had she taken it? "Once." I asked about her blood sugar (she's mildly diabetic) and she said that was fine.

I told her to check her pressure again and hung up. She called back with slightly higher numbers, but said they were still too low. She insisted I get online and look up the symptoms of low blood pressure. None of which she had. I had to explain three times that there were no hard numbers about blood pressure being too low, that there was no need for concern unless she got some of the actual symptoms. I confirmed that she had eaten and drunk enough for breakfast (dehydration can cause low blood pressure) and told her not to worry.

Sure enough, in less than five minutes she called back and said she was feeling dizzy and faint. 

"Your doctors' office closes at 11 on Saturday, right?" "I don't know!" "Well, I'll be over there in about fifteen minutes. If you're still feeling bad I can take you to The Little Clinic at Kroger's." "I never thought of that!"

The nurse there checked her twice about ten minutes apart. Her pressure was normal both times. I took her home and had her check with my pressure cuff. Again, it was fine. She checked with her machine. That read low, though not as low as before. (I needed three tries to get her to understand that the number below the pressure was her pulse. On her machine.)

She didn't have any AAA batteries (her pressure machine takes two, but the low battery symbol wasn't showing) so I left my pressure cuff for her to use.

I'm still very short on sleep, and she's still having dizzy spells (so am I, likely due to this front moving through) but her pressure is fine and her gut has eased off. I'm still staying home tonight. Just in case. Mother does have legitimate health problems and this could be a prelude to something.