thank You
i almost ignored her complaints. while i was waiting for my mom to pick me up from the hospital, she called me up. she said she would like to have her blood pressure taken coz she could feel her heart beating like a drum.
i almost told her i would get her blood pressure when we get home. i really wanted to go home early that day because i wanna try a new game in my pc. if i did just that, i think i would never have forgiven myself.
when my mom arrived in the hospital, we went to the ER so i could borrow a BP apparatus and a stethoscope since i don't have mine with me (radiologists don't really need those things). her BP was 120/80 mmHg which was normal, considering her age, weight and other co-morbidities. that was her usual BP, by the way. then i auscultated her heart. that's when i realized my mom wasn't just over-acting. her heart beat was really fast and the rhythm was irregular.
i looked for an IM resident in the ER and asked him if he could check on my mom since i couldn't just order an ECG there. the ER wasn't my territory. on ECG, my mom's heart rate was in the 150s which was way above normal. th
ere were also some irregularities, i.e. premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). considering my mom's medical history, it was possible that she was having a heart attack at that time.
a cardiac monitor was immediately attached to her, they inserted an IV line and gave her medications to slow down her heart and prevent progression of her condition. a work up was done to totally rule out a heart attack and determine the cause of the SVT and PVCs.
thank God her cardiac enzymes were normal. the only thing that was abnormal was her magnesium level. it was below normal which could have caused the PVCs. just the same, they kept her in the hospital, corrected the deficiency, adjusted her maintenance medications and made sure it wouldn't happen again...knock on wood.
during that time, i kept thinking, what if i insisted on going home? what if it was really an MI? what if? then i realized, the what ifs were not important. i made the right decision. what prompted me to do that is, i think, Divine Providence.
thank You.
i almost told her i would get her blood pressure when we get home. i really wanted to go home early that day because i wanna try a new game in my pc. if i did just that, i think i would never have forgiven myself.
when my mom arrived in the hospital, we went to the ER so i could borrow a BP apparatus and a stethoscope since i don't have mine with me (radiologists don't really need those things). her BP was 120/80 mmHg which was normal, considering her age, weight and other co-morbidities. that was her usual BP, by the way. then i auscultated her heart. that's when i realized my mom wasn't just over-acting. her heart beat was really fast and the rhythm was irregular.
i looked for an IM resident in the ER and asked him if he could check on my mom since i couldn't just order an ECG there. the ER wasn't my territory. on ECG, my mom's heart rate was in the 150s which was way above normal. th
ere were also some irregularities, i.e. premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). considering my mom's medical history, it was possible that she was having a heart attack at that time.a cardiac monitor was immediately attached to her, they inserted an IV line and gave her medications to slow down her heart and prevent progression of her condition. a work up was done to totally rule out a heart attack and determine the cause of the SVT and PVCs.
thank God her cardiac enzymes were normal. the only thing that was abnormal was her magnesium level. it was below normal which could have caused the PVCs. just the same, they kept her in the hospital, corrected the deficiency, adjusted her maintenance medications and made sure it wouldn't happen again...knock on wood.
during that time, i kept thinking, what if i insisted on going home? what if it was really an MI? what if? then i realized, the what ifs were not important. i made the right decision. what prompted me to do that is, i think, Divine Providence.
thank You.
posted by kero at
11:50 PM
2 Comments:
Divine providence, yes.
Also, angels, Doc Kero ... do you believe them? I do. At that time, your angel must have been working overtime to "push" to pay attention to your mom's complaint first and I am glad you did.
I'm also happy your mom is safe.
By the way, an OFW-friend gave me a self-taking BP monitor that also tells me if my heartbeat is irregular. I'm so happy when I started taking my BP regularly. I average 110/80. :)
I get a lot of that from my own mom. Sometimes it would be her usual mild hypochondriac self acting up, sometimes it's the real thing.. Her BP and heart rate shooting up.
I have learned not to be impatient when my mom worries even if sometimes it really is nothing. Iba talaga pag mommy mo na ang may nararamdaman.
God made you NOT ignore your mom even though you really wanted to go home right away. Thank God and all the angels.
Miss you.
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