Thursday, November 29, 2018 - Blood Pressure Spike; Dentist Appointment; Another Doctor Appointment in Joplin
I was so happy we didn't have to rush around this morning and I enjoyed taking my time. I'm not sure why, but this morning I remembered my blood pressure had been up when we saw our primary care provider about 10 days ago. She told me to monitor it at home at let her know if it remained high. I remember at the time, I thought maybe the reason it was high - we ate Chinese the night before plus we had other meals during the previous week with more salt than normal- which definitely affects me. With all we have had going on, I had forgotten all about checking it. So, I took my blood pressure this morning and was surprised to find it was still high. I had not taken my medicine yet this morning, so I did that, and drank a lot of water. I didn't feel bad so I hoped it would improve as the day went by.
Our dentist appointment was at 10 in Columbus. Dean was called back first and it wasn't long before I was in a chair too. When she took my blood pressure it was a little lower than the reading at home, but still high. Fortunately it was within the range they would go ahead and do my cleaning. She said it if it had been just a couple of points higher on the bottom reading they would not have done it today. I mentioned my gums had been tender the past week or two - and learned that can be a sign of an increase in blood pressure. Good to know! My cleaning went well and there were no problems. I was happy about that.
We returned to Oswego and after making us a sandwich for lunch and eating an apple I just rested until it was time to head to Joplin for my appointment with my lung doctor. My sister Cindy is going with me and she is driving. I checked my blood pressure a few times and by the time she picked me up it had dropped even more. We left a little earlier than needed for my appointment so I could stop at the Dollar Tree in Joplin to pick up some Christmas gift bags. Evidently everyone must be needing them - there wasn't much to choose from. I managed to get a few sizes I needed, but I will need to look for a few more.
We arrived at my doctor's office at 3:00. I checked in, gave her my name and appointment time of 3:15. She couldn't find me, and after a minute or two, she said your appointment was at 2:15. I told her I was just here yesterday to confirm the time of my appointment after receiving a reminder my appointment was at 3:15. I reminded her I wanted to check on that as I had a different time on my calendar. After looking it up, she confirmed that my appointment was at 3:15. Needless to say I was a bit irritated over that. It was after 5:00 before we left the office! At least Cindy and I had time to visit while waiting.
The good news was my blood pressure was normal when they took it, AND both my pulmonary function test (PFT) was great, and my CT scan showed the area where the sarcoidosis is has continued to shrink. He reduced my dosage of prednisone, and told me in 3 mos. to reduce it again. He wants me to have another CT scan and PFT prior to my appointment with him in May 2019. At that time he'll decide if we need to continue treatment every six months or annually. I feel blessed that other than the initial two months while they did tests and made the diagnosis I have felt pretty good, and I feel great today! My face swelling and weight gain was a nuisance but most of the swelling in my face has disappeared and I've managed to lose some of the weight gain.
The thing I hated most about the wait was for Cindy. She gets up very early (4am) every morning to go to work. It bothered me that because of the error, she was so late getting home.
Dean was wondering about me and was glad when I walked in the door a little after 6. He had a busy day as well, doing tasks around Bentley. With it being so late, we just had another sandwich and apple for supper. Afterwards, we watched another Christmas movie, and we were in bed before 10.
We have very little on the agenda for tomorrow, for which we are thankful!
That sounds like a long day but a necessary one. First off, I'm glad your blood pressure is being monitored and that it lowered throughout the day. Sometimes diet isn't enough to stabilize it so your meds are important. I'm glad the dental appt. went well too, but especially the CT and PFT tests. They are all new to me, touch wood, but I'm sure such a relief with each 6 month check up to hear they are good results. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Today BP was a little high when I woke, but was fine after taking my meds and still good 12 hours later, so I suspect it was mostly what I was eating during the last few weeks. We ate too many meals out with all we had going on - and those meals tend to have much more sodium than meals we fix at home. I'll be keeping a watch on it though to be sure.
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