LLCoolBray

It's been five days, and I have received countless, sweet messages and texts, so I suppose it is time for an update on my health: #1. I feel fine. My body is giving me very few signals that something is wrong, which is both awesome and not awesome. I would probably do better with laying around if I actually felt sick! #2. We haven't found the right dose of medication to control my blood pressure, yet. It is still sporadically spiking to extremely high numbers, but not coming down below (or really anywhere near) 140/80.    #3. I returned to work yesterday, feeling confident that my BP would be okay (not perfect, but okay). I was so happy to get back to my kiddos, and spent the morning discussing my health and the science around it with them. It was calm and lovely.  #4. Apparently, a lovely morning was too much for my body, because when I had the nurse's aide check my BP at lunch, it was back up to crisis range. I scared the heck out of my colleagues (sorry,...

My dearest family and friends: Yesterday, I went to the emergency room for a hypertension crisis. As a relatively healthy 34 year old female who has had low blood pressure her entire life, it was quite alarming to see numbers near 180/115 on three separate blood pressure monitors. Apparently, this saga began sometime between December 2017 and August 2018. In December 2017, I went to the doctor and had my usual, perfect blood pressure of 110/65.  At a different doctor's office in August 2018, my high blood pressure was noted, but attributed to nerves. The same thing happened in October, and again last week. Last week, I was told that I should begin checking my blood pressure occasionally to make sure this is something that only happens when I am at the doctor. Imagine my surprise when, yesterday morning, I checked my blood pressure on a whim at Rite Aid and saw those huge numbers flash on the screen. The colorful wheel of blood pressure zones was actually maxed out with my resul...