The first time I heard I had a high blood pressure problem, was when I took my physical exam. to enter the U.S. Air Force in 1965. My blood pressure was too high to be admitted. It was during the Viet Nam war, and anyone entering the military during this time was anxious, apprehensive and nervous, which was understandable.
What the Air Force people did, was to take me to a room at the back of the clinic, and they told me to lie down and take a nap...and after the nap, they would check the blood pressure again. When I woke up, they checked my blood pressure again, and this time it was acceptable and I was admitted.
PRESSURE SORES
High blood pressure has been a life-long problem for me, so much so, that I have never been able to give blood. I've had a history of suffering from headaches, hypertension and nose-bleeds. And, I know how it all started. It all happened, when I was eleven years old, and me and my family went to a picnic in the mountains sponsored by the company where my father worked. It was at the picnic where I had an accident, which did damage to the neck and upper spine area, and the injury was never fixed! My evil father had good medical insurance with General Electric, but never took me to get a check-up, despite pleading with him!
I can write a book, on my personal battle with high blood pressure and headaches, but for the purpose of this short article, I'll keep it brief, and just point out the high-lights and low-lights of my battle with high blood pressure.
One Saturday morning, I was working around the house, and I noticed I was getting a cold and had flu-like symptoms for a couple of days. I didn't want to get the flu (or worse), and I had an HMO at the time, so I went down to the clinic to get checked out. When the doctor saw my blood pressure reading, he asked me, "Did you run down here this morning? Your blood pressure is much too high!"
A normal blood pressure is about 120/80, and the doctor raised the red flag, when he saw my blood pressure at 180/120! He told me we had to get the blood pressure down right away, before I had a heart attack! He wrote out a prescription for me, and he wanted me to come back the next day (Sunday) and that he would be in the office from 1-5...so the battle was on!
This was during the early 1990's, and at that time, veteran's could only get treatment at the VA Medical Center, if it was service-connected. This was also the time, when I lost my first job, and the HMO went with it. Lucky for me, the rules changed at the VA, and I could now get treatment at the VA, to get this problem taken care of.
Without taking medication for the blood pressure, every time a nurse or doctor takes my blood pressure, a red flag would go up! For the next five years, I went to the VA Medical Center to have my blood pressure checked twice a month. I also bought one of those little machines to check my blood pressure at home, too. Over a five year period, we went through about 10 different medications during that long period of time. When the dosage was increased...side-effects set in, and we would have to start over again. Needless to say, all of this was very frustrating for me!
After five years of record-keeping, and I took medication all during this time, the numbers were terrible for me! The average blood pressure for this long period of time, was 167/107, and all this has continued to raise the red flags! Five years is a long time to do anything...and some disturbing thoughts were beginning to cross my mind. All of us have to trust our doctors and medical people, to be sure they do the right thing. The issue here, was the possibility of guinea-pigging and/or experimentation! This is a scary thought, isn't it? How could I be doing this for so long, and the answer not be found? I was now caught between a rock and a hard place! What to do? If I quit going to the VA, what would I do then?
I think one of the best qualities a person can have, is to have an open mind to change for the better. My father would never be a good candidate, because he was a pill-popper, and expected results of his medical problems ot be overnight.
Throughout my life, I have suffered from crippling migraine headaches, and I was desperate to find a cure! Prescriptions of all types didn't help. In the mid-1970's, there were only two chiropractors in this town of 400,000. So, I decided to try chiropractic, and it took many years to get squared away, because I had been having problems for many years. In a period of 30 years, I have been to a chiropractor over 125 visits on my wellness plan. Some of my successes include: high blood pressure has dropped 20 points; I have not had a cold/flu since 1992; headaches are all but gone; nose bleeds are seldom; sinus/allergies are gone; those ugly cold sores on the lips are gone; sleep better, etc.
It all makes sense to me...as the spinal cord is the super highway of our body, and when there may be bumps and bruises, the answers may be in the spinal cord and corrected through manipulation. There are no drugs in chiropractic, and if you don't have patience, this is not for you.
I don't exactly remember the year, I think is was somewhere in the mid-1990's...I was terrified when I got a small stroke, which lasted about 20 minutes! I began to stutter...and I couldn't pronounce my name or where I lived! The words were coming out all wrong...and I didn't know what to do! Talk about PANIC! I immediately left the house, to take a walk around the park, and try to figure out what was wrong and what to do! During the walk, I would recite a poem; say other words out loud; and nothing...I was still stuttering! How can I exist with this stutter! Nobody will understand me!
Over the years, I have known a couple of people who stutter, and in this evil society, where teasing and put-down is a way of life...I couldn't take the thought of it all. Needless to say, this was one of the most terrifying experiences in my life. As fast as the stutter came on...it left, and now I could talk normally! I was over-joyed that I had gotten my normal speech back! I'll never forget this awful day as long as I live!
In 2006, I was having breathing problems, and was taken (ambulance) to the VA Medical Center. I was told by my doctor, that there was much fluid in my lungs, etc. He also told me that my heart was squeezing at only 18% and it should be squeezing at 60% or higher. A pace-maker was implanted during this time, and the weak heart was probably caused because of all the high blood pressure that I have suffered over the years! When a person has high blood pressure, the heart works all the time, even when the person is asleep...or is idle.
The VA Medical Center has a program (voluntary) called the Tele-Health Buddy system, which I am part of. It works over the telephone lines (wall phone), and the small appliance looks like a small television set, with buttons in the front to answer questions. Questions about the heart rate; blood pressure readings; weight and so forth, and I have to answer questions every day about my health. I've been doing this since late 2006, and I like it, because I can reach my coordinator with a phone call, instead of going through the VA bureaucracy, which may take centuries. It's all in knowing that you have high blood pressure and treating it. I continue to jog/walk 15 miles a week, and the pace-maker doesn't get in the way.
Over the years, I have never been a crusader for anything. It's none of my business if a person wants to commit suicide...one puff at a time; one pound at a time; one snort at a time; one drink at a time; or one heart attack at a time...it's none of my business!
The Silent Killer! (High Blood Pressure) PRESSURE SORES