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January 29, 2005
Too Close For Comfort
My family had a bit of a scare today. The medication Mom has been on to slow her heart rate after the surgery (it used to speed up way too much), made it slow down too much this morning--a side effect of the medication. In fact, her heart was pretty close to stopping completely. She had felt dizzy and lightheaded and even passed out a few times. She called for my dad, but he was all the way on the other side of the house and he almost didn't hear her. Luckily he did and when he found her, her heart was only beating about 20 times a minute (normal is around 70-80bpm).
So my dad called 911 and the paramedics rushed her to Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. They worked on her and put a temporary pacemaker on her and now, everything is looking very stable. Her heart rate is set at 71 and her blood pressure and respiratory rate are back where they should be.
Mom's scheduled to have a permanent pacemaker implanted on Monday and I told Dad to get her one of those panic buttons that you can wear around your neck that calls 911 automatically through the alarm company (like in the "I've fallen and I can't get up" commercials). He's also going to install an intercom system in the house. And I told Mom: "No more near death experiences, ok?" She agreed.
Posted by Amy at January 29, 2005 09:48 PM
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Thanks everyone! She got the pacemaker today and the doctor says everything is fine. We'll see how it goes for the next few days or so, but there shouldn't be any major problems from now on. At least, I hope not. I'm going to visit her this afternoon. My brother's coming in to town tomorrow to help my dad take care of her (for a week) when she gets out of the hospital and then I'll help him on the weekends.
Posted by: Amy at January 31, 2005 02:47 PM
My goodness!! I agree with you about the panic button, just in case. I am glad your mom's doing fine now.
Posted by: Mary at January 31, 2005 09:17 AM
Wow, that is certainly a scare, I hope it doesn't happen again!
Posted by: Jessica at January 30, 2005 11:27 PM
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