When things start going wrong.

[fpb]

Yesterday I left my nephew in his parents' hands. My mother left for Rome - and promptly found that she had misread her ticket and was half an hour late to catch her flight. She managed to get there on time, only to find that it was two hours late. Meanwhile I went home and promptly fell sic with a painful, ripping sort of cough that rises right from the lungs - I can feel them practically being torn every time I cough. The savage weather is devouring heating fuel at a rate I cannot afford, let alone that I should go out today or tomorrow and get the money and pay for the heating, and I really, really do not feel like it. Worst of all, day-before-yesterday I had a scary fit of unfocussed sight. For half an hour I could not focus on anything, so much as to read the price on a food label. This leads me to fear that my sight might be in danger - which is just about the worst thing I could think of. Finally, when my mother finally got home, she found that the filthy weather - which is blanketing not only England, but all of Europe - had got to her own mother - my last surviving grandparent - and that she has slipped into a coma. It is only the icing on the cake that the weather seems to have got the Pope as well, and that he too is apparently in danger of his life. We will have another Pope, but I am not going to have another grandmother, nor, if the danger is verified, another sight.

Comments

[rfachir.livejournal.com]

Stay warm and hydrated and feel better soon. I am very paranoid, so don't be too concerned, but please Get to a hospital if you feel any of these:
Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

You have one symptom, it may be nothing, but time can make a big difference. Make the appt with the doctor now and let them decide how fast they want you to be seen.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I do not think I am feeling any of your symptoms, but I will keep them in mind.

[rfachir.livejournal.com]

I freaked about "For half an hour I could not focus on anything". I have to learn to take what people write with a grain of salt. After all the strokes in my family, my warning bells started ringing. Sorry to lose perspective like that.
Please look after yourself. You and your family are in my prayers.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Believe me, I am keeping it very much in mind, but I do not think that it is related. Its appearance did not coincide with the rise of the illness (it was a whole day earlier, and I felt just fine in the in-between), and to my mind it seems rather to relate to the way my view has deteriorated over a couple of decades. (I ought to wear glasses, but since I do not drive I rarely actually need to.) Also, none of the other symptoms you describe seem to apply. (I did suffer from violent headaches in my youth, but that was twenty years ago.) I have, however, already told my doctor that I want to consult him again, and I will discuss the matter with him.

My father's family does have a certain history strokes; my grandfather had four before he died, and my father recently suffered from thrombosis. So I am not exactly taking the matter lightly. And I value your concern, believe me.