A few months ago Miss London started coming to my seniors group and because she no longer drives, her transport was with me.
I arrive to pick her up on a Wednesday morning, she throws a few grenades of outrageous behaviour into my previously sedate group and then, at her insistence, she buys us both lunch. Plus a take away for me to eat on Thursday.
Time spent with her in traffic jams and restaurants has revealed a constantly surprising woman, a "character" to put it very mildly.
Recently she has had some swelling in the legs and seemed to be on a never ending roundabout of investigations which didn't yield any information.
Eventually she saw a different doctor and was admitted to hospital. She told me her heart and kidneys were being investigated but she didn't have results.
After that my life got a bit crazy and I didn't see her for weeks but I finally got there on Friday.
Miss London was calm and matter of fact when she told me her heart muscle was not strong enough to properly pump her blood round. The former nurse acted as though she didn't know her condition is commonly called heart failure and I took my lead from her, trying to assemble my face to be as bland as if we were talking about a pimple. I thought I saw a faint greyness to her skin and asked if she was tired "A little bit but that's because I worked so hard in the gym today"
She insisted on taking me to the hospital cafe and when I ordered a croissant she said she would try one. It bends my mind to realise that she has never before had a croissant so when she declared it to be "nice" I promised I would take her somewhere to get the best croissant in Sydney.
I don't know how well she will be or for how long but our funny little lunch dates are about to take on a new poignancy.
Bless her. My dad has heart failure. Sometimes he is upbeat and with it, and at other times the complete opposite. Sometimes I think he's not going to last the week out and then he rallies - it's been like this for ages.
ReplyDeleteSx
I remember that same situation with my grandpa, we thought he would die a number of times. It's hard.
DeleteI guess if she knows her heart muscle isn't strong enough to pump blood properly, she must realise that's a serious condition. But she chooses to act as if it's nothing and carry on enjoying life to the full. That sounds like a healthy attitude to me.
ReplyDeleteFancy not having eaten a croissant before! Mind you, I'm not keen on plain croissants myself. I prefer a pain au raisin or Caffè Nero's apricot croissant.
Almond croissants are my fave!
DeleteHooray for attitudes like hers. And yours.
ReplyDeleteAnd I do hope that she thoroughly enjoys the 'best croissant' in Sydney.
I just have to find it!
DeleteCharacters make our life interesting. I hope some treatment will improve her situation.
ReplyDeleteTreatment has reduced h er swollen legs and she has a greater choice of clothing again so that makes her happy!
DeleteMy thought is that she would like you to respond with mild alarm and concern. The heart doctor told me the muscles on the right side of my heart quit pumping. Then, he declared something else. Now, he thinks it is spasms in my esophagus or a heart problem. So, maybe she will be okay after all.
ReplyDeleteThere is a woman in WM who has heart failure and works long hours. She is very upbeat. I was uncharacteristically calm (for me) when the doctor told me the right side of my heart was not beating at all.
How old is she? I wonder how a person gets to a certain age and never has a croissant.
Maybe I should have been more concerned but she was so calm I actually had to reassure myself that it's so serious.
DeleteI hope you get to the bottom of your health concerns, it's frustrating to go around in circles.
She's 82, imagine 82 years without a croissant!
She sounds like a real character. I hope she has many, many more years ahead of her. The world needs people like that to make it interesting. Good luck to her!
ReplyDeleteShe is a character! She often recalls a friend of hers telling her to "be nice" and her standard response was "I'll be Miss London!"
DeleteMy mother had massive swollen legs and after many, many tests, they discovered one section of her heart wasn't working properly, that was 2 years ago and she'd still going strong. It's her mind that's letting her down, not her body.
ReplyDeleteWe have such great understanding of so many aspects of medicine and the heart is so well studied that I can't imagine why these heart things seem so hard to diagnose!
DeleteI'm sorry about your mum and all the related issues, you do a great job!
Both of you obviously enrich each other. I salute you for being there for her at this particularly poignant time.
ReplyDeleteThank you, my friend
DeleteMy father had similar heart problems and for him, at least, it was controlled fairly well with medicines that made his heart beat more strongly. Digitalis is one such medication. I hope Miss London gets proper treatment and has a few more good years in her!
ReplyDeletei didn't know it was possible to make the heart beat more strongly but i know heart patients are often on reduced fluids to reduce the load on kidneys
Deletei hope i get to do a few more thigs with her
Mrs. London sounds like a great person to know. Can't imagine not tasting a croissant before, I am glad you had the experience of sharing that with her. Heart and legs, I can relate.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
She's a funny old thing! A friend tells me her fussy eating is not a case of not liking things but of never having tried. I hope to change that because she's missing out!
DeleteIt's so nice that Miss London has found a friend in you. Happily, she sounds like someone who refuses to conform to the old lady stereotype.
ReplyDeleteShe does refuse to conform! It's not so long ago she was still driving a car look a hoon (not that I condone dangerous driving)
DeleteHopefully her feistiness will help her as she faces this tough journey and boy did she luck out getting a ride from you!
ReplyDeleteLast year she was in hospital and feeling very sorry for herself, predicting her imminenet deat but when I asked if she had her things in order she perked right up and told me she was going nowhere!
DeleteLike you and others I can understand how you feel because my Dad had chronic heart failure when he was in his late 80s and 90s. It can be very debilitating (as you know) but people can soldier on for a long time even without some of the specialist treatment that is available to some people.
ReplyDeleteThe fighting spirit can get people a very long way!
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