Doctors Say This Common Symptom of Grief Will Kill You if You Let It
I could have been another statistic.
How did I get here?
120/80 is normal. A bit less than that is optimal.
My blood pressure reading three months following the death of my wife was 198/130.
I answered my own question. My wife died.
That’s how I got here.
That particular doctor’s visit was five months ago, as this week represents eight months since I unexpectedly lost Lorie.
It was a fraught visit, to say the least.
The doctor asked me how long my pressure had been so elevated. I told him I honestly did not know as my wife passed three months before and I was never diligent with doctors’ appointments.
He told me if the numbers were stress-related due to my then-recent loss, it was understandable. He also told me, however, if those numbers represented a consistent blood pressure read I ran the risk of suffering an imminent stroke or heart attack as a result.
He struck a nerve. Lorie died from complications of a major hemorrhagic stroke, caused by the bursting of an undetected brain aneurysm.
