Birthdays & medicine/if only....

[pomtzu]

Tomorrow, my brother John (the middle kid), would be 72 - if he had lived. But he had high blood pressure, and refused to take the meds for it prescribed by his doctors - said he didn't need any. He got away with it for a while, and continued on with his life as usual, until at the age of 59, he suffered a massive stroke and never lived another "life as usual" day for the rest of his life. It was all downhill from there, and he passed away at the age of 64 from numerous complications of the stroke.

And all because he felt that he didn't need the meds, and was just fine without them. My surviving brother (who will be 77 on the 14th) and I, both have no doubt that John would probably still be with us today - if only.....

Such a waste of a brilliant mind, a happy-go-lucky, funny, compassionate, generous, practical joker of a guy who was loved by all who ever had the pleasure of meeting him, and who was taken way too soon. I sure do miss him, and I'm sitting here typing this as the tears flow again, just remembering the whole situation, and wishing that he had listened to the doctors, to his wife, to his son, to his brother and sister. If only......

Please friends, don't do what my brother did. If your doc says you need such and such a med, then take it. Don't think that you are invincible and will be "just fine" without it. True - you might be for a while - but you will surely pay the piper in the end. My brother did.

Love you Johnny, and think of you so very often. Sure wish you were here. If only.....

[Bonny]

Sorry to read about your brother & he could of prevented it too.

My mom did a similar thing. She was SKIMPING on her blood pressure pills.

She didn't want to go in for her physical (smoked also) & her sister had passed away so she missed her. The doctor filled her prescription one more time & she was to go in for a physical.

Well she SKIMPED on the pills had a major stoke lasted 17 days & passed away 10 years ago this December. The doctor was pissed at her & us. We didn't realize she was SKIMPING on the pills till after her stroke. So SKIMPING on your medicine is not a good thing either.

[Karen]

A good message. High blood pressure is known as "the silent killer" for good reason.

If a doctor gives you a diagnosis or a prescription you don't trust, do get a second opinion, but if you have something like high blood pressure, take it seriously!

[phesina]

So sorry about your brother. My sympathy to you and all who love him.

A good lesson here...

[smokey the elder]

That's sad. There are a lot of older blood pressure meds on the market which work very well, and are not pricey at all. If the patient's situation requires a more expensive drug, there are a lot of mechanisms out there for getting help; one has to be willing to ask for it.

[Daisy and Delilah]

Good message to everybody, Ellie. I know how painful this is for you. My sister doesn't fully understand why she should take her blood pressure pills on a regular basis. I think I'll forward this story to her if you don't mind. Thank you for posting it.

{{{{{ELLIE}}}}}

[pomtzu]

Good message to everybody, Ellie. I know how painful this is for you. My sister doesn't fully understand why she should take her blood pressure pills on a regular basis. I think I'll forward this story to her if you don't mind. Thank you for posting it.

{{{{{ELLIE}}}}}

Please feel free to pass this on to your sister, Terry. And to anyone else that might care to pass it on - please do.

If this story helps to save only one person's life, or a family the grief of dealing with a situation such as this, then it will certainly be worth the time.