My Dad was in the hospital!!!

Ok, so I need a SPANKING!!!! or as my Granny would say -- a WHIPPING!!!!

Today my Dad had to go to the emergency room because his blood pressure was over 220! Yes, 220!!! Earlier today, he was at my sister's house and complained of dizziness. My sis is a nurse so she took his blood pressure. When it popped in at over 220 they called the ambulance and rushed him to the hospital.

Turns out he had not taken his blood pressure medication in 3 days and his body was not reacting too kindly to that. He said he hadn't had time to go to Walgreen's to get it.

Not good enough, dad. You can do better.

So, first, I chewed him out for not calling one of us to help him get his medication. Then I chewed him out because he didn't tell me he was in the hospital, I just so happened to call him and heard all the beeping noises! "Well, I didn't want to worry you guys.." DAD!!!!!!

Then I had to slap myself on the wrist because Dad said, "Well, I get it now. The nurse explained to me the consequences of high blood pressure."

I'm sorry, back up. WHAT? I'm an OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY student! My sister is a nurse. My other sister is in school studying nursing. How the heck does this happen??!!! Shame on us for not educating Dad more on the dangers of high pressure. Dad's bp is high because of his weight. Period. The docs always say he's in good health, he just need to drop some weight.

It's shameful that his own children have not taken the time to explain what blood pressure is and its terrible effects on the body. I'm so ashamed of myself! Really! And I'm ashamed to be admitting this on the Internet.

Remember when I wrote the post on health literacy last year??? This is a perfect example of why health literacy is so important. One of us should have explained to Dad that he needs to take his medication EVERY DAY, no excuses, and, better yet, lose weight and lose the necessity to take medication.

The other side of the coin is that family often will not listen to you because you're "little such-and-such." They still see you in diapers and goofy glasses saying 'ga ga goo goo" instead of as the knowledgeable health professional you truly are. We've talked with our Dad about his health and he always says he's gonna be better but he never follows our instructions. We have to stay on him and make sure he loses weight and takes his meds. My dad is barely 60!!!! He's active, he's lucid, he's awesome. I would be heartbroken if he passed on suddenly. HEARTBROKEN.

So, please learn a lesson from this. Talk to your family about their health and make sure they understand why it's important to follow the doctor's directions and/or take preventative measures.

Going to the emergency room is NOT fun. And I'd hate to one day get the OTHER phone call...particularly for something that is avoidable.