There are some who think winter is over and I must admit the signs are all over the place that spring has arrived. First I thought it was because Robins and Killdeer were spotted but the sure sign of spring... "road work ahead" signs are popping up like flowers on a warm day. However, winter still has some kick left in it as we are experiencing this week. Having lived here a good deal of my life I know that Easter weekend generally means a storm of some sort and sure enough it is coming today and tomorrow.

I read with interest my friend Bubba's blog about her bout with high blood pressure and the effects it can have. Not that I am trying to take away from your experience Bubba, but I thought I would tell you of my one time that I almost died from high blood pressure; quite a sobering experience.

I was living in California at the time and my medical provider was Kaiser Permanente who regulates the doctors quite well. My doctor was a good man but Kaiser kept them on such a short leash that he could not do what I feel he wanted to do.

My blood pressure has always been on the high side, even when I was a teen-ager it was elevated. For me a 160/92 is a good pressure but it sends the medical people into a tizzy. My doctor had given me various pills to help lower it but to no avail. (I now take three different ones to get it down to 140). I don't remember what medicine he had me on but he decided to try a new one. The first time I took it I felt very weak, light headed and somewhat nauseous, but he told me that would pass as my body adjusted to it. After taking it for a while and with the same results I refused to take it anymore, but I never told him.

One morning I had an appointment to get a blood pressure check and I must admit I was not feeling too good that day so I decided to take his new pill along with my old ones. When I arrived at his office my blood pressure was (if I remember right) about 225/128. They put me in a room to monitor it for a while and that was that. I finally looked at him and we decided I could do just as much good at home as setting there in the facility.

Just walking out to the car was a real effort and I did something I hardly ever do, I asked Cheryl to drive home while I lay down in the back seat. Arriving at home I was in such bad condition that I could not walk the length of the garage. Cheryl convinced me that I should go to the emergency room immediately but I thought I could just lay down and all would be well. I tried to crawl through the house to the bedroom and could not even do that; I collasped in the hallway. All this time I was fighting like crazy to keep from blacking out.

Cheryl ran and called the ambulance while I just layed where I was at. They got there in short order but the narrowness of our hallway and the size of my body made it impossible for them to get the gurney back to me. They asked me if I thought I could crawl to the living room where they could help me better and I said I would try.

While all of this is going on our little dog, Dusty, was just a yapping and I am sure he was wondering who they were and what was wrong with me. Cheryl put him in a room and made the comment, "Dusty be quiet." Well, the paramedics must have thought I was Dusty and they started encouraging me to make it down the hallway by saying, "Come on Dusty, you can make it." Cheryl was so concerned about me that she never bothered to correct them that Dusty was the dog and my name was Tim.

It was a major effort to make it to that gurney and all the time they kept saying, "Come on Dusty, you can make it." Cheryl finally realized, just as I reached the gurney, that they were calling me by the wrong name and she corrected them telling them that Dusty was the dog. About this time my sense of humour kicked in and I looked up at them and went, "Woof, woof." Everyone started laughing except me.

They did a blood pressure check on me and my pressure had fallen from 225/128 to 59/25 or something like that. My kidneys had quit working and the pain from my kidneys was unbearable. They rushed me to the hospital and while we were traveling they tried to put an IV in me but could not because my veins had collasped.

Once at the hospital the personnel put tubes in me, even in places that were quite sacred to me. I was so out of it I did not recognize some of my children who came to see what was going on. My one son took a look and left the room immediately saying he could not stand to see his Father that way. The pain was so unreal. Suddenly, without any warning I upchucked all over the place and from that point on I started getting better. It turned out that I had overdosed on prescription medicine.

The following Sunday I attended church and everyone asked me how I was doing. My reply. "Resurrection is not all it is cut out to be 'cause they were just as ugly as before."

So Bubba, take care of that high blood pressure. I enjoy your blogs and comments on mine too much to have something happen to you. Sounds like you have a caring son and that is very good.

That is my story for today and I hope it is not a repeat story. You know what is said, as you get older the mind is the first to go.

Have a nice day everyone.