hope

I received some bad-ish news this weekend. I'm admittedly a little terrified, but I have hope that things will work themselves out.

7 years ago, my mom had a heart attack. Well, technically, what she had was angina, but regardless, it was pretty serious.

I was not home at the time, but apparently she wasn't feeling well and went to lay down. She knew something was wrong and told my dad to call an ambulance. When the paramedics arrived, they didn't think it was serious and told her she was having a panic attack from stress. They didn't want to waste their time taking her to the hospital.

Being the type of person who never complains nor feels sick, mom knew something was definetly wrong. She had my dad convince the guys to take her in, and boy was she lucky she did- she coded twice in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

She ended up having surgery to have a stunt put in, to keep her passage ways open, and the recovery was slow, but mom pushed it, and went on to resume her life as she had.

Two weeks ago, while visiting, I noticed mom was a lot more tired than she had been. She also needed to take a lot more breaks and use her nitrogen. When I asked her about it, she said she had been having issues lately. I convinced her to see her doctor when she got back.

When I spoke to her on Sunday, she let me know her doctor is concerned she has angina again. She has a referral for a specialist here in the city, but no idea when that is. I am really worried that she will have to have another surgery and terrified for her.

She has decided that it is time to Make some changes, and her doc has put her on medicine to help her quit smoking. When we spoke last, she was down from 2 packs a day, to just 3 a day! She is very proud of herself and anticipates that she will be down to 0 when she visits us next for her doctors appointment!

At 57 years old, my mom is making a difference that could very well save her life. I know it can't be easy for her, and I'm very supportive and have the highest hope for her!

This is a far departure from my usual posts, I know. But I needed to post this for myself, as well as to put the awareness out there that smoking will get you in many more ways than just cancer.

My mom is 57, and I worry that she won't get to see me marry, or have children. I worry constantly that she'll be alone when something happens, and that terrifies me.

So please, please, please... The next time you think about having a smoke, think about my story! Smoking really could kill you!