Another three weeks have flown by, and I headed up to the RMCC for my Herceptin treatment. I haven't felt the best this week- (not Cancer stuff but lady and headache stuff) but nothing to keep them from drugging me up. LOL Although my blood pressure ended up being a little lower than usual. Maybe that's why I've wanted to stay in bed all week? [Not that it was low enough to do anything this time]
I've never had problems with my blood pressure before even with having all four of my children. Because of that, I've never taken the time to understand what it means. I actually have no clue what it even measures (HaHa...ok- I know it's the pressure of my blood, at least) So for my own benefit, here's a little info about blood pressure. Always interesting to find out how much I really don't know. LOL:
Blood pressure is typically recorded as two numbers, written as a ratio like this:
SystolicThe top number, which is also the higher of the two numbers, measures the pressure in the arteries when the heart beats (when the heart muscle contracts).Diastolic
The bottom number, which is also the lower of the two numbers, measures the pressure in the arteries between heartbeats (when the heart muscle is resting between beats and refilling with blood).
How Is Blood Pressure Measured?
Blood pressure is measured with a simple, painless test using a blood pressure cuff -- doctors call it a sphygmomanometer. It consists of a small pressure gauge that is attached to a cuff.
The inflatable cuff is wrapped around your upper arm. Some blood pressure cuffs wrap around the forearm or wrist.
When taking your blood pressure, your doctor will use a stethoscope to listen to the blood moving through an artery.
The cuff is inflated to a pressure that’s known to be higher than your systolic blood pressure. As the cuff deflates, the first sound heard through the stethoscope is the systolic blood pressure. It sounds like a whooshing noise. When this noise goes away, that indicates the diastolic blood pressure.
The systolic blood pressure number is always said first, and then the diastolic blood pressure number is given. For example, your blood pressure may be read as "120 over 80" or written 120/80.
Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).
My Herceptin Nurse today was Janae. She was great! She got me in and out super fast! I was home a whole hour earlier than I usually am. Yeah! Thanks to my dear Hubby for helping me out with little Glory today. One or two more treatments and then we'll put this chapter behind us! I CAN"T wait!
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