Many of you know my father had a relapse this week and found himself right back in the cardiac ward of CMC with Congestive Heart Failure. That is a pretty scary set of words to a family that has a lot of heart related problems. Never fear, I set about not to panic but to find out all I could on the web.
There are some great articles from the American Heart Association and in particular a great series from the University of Maryland's medical Center. They set a road map from describing the damage to the leftside and how that can progress / present CHF. The symptoms are very similar to a cold with congestion in the lungs and coughing. HMMM..
They suggested a recovery plan and a couple of diets that have shown good results and great things to watch out for. This was especially interesting describing the differences in relapse in women and men 6 months down the road. Women are more likely by 8 fold to have a hospitalization especially if they don't have a care giver or are living alone. Makes sense given the longevity of women to men and that most women marry older men than the other way around.
Google is my hero for this information. Fear of the unknown has always been a great motivator. It is what the entire insurance industry relies on daily! Google searched the web and delivered me from my fear with a matter of key strokes.
The internet also allowed me to notify the rest of my family and friends to what was going on quickly. This blog allows me to stay in touch with my readers. What is next in the wild world of the web? At my company, we are buiding hosted communities to enable the next generation of web usage called "Web 2.0". We offer ways for companies to let there customers engage and collaborate with each other. After reading an article on Generation Y and the IM language... Understanding the attractiveness and addicitiveness of blogging. Many blogs are the new Dickens. Many of his initial books were written as monthly or weekly installments in journals. I have read that he rarely missed a deadline!
The good news is Dad came home from the hospital last night. While Mom was out filling prescriptions, he decided to load the truck to take the garbage to the dump. I guess that means he feels better. The Captain certainly sounded 100% better than he did on Sunday!
Weekend Plans: Trying to figure out a good place to see Mars tomorrow night! Otherwise I am determined to have a restful weekend and go shoe shopping! I have seen some great new styles on the internet and need something besides my flip flops I have lived in Georgia for the past 4 years! Time to Google where the closest DSW is to me. Mecca is calling.........
