As high as it goes, slash, as low as it goes

I got sick this week… again.

On Easter Sunday night, aching joints got me a bit worried. I dismissed the pain at first because I was still proud of what I did the day before.

On the morning of Black Saturday, I finally forced myself to do a bit of a cardio workout, jogging around the UP oval in a slow pace. I used to do five laps around UP. My objective was to complete one lap without stopping or without resorting to walking. I went home with a big grin, thumping my chest and telling Aires that I did it. I finally did it.

But come Sunday, it did me in. My legs felt heavy and I started walking with a slight limp. Still, I thought, no pain, no gain.

To my horror, I got feverish shortly after midnight. I did not tell Aires that I was sick. There went my chest-thumping. But call it female instinct, Aires woke up asking if I were sick. I defeatedly said yes. I was absent from work for two days. But because I had tons of reports to do, I gulped as many pills I could to get myself back to at least 80% working condition.

I did a presentation to my colleagues, peppered with horrific coughing. They took pity and did not ask hard questions.

Last night was terrible. I could not get a good rest because I was barking all night long. I finally went to see a doctor today and found out that my pharynx and tonsils were already swollen. But the worst thing of it all, my blood pressure was measured at 130/100.

I did not feel that I had high blood pressure at all. I would have not known anyway how it actually feels. I never had it.

And so, Google it, I did. And here’s a wake-up call for me. “Unless it becomes severe, hypertension isn’t an illness or disease you can feel. You’re not sick. Instead, it’s a condition of risk. It’s like driving 90 miles per hour wherever you go. You’re fine, your car is fine, everything is great --- until you crash.”

I do not even know what the paired numbers mean. Google, again. “The two numbers are as high as the pressure goes when your heart pumps during a heartbeat, then as low as it goes between heartbeats. In short, the numbers mean ‘as high as it goes, slash, as low as it goes’.”

One way to interpret these numbers is to get their sum. “A sum between 221 and 230 is elevated but doesn’t require medications in most. Sample BP in this range are 145/85 and 130/100. If you’re at increased risk from atherosclerosis (obese, smoker, abnormal cholesterol, family history of heart disease), you should be treated. Some physicians now call the 211-230 range “pre-hypertension”: You’re heading towards genuine high blood pressure.”

Mine is 230. Obese? Getting there. Smoker? Nope. Abnormal cholesterol? Don’t know yet. Family history of heart disease? Yes. Age? 36. Candidate? Likely.

I jogged. It was a high high for me. I got sick. I plunged to a low low.