Terrifying symptoms

[sonia]

You know what's fucking terrifying? Meeting with an active 71-year-old friend on zoom who says she has a cold, and watching her slur a few words and gently tip over toward the desk beside her. I had just long enough to yell her husband's name in hopes he was nearby, and pick up my phone to call my friend's number in case the phone ringing would get his attention, when she came to.

I immediately asked for her husband's number and put it in my phone. I urged her to tell him what happened. She remembered "looking for something to the side," so I said she slurred words and lost consciousness. She said she needed to go back to bed, and we could finish our meeting later. Of course I agreed.

And texted her husband to ask him to keep an eye on her, and maybe call 911 to consult with paramedics. Not to be alarmist, but I'd hate for her to miss immediate treatment if it's a stroke. He answered that she had talked with him, and gone back to bed, and he thought she had just been doing too much while ill.

Maybe a transient ischemic attack (mini-stroke)? Dunno, I'm not a medical professional, but that was terrifying to watch from a distance and not be able to do anything. My friend's husband also said, "You are TRULY a wonderful friend!!" which I assume was sincere and not sarcastic? Seems like the absolute minimum I could do, to reach out to him.

While chatting about having a cold before all that, I asked if she had tested for Covid, and she said, "I haven't been around anyone." Which is an odd thing to say, since she just got back from a trip to the coast with her sister. And she got the cold somewhere. I hope rest is all she needs to be ok!

ETA: Had our postponed meeting this afternoon and she seems ok, if still a little bleary with the cold.
Further ETA a week later: She said today that she realized she had doubled up on her cough syrup, which knocked her out. Also she's been in bed for a week with this "cold".

Comments

[thistleingrey]

Hopefully her husband has a sense of how she tends to speak day to day when tired or fighting a cold. My mother (older than your friend) dips in and out of verbal coherence when her immune system is beset by non-covid colds (there's a whole set of things I check for, which I can do by voice-only phone by now because ... practice and prior data, I guess). Not all slurring is dire, but I'm glad you alerted her husband as well.

[sonia]

I’m glad you’re familiar with your mother’s symptoms. This was sudden and severe, like a doll winding down and falling over. Fortunately she seems to have recovered quickly.

[thistleingrey]

I'm familiar with the on/off symptoms of too many elders to be terrified, I guess. Were your friend's momentary issue related to postviral or autonomic cerebral perfusion issues, standard hospital/ER testing might not have turned up anything helpful if it were undertaken.

[sonia]

I hear that as a different person interacting with different people in a somewhat similar situation, you react differently.

I want to mention in case it's relevant that policing anyone's feelings, particularly mine, isn't welcome in this journal.

In case of a stroke, immediate action is crucial. In case of other things, not so much.

[thistleingrey]

Thank you for the reminder, which isn't needed. I remember. I was trying to clarify my different reaction, which seems broadly consistent with how you've described your friend's husband's reaction.

[sonia]

Thanks for clarifying.