Tuesday, June 5, 2012

89 to 90

Yesterday I think I had every alarm available on my Android to remind me to phone Mom. Not on Sunday, not on Tuesday, but on Monday. Has to be on Monday. Why? Mom turned 90 yesterday and a call on her birthday would be a good thing. Besides at that vintage, they don't want any more stuff and I've been reminded of that a few hundred times (of course unless it's something they need). In lieu of a party, which she says she does not want, she will be coming out to my place in the summer to spend however long she wants. We'll have the party here.

During the last phone call with Mom she informed me that she went to her Doctor and he gave her a prescription of Crestor to take for calcium supplementation. Excuse me!!?? Hand me the pitchfork as it's getting a bit rank. Crestor is no more a calcium supplement than I am a stand-in for Whoopi Goldberg. Crestor is a Statin drug that is prescribed to lower cholesterol and has nasty side effects, one of them being muscle rhabdymylosis, a fancy name for breakdown of the muscle tissue. Not something I want my Mom (or anyone for that matter) to experience unnecessarily. FYI: the subject of cholesterol and cholesterol meds are a frothing insta-rant for me.

First of all, let's put one thing into perspective: she's 90 for crying out loud!!! Seniors at that age are not looking to live to 150, they just want to enjoy the time they have. Plus, Mom has not needed cholesterol meds to this point so why now? She's 90!! And the icing on the proverbial cake was that the meds were prescribed before lipid profile testing was even done! Believe me, I was very tempted to mach it to Saskatchewan just so that I could be across the desk and nose-to-nose with her Doctor. Another point to note that in my former "life" I was a Med Lab Tech (did the actual blood testing) as well as taught Clinical Lab Sciences (disease processes as it relates to the lab tests) so I'm not the average  couch slob who osmoses information from the TV news and commercials.

Luckily I managed to explain to Mom just what Crestor was for, what the side effects are, and in order to be prescribed, proper lipid profiling (as well as history and diet information) must be done. She wasn't amused when she found out the harm Crestor could cause and at her vintage, that's something she could do without. As she puts it, she's walking around, is feeling good, and is enjoying herself so don't mess with it. I couldn't agree more. However I shudder to think how many people, especially seniors, are on prescription meds unnecessarily and have no idea what they are taking and why. The answer: way too many.

When I talked to Mom yesterday she said that she doesn't feel any older than what she did at 89 and it was a good thing I phoned in the afternoon because in the evening she was going out to play cards. Good for you Mom!
Sherri Donohue

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