DON'T LET HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE RUIN YOUR SEX LIFE!

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This is directed to everyone, but especially the young man who thinks he is 10 feet tall and bullet-proof. Based on a true case, with artistic liberty.  

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Mike and Lori lived in Lykin, Mississippi, all their married lives which totals five. Like many married couples they’ve had their ups and downs. But they were skillful at making up after having a fight. So skillful that it usually involved an intense sexual encounter–regardless of time of day. The tiffs were frequent enough that one wondered if they unwittingly created tension and turmoil to revel in the making-up that followed.

​It was on the heels of one of their spats that Mike, arriving home from work walked through the front door, placed his briefcase on the kitchen counter, walked up behind the still-silent Lori staring into the crock-pot, and began caressing her shoulders and back. He whispered in her ear as he slid both hands alongside her hips. She knew what this meant.

Responding to his movements, she slowly turned to face him, placing her head on his chest and her arms around his waist. The hug lasted no more than twenty seconds before Mike’s hand found her left breast. Within seconds they were leaving a trail of clothes behind them on their way to the bedroom, as they had done numerous times before, when their half-embraced, half-walking motions and rising hormonal tides caused them to stop in the den.

The session rumbled on for another five minutes when Mike violently fell motionless upon Lori, his head glancing off hers as he dropped. She, for a second, thought the obvious. Mike though would later remember this moment, his slurred speech describing it as “a hammer slamming against the back of my head.”

But Lori immediately realized that something was not right.

She pushed him off, onto his back, seeing him breathe shallow and Mike unresponsive with his eyes rolled back. She called 911 and grabbed her clothes. Within minutes the ambulance arrived and carried Mike to the hospital, where the initial assessment revealed Mike had no feelings on the left side of his body. A CT scan of his head revealed a hemorrhage, a ruptured blood vessel.

Over the ensuing days he slowly regained consciousness and learned from his doctors that a small cerebral artery had ruptured, either because of an aneurysm or high blood pressure. His doctors felt the cause was more likely high blood pressure since it required three medications to control his pressure in the ICU. The hemorrhage stroke was dense, and his neurologist knew the injured brain cells would be unforgiving.

The prognosis was guarded and the likelihood he would regain the use of his left arm and leg was less than 10% but they ordered maximum rehabilitation because he was only 32 years-old.

Two months later Mike completed and maximized his rehab treatment but was still left with a severe and disabling paralysis. A week after they were home Mike became depressed. He and Lori reflected on the recent events wondering why such misfortune had come to visit them. He became pensive, wondering if he would ever be able to do any kind of work, much less desk work as an insurance agent.

They discussed how they would manage their current finances. Neither of them had family living in the area. They decided Lori would seek additional part-time work to cover the mortgage and other living expenses. They sold the motorcycle, small fishing skiff, and refinanced the mortgage on longer terms to lower the monthly note.

It was during this planning session that Lori made Mike promise–again–to continue taking his blood pressure medication–and to never stop taking it as he had two years earlier.  

Hypertension--The Silent Killer

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