This one sign could mean a stroke–How one daughter's quick thinking could save your life too!
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In the quiet moments of our lives, we often overlook the subtle signals our bodies send us. But sometimes, those whispers can herald a storm.
This is a story of how one daughter's attentiveness to such a whisper likely saved her mother's life, and it's a tale that could very well save yours too.
Chris Kirmsse, a 60-year-old from Morristown, New Jersey, faced a harrowing health scare that began innocuously enough. After failing to complete a nuclear stress test due to high blood pressure, Chris was advised to monitor her condition at home.
It was during this period of vigilance that her daughter, Christine Kirmsse, a seasoned travel nurse, made a life-altering phone call.
Upon learning that her mother's blood pressure had skyrocketed to 200/100, Christine's medical instincts kicked in.
She urged her mother to seek immediate emergency care, despite Chris's reluctance, believing she felt fine and that her blood pressure would naturally subside.
“She’s like, ‘I don’t like that. I want you to go to the ER,’” Chris Kirmsse, 60, of Morristown, New Jersey, shares with TODAY.com. “I’m like, ‘I feel fine. I don’t want to go. It’s going to calm down.’”
Christine's persistence, coupled with her father's support, eventually persuaded Chris to visit the ER—a decision that proved critical.
At the hospital, doctors discovered that Chris required urgent intervention. She had been unknowingly teetering on the brink of a catastrophic health event, such as a stroke or a “widowmaker” heart attack.
Christine's insistence on taking that headache and high blood pressure seriously may have indeed saved her mother's life. “When she said she had a headache, (I knew) that could be a sign of a stroke,” said Christine.
Chris's journey into the labyrinth of heart health had begun earlier in the summer when tests revealed elevated cholesterol levels.
A prescribed statin and a calcium score test followed, the latter indicating a moderate risk of heart attack. Yet, it was the uncompleted stress test and the subsequent headache that signaled an imminent threat.
“I had a 369 calcium score, and my girlfriend nearly fell off her chair,” Chris Kirmsse shares. “She says, ‘Do you have a cardiologist?’” This is because a calcium score between 100 and 400 signals to a “moderate” chance of a heart attack, as per the Cleveland Clinic.
Chris also couldn’t complete the test. Her blood pressure was skyrocketing, not allowing her to even get on the treadmill. Even though the doctor gave her an injectable medication to try and see what was amiss with her heart, she only developed a headache.
The emergency room visit on October 22 unveiled the stark reality: Chris had troponin in her blood, a marker of a heart attack, and severe blockages in her coronary arteries.
Open heart surgery, not a mere stent, was the only viable option. Chris underwent a triple bypass surgery on October 29, a procedure that, while daunting, likely spared her from a more severe crisis.
“Her right coronary artery was completely blocked and ... her (left anterior descending artery) and her circumflex artery were like 70% blocked,” Christine Kirmsse shares. “You’re not a candidate for a stent then. Your only option is open heart surgery.”
“I didn’t think I was going to be at the ER that long,” Chris Kirmsse admits. “And 15 hours later, I’m getting a cardiac catheter, and a couple (of) days later, open heart surgery.”
Recovery has been a challenge, marked by bruising and the need for caution, but Chris is on the mend.
The experience has been a wake-up call for the Kirmsse family, who now affectionately refer to Christine as “the warden” for her authoritative stance on health matters.
This isn't the first time Christine's decisive actions have steered her family clear of danger; she previously directed her mother to the ER during a bout with COVID-19 that led to pneumonia. When Chris had COVID-19, her oxygen levels dropped so low that Christine sent her to the emergency room. This was the wise choice as Chris needed to be treated.
“(I do) whatever the warden says,” Chris Kirmsse says with a laugh.
As we age, it's easy to attribute every ache and fatigue to the natural process of getting older. But as Chris and Christine Kirmsse's experience shows, sometimes those symptoms are alarm bells that demand our attention.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death, and it can strike with little warning. Chris's condition was hereditary, shedding light on her family's medical history.
Source: @steeniebeanie_ / Instagram.
“Be aware of what your body is telling you. Don’t dismiss it like I did. Don’t think, ‘Oh it’s because you’re 60,’” she says. “Just go to the doctor and get checked out.”
Now, Chris plans on following a heart-healthy diet and lowering her sodium intake.
Have you or a loved one faced a similar situation? How do you ensure that you're attuned to your body's signals? Your story could inspire others to take that potentially life-saving step of getting checked out, so please share them in the comments below!
In the quiet moments of our lives, we often overlook the subtle signals our bodies send us. But sometimes, those whispers can herald a storm.
This is a story of how one daughter's attentiveness to such a whisper likely saved her mother's life, and it's a tale that could very well save yours too.
Chris Kirmsse, a 60-year-old from Morristown, New Jersey, faced a harrowing health scare that began innocuously enough. After failing to complete a nuclear stress test due to high blood pressure, Chris was advised to monitor her condition at home.
It was during this period of vigilance that her daughter, Christine Kirmsse, a seasoned travel nurse, made a life-altering phone call.
Upon learning that her mother's blood pressure had skyrocketed to 200/100, Christine's medical instincts kicked in.
She urged her mother to seek immediate emergency care, despite Chris's reluctance, believing she felt fine and that her blood pressure would naturally subside.
“She’s like, ‘I don’t like that. I want you to go to the ER,’” Chris Kirmsse, 60, of Morristown, New Jersey, shares with TODAY.com. “I’m like, ‘I feel fine. I don’t want to go. It’s going to calm down.’”
Chris Kirmsse, who failed to complete a nuclear stress test due to high blood pressure, was urged to go to the ER by her daughter. Image sources: @kirmssec / Instagram.
Christine's persistence, coupled with her father's support, eventually persuaded Chris to visit the ER—a decision that proved critical.
At the hospital, doctors discovered that Chris required urgent intervention. She had been unknowingly teetering on the brink of a catastrophic health event, such as a stroke or a “widowmaker” heart attack.
Christine's insistence on taking that headache and high blood pressure seriously may have indeed saved her mother's life. “When she said she had a headache, (I knew) that could be a sign of a stroke,” said Christine.
Chris's journey into the labyrinth of heart health had begun earlier in the summer when tests revealed elevated cholesterol levels.
A prescribed statin and a calcium score test followed, the latter indicating a moderate risk of heart attack. Yet, it was the uncompleted stress test and the subsequent headache that signaled an imminent threat.
“I had a 369 calcium score, and my girlfriend nearly fell off her chair,” Chris Kirmsse shares. “She says, ‘Do you have a cardiologist?’” This is because a calcium score between 100 and 400 signals to a “moderate” chance of a heart attack, as per the Cleveland Clinic.
Chris also couldn’t complete the test. Her blood pressure was skyrocketing, not allowing her to even get on the treadmill. Even though the doctor gave her an injectable medication to try and see what was amiss with her heart, she only developed a headache.
The emergency room visit on October 22 unveiled the stark reality: Chris had troponin in her blood, a marker of a heart attack, and severe blockages in her coronary arteries.
Open heart surgery, not a mere stent, was the only viable option. Chris underwent a triple bypass surgery on October 29, a procedure that, while daunting, likely spared her from a more severe crisis.
The experience highlighted the importance of paying attention to what one's body is signalling and not dismissing symptoms as normal signs of aging. Image source: Today Show via Facebook.
“Her right coronary artery was completely blocked and ... her (left anterior descending artery) and her circumflex artery were like 70% blocked,” Christine Kirmsse shares. “You’re not a candidate for a stent then. Your only option is open heart surgery.”
“I didn’t think I was going to be at the ER that long,” Chris Kirmsse admits. “And 15 hours later, I’m getting a cardiac catheter, and a couple (of) days later, open heart surgery.”
Recovery has been a challenge, marked by bruising and the need for caution, but Chris is on the mend.
The experience has been a wake-up call for the Kirmsse family, who now affectionately refer to Christine as “the warden” for her authoritative stance on health matters.
This isn't the first time Christine's decisive actions have steered her family clear of danger; she previously directed her mother to the ER during a bout with COVID-19 that led to pneumonia. When Chris had COVID-19, her oxygen levels dropped so low that Christine sent her to the emergency room. This was the wise choice as Chris needed to be treated.
“(I do) whatever the warden says,” Chris Kirmsse says with a laugh.
As we age, it's easy to attribute every ache and fatigue to the natural process of getting older. But as Chris and Christine Kirmsse's experience shows, sometimes those symptoms are alarm bells that demand our attention.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death, and it can strike with little warning. Chris's condition was hereditary, shedding light on her family's medical history.
Source: @steeniebeanie_ / Instagram.
“Be aware of what your body is telling you. Don’t dismiss it like I did. Don’t think, ‘Oh it’s because you’re 60,’” she says. “Just go to the doctor and get checked out.”
Now, Chris plans on following a heart-healthy diet and lowering her sodium intake.
Have you or a loved one faced a similar situation? How do you ensure that you're attuned to your body's signals? Your story could inspire others to take that potentially life-saving step of getting checked out, so please share them in the comments below!
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