11/19/2011

Spell Sphygmomanometer

My computer can't spell the word. It has the jagged red line right under it!

Well, sphygmomanometer isn't a very popular word. If you're unfamiliar with it, then you either hate using seven-syllable words or too young to have high blood pressure. 

This word is a contraption that measures one's blood pressure.  I never paid much attention to it myself, not until I was recently told by my doctor to monitor my blood pressure. So between doctor visits, I had to keep looking for someone who had one.  The search could take long—not too many people has even heard of the gizmo. 

So JB brings an idiot-proof digital one for his dad and me on his last visit.

Opening the box,  Tony and I alternately read the how-to-use leaflet. We are confident that with both our respectable IQs together, we should be able to make this never-before-seen modern gadget work.

The face of the sphygmo (nickname for this complicated word) has an initial reading of 135/85.

Connect the cable to the devise (check). Plug the same cable to the socket (check).  Put the band around your arm (check). Push the “start” button (check). 

The arm band inflates and deflates and then clicks off. Blood pressure? 135/85. A few more tries on me and then on Tony. Same reading: 135/85.

“This is a lemon!” Tony exclaims. 

“JB should return it to the store!” I concur. 

“He should get a replacement!” Tony adds. 

“Or have his money refunded!” I say, reinforcing the issue.  

When JB comes home that night, we whine about the faulty sphygmomanometer.  “Both our blood pressure always came down to the same figures: 135/85!” we say in a duet.


JB unpacks the thingy, then patiently explains, making sure we both understand, “This here is a sticker, see?  First, you have to peel it off.”


What?! 135/85 is a sticker?! A sticker?! A sticker?!  I repeat in my mind.  Tony's face tells me his mind is echoing mine.  

Then our son, the doctor, who learned his ABCs from and shares his DNA with his parents, takes our blood pressure, then his.


I pay no attention to the results. I am more concerned over my new, more serious malady: Hypo-IQ.

When did it come about? How did it happen?  Why were there no symptoms? Is there a cure? Is it terminal?

This digital age is driving analog people like us nuts. Oh, that we may be granted with an intensive dose of daily digi-grace!

Now, please excuse me while I go check my blood pressure.

20 comments:

Emil said...

Grace, do you how much was the Omron Digital Sphygmo costs? Where was it bought? Needed badly the same gizmo to monitor my BP ... Thanks in advance ...

Grace D. Chong said...

Hello, Emil! I am sorry but I have no idea how much the gadget costs. It was bought by my son in Michigan, USA, and gave it to us two months ago. Why don't you try its web page and if you are in the Philippines, perhaps they can ship it to you (?).

Yay Padua-Olmedo said...

Hahahaha! That's LOL moment. Hypo-IQ? I have lots of those lately!

STAR ASIA SHIPPING AGENCIES, INC. said...

Hahaha! you made me laugh. It sounds familiar. It was good that Chen patiently taught us how to use it when she gifted us with one. Lea gifted us with a digital blood sugar monitor few months ago but until now it's still intact in the box. I told myself to find time to study the manual before using it but haven't even made a peek of it. Well maybe i should, before the strips expire.

Grace D. Chong said...

Yay, hypo-IQ and hypo everything else! Haha! Not complaining. Just bragging.

Grace D. Chong said...

Come to think of it, we threw away our blood sugar monitor because we never touched it for two years and it got rusty (non-functional) and broke. Haha!

Anonymous said...

ay Apo! inyametten.

Anonymous said...

LOL!

Grace D. Chong said...

Awan la di awan!

Grace D. Chong said...

LOL indeed!

rosalinda caoile said...

Not hypo-IQ Grace. You and Tony are two great comedians!! Bravo!!

rosalinda caoile said...

Not hypo-IQ Grace. You just passed the final test in your new roles as great comedians!!! Bravo!

Grace D. Chong said...

Not unlike Dolphy and Panchito! Hahaha!

Ryan Rotor said...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Such moments bring flavor to our lives. Thank God we do not know everything! You made me LOL, ms. G! =D

Grace D. Chong said...

More and more, as years go by, I find myself laughing at me. Age makes one hilarious, I guess. Hahaha!

Anonymous said...

'haven't visited this site lately. i laughed out loud on the sticker! i remember when i was working in a hospital, i asked a nurse how to spell sphygmomanometer they didn't know either!

Vie Velasco said...

Bwahahahaha! Sticker pala!
To that inquiry re:where to buy. Please go to Bambang Street Sta. Cruz, Manila (near Avenida)New Triple S Medical Trading Corp / Omron Digital Sphygmo was P2,650 last May 2017. You can use battery or de-saksak sa kuryente. Highly recommended 😊

Grace D. Chong said...

Thanks, Vie.I will look up the address. But another learning curve?! LOL

Lollette Oliva-Alipe said...

I was laughing at that twist!😂

Grace D. Chong said...

Hahaha! Duh.