Which word or words from the passage provide clues to the meaning of famished?
That's Not Good
by Tirzah Tyler

Mom woke up with chest pains on Sunday morning, so she drove to the emergency room and took me with her. We arrived at the hospital, and then a doctor examined her right away. He wanted to know if she may have had a heart attack, so he ran an EKG exam which checks for heart problems. Then the doctor left the room, and we both waited for the test results.
I scooted closer to Mom on the hospital bed and leaned my head against her shoulder. "When do you think the doctor will come back?" I asked. My stomach gurgled.
Mom chuckled. "Jennifer, are you asking because you're concerned about me or because you're famished? I think your stomach is growling loud enough to page the doctor over the loudspeaker."
I laughed. "I'm concerned about you." Then, in a more serious tone, I added, "You're the only family I have. Does your chest still hurt?"
"A little bit, but I'm not so scared anymore."
I sighed with relief.
The doctor, carrying a clipboard, walked into the room. "Mrs. Harper, I have the results from your EKG," he declared with a smile. "You did not have a heart attack."
"That's good news," Mom said. "What do I have, then?"
"Well, I'd like to ask you a few questions so that we can determine what's going on," the doctor said gently. "Do you have a headache? Do you have pain in your extremities?"
Mom shrugged her shoulders. "My head hurts a little bit, but I think that's because I haven't had my morning coffee yet. My hands and feet are fine."
"Do you have any pain anywhere else?" the doctor asked.
"No, sir," Mom replied.
"Do you have heart disease or diabetes in your family history?" the doctor continued.
"No," Mom said.
The doctor looked at his clipboard and, deep in thought, scratched his mustache. "Do you exercise regularly? How much water do you usually drink?"
Mom chuckled nervously and answered, "I don't have time to exercise."
"She doesn't drink water," I told the doctor. "She drinks coffee."
The doctor stopped scratching his mustache, and he glared at Mom. "How much coffee do you drink per day?"
"Oh, just three thermoses full," Mom replied, gesturing with her hands that her thermos was about a foot tall.
"At least," I added.
The doctor rolled his eyes and exhaled. "That's not good," he said. "Drinking more caffeine than water is never good. Mrs. Harper, I believe you simply have costochondritis. That's inflammation of the chest wall. It's temporary, and you can relieve the pain with ibuprofen. You'll also want to start drinking plenty of water instead of coffee."
Mom blushed with embarrassment. "You mean that I just had the biggest scare of my life because I've been drinking too much coffee?"
"I believe so, yes," the doctor replied with a grin. "However, if your pain persists, please come back in, and we can do further tests. But for now, we'll unhook you from that machine and send you home, all right?"
Mom looked at her watch. "Wow. Maybe we could still make it to church on time. They usually serve free doughnuts and—"
Gently, I cupped Mom's face in my hands and pointed it toward me. "Mom, stay away from the coffee," I lovingly whispered.