Not the Day I Expected

I drug myself out of bed, thinking "I am really ready to feel better". Tired, listless, low lung function all sapping me of my normal energy. I had been up all night and was watching a couple of symptoms that I knew might be telling me that the massive steroids I had been taking were effecting my blood sugar.

I headed to a short meeting at the Fire Hall, feeling worse and worse. I will go home and rest after the meeting I decided, just tough it through this. At the station I found myself getting shaky and unable to quench my thirst. Walking into the Community Paramedic Office, I asked her to run a blood sugar test. When I saw her shoulders stiffen as she read the results, I asked, "How bad?" When she said 490 I picked up the phone and called my doctors office. Their response was, "Go to the hospital now! And do not drive yourself."

Leaning on the door frame, I told Chief I was ducking out as the paramedic filled him in on my vitals. He took a look at me, looked at the paramedic and said, "Transport her." When I objected, he gave me that Chief look and said, "Shut up and get in the ambulance."

So in minutes I found myself in the back of the ambulance getting an IV and leads placed for the EKG. I cannot say enough for the care, humor and compassion that they treated me with as we headed to the hospital.

For the next five hours I was poked, prodded and tested. I was dehydrated, my blood sugar had raised to 530 and I was critically low on potassium. So lots of fluids, insulin and potassium were pumped in to stabilize me. The outcome was that I was sent home with a pile of instructions after 5 hours.

As I have reflected on the whole experience there are some things that am very grateful for. I am grateful for my friend who followed the ambulance and stayed with me every step of the way. Her humor and insights always make life better. I am also grateful for the expertise and wisdom of everyone who worked on me to patch me back together. I am even grateful for my Fire Chief who made a decision and made sure that I followed it.

I feel that I am blessed and fortunate. I am looking with anticipation for feeling better and expecting good things ahead.

Just Connie