You just never know…

Life takes us on strange journeys sometimes! I woke up 2 weeks ago with the worst headache I ever had, nausea, shaking, blurred vision. I called my doctor and he said to come in and get a shot for pain. On my way out of my apartment, I walked into a post I didn’t see, and on the drive I almost hit a car, and then I did hit a parked car (luckily I was driving very slowly and did no damage) but was able to park ok. He gave me the shot, it did no good. He then called an ambulance and I was taken to the hospital for an MRI. Apparently I was delirious by then and they loaded me up with so many drugs, I have very few memories of that whole day. Apparently I was able to have them contact a very good friend who is a nursing student who works there and she was able to take charge. I had a blood sugar of 600 (normal is between 80 and 120) and a blood pressure that was through the roof. They were working on me to keep me from having a major stroke, losing my eyesight completely, having a major heart attack, and possibly becoming a vegetable or dying. Later my friends were telling me what I was saying and doing which was really bizarre and I have no memories of any of that! I was in the hospital for 6 days and my blood sugar was able to stabilize. they did a LOT of tests, and were very thorough. The MRI shows a patch on my left temporal lobe that they don’t know what it is, might be a small stroke, might be a tumor, so I have to go back next month for another MRI to see if it has changed. In the meantime, I still have some vision problems, ( I didn’t have to wear glasses before except for reading, now I wear them much more frequently) and I am a little more unsteady on my feet, also I have some memory problems, look for a word and can’t immediately find it. I can still drive ok and work. I feel like I was going north and have had to suddenly make a right hand turn and am now going east! I have to change my whole life around to accomodate my severe diabetes, drastically change my eating habits, sleep patterns, exercise, read food labels, shop and cook and plan meals differently. I use to just eat whatever was at hand whenever I wanted to, not ever again. I have to ask myself “Cookies or my feet? Hmmm! My choice!” I am grateful that in my delirium that I didn’t say or do anything I have to apoolize for except for scaring everyone! I also learned that one cannot lie to one’s body, (“yes that calorie or carb counts!) it will bite you back! So I have to learn a whole lot of new skills so I don’t lose my toes, feet, sight, teeth, and brain. My body is not kidding around anymore,it is saying to me “Either take care of me or I’m out of here! Do I have your attention now?” So I am in the process of grieving my old way of life (and chocolate cake!) and heading east instead. I also had a huge amount of support while I was hospitalized. I had nonstop visitors the whole first day, including friends I hadn’t seen in over a year. Two friends took over the tasks of contacting my clients and explaining why I couldn’t keep their appointments, two others took my car home, etc, and my granddaughters and their SO’s took the day off work to drive 3 hours to come and brought me roses. My brother brought his singing group of 6 and serenaded me (and the whole ward!). That part was wonderful! I felt so loved! It was eyeopening in so many ways!! Life takes some strange twists on our journey, doesn’t it! So I’m off on a new adventure called learning to take care of myself properly or my body will bite me again to get my attention! It will take time and practice and discipline and committment. I just don’t like the alternatives! Just thought I would let you know. drgnlvr

Thank you so much for the encouragement and the positive thoughts! They really mean a lot to me!! I am type II and was diagnosed in the early 90’s but I didn’t really understand what to do, the relationship between what I ate and the numbers on the meter didn’t make any sense, so when I got stabilized, I went back to my old habits, taking oral meds but eating whatever and whenever I wanted. Well, I guess my body got tired of being ignored and “bit” me to get my attention! Well, it worked! So now, I have a diabetic educator to help me with my questions and a whole new learning curve to deal with. The blood sugars still aren’t stabilized and they bounce around a lot so I’m hoping they will settle down soon. Mostly it affects my vision and my balance. I can still work and drive and I’m so grateful for that!
I will keep you posted about this and I am so grateful for the kind thoughts and expressions of care. Thank you!! 😀