Diabetes

I just finished up a note to tell some of my stitching friends about the disease that Jim has. I realized how vehemently I can sound sometimes about the disease that starts out as diabetes and then robs people's lives so that they can't function without someone to care for them.

Jim got admitted to the hospital again yesterday - he had been feeling some sick, but nothing earth-shattering until yesterday morning. He sat outside the house about 7:15 a.m. waiting for me to get the car keys when he decided that he couldn't wait for me to take him to the hospital, he needed the ambulance, and crossed himself as if he was dying. That was earth shattering to me as I'd never seen anyone in person do that before. He thought that it was going to be his last day.

I gave him some Nitroglycerine and it seemed to help a little, but then again, the pain started up. So, another Nitro which he immediately vomited. The ambulance took about 10 minutes, but it seemed like hours. He was stabilized in the ambulance and I got to the hospital just when they were leaving and had dropped Jim off.

Anyway - I got off topic.

He now is in the ICU and hopefully will be home after a few days. Don't know what else they can do for him, as his heart function is about 10%, and wonderful is 70%. We'll see what they can pull out of their hats for him this time.

Diabetes - robs a person of being their own person. First a slightly elevated blood sugar, no problem, what's another piece of pie? Then come the hypertension - oh well, just cut the salt out, but hey, the potato chip only has a little salt, right? Pills to take for both of these - we can just 'adjust' a little for the popcorn. Next came the diabetic retinopathy which took his sight, so that he can't see the grandchildren anymore, or the valley in the fall where we have the cottage, and now the end-stage renal disease which takes all the dignity away while you sit and have a drain coming out of your tummy and hoping that nothing gets in the port to make you sick. You can be so clean that there are germs that walk out of the house by themselves and somehow one gets inside of the belly to cause all kinds of havoc. Now on to the heart - what heart - the diabetes has already caused it to be wonky - that it only works once in a while - and there are stents put in everywhere, but now it doesn't want to work at all.


This is a maudlin post, but it's how I feel this morning. Didn't sleep well, a bad night with Jim at home is better than a night without him.


Will let everyone who cares to read about my hubby a note to let them know how he's doing today.