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Help Needed

Monday, December 10, 2012

I'm one of those people who always believe that you can find some good even in the crappiest of crappy situations.

Jason's heart issues have been no different.  Not that I'd recommend it!  But still....





As I said in my last post, diabetes has been forced to take a back seat to other issues lately.  And that's not been a bad a thing.

Honestly, I NEEDED something to MAKE me step back because otherwise it would not have happened on it's own.  I know myself.  I hold on tight.  Taking a step back - even when desperately needed - wouldn't have happened naturally.

But I was FORCED to do just that.  And not only did it turn out to be a good thing, it taught me a thing or two as well.

As you may know, Jason had one heart procedure done and then needed to schedule another.  He went to the doctor about six weeks after the heart attack and his cardiologist said he was doing well and he wanted to do the procedure the next week.  That was a bit of a surprise - we hadn't expected it to get done so fast.  So we were just waiting for the person to call and schedule.

Well, the best laid plans, right?  The next day, Jason started having chest pains.  NEXT DAY.  Of course, he did not tell me this until about this until 5 pm while test driving a possible new car.  We had met at the car dealer and had two cars.  I had promised to take Sweets to the pumpkin patch.  That's where we were headed.  He wasn't sure what he needed to do.  Finally, I convinced him to go the ER and just MAKE SURE everything was ok.

Well, here's where it gets tricky.  Because it's not like you can just leave your T1 kid with anyone.  And especially not overnight.

Luckily, I have some amazing people in my life that can are up to that job.  I called my BFF and she fed Sweets dinner and kept her while I went to the hospital.  Nothing was happening there.  I sat with J and waited and waited... And finally, we decided that I needed to go home and put Sweets to bed.  She does better when I'm there at bedtime.  So I did.  And my parents came to stay with J in the ER.

I had no sooner gotten to my BFF's house than J called and said they were going to keep him overnight and do the procedure in the AM.  Ok.... I needed lesson plans and a sub and a way to get Sweets to school and should I go to the hospital for the night and leave her with someone else or what?  Misty is the only one who has ever done a nighttime before and that was the LAST time we were in the ER.

I got Sweets home and was working on getting her ready for bed when she said, "MOM!  There's blood in my pod!"

Are you freaking kidding me?  That NEVER happens.  Why that night of all nights?!?

So I was getting her ready for bed and helping her with her homework and getting ready to do a pod change when J calls me and says the cardiologist didn't want to wait and they were going to do the procedure THAT NIGHT.  Like NOW.

Well....

I told him I'd be there as soon as I could get the pod change done.

Fastest pod change in history.  Packed a bag and headed back to hospital after my parents came to watch Sweets.

They have not watched her overnight since she was diagnosed.  It freaks them out.  But they did it!
Of course, it ended up being a HORRID night.  Lots of lows.  My poor parents really had their work cut out for them and they didn't sleep a wink.

Being the awesome person she is, my BFF went to the hospital with me so I didn't have to sit in the waiting room alone.  She was there all night.  With McDonald's coke.

I didn't even make it to the hospital before they started his procedure.  All went well and he was resting in ICU within an hour.

Here's what I learned....

I'm SO LUCKY to have people in my life that can and will take care of my child.  Misty, my parents, and my BFF were all so willing to help us in any way they could.  I will be forever grateful for that.  Having them there - willing and able to help us out - was a blessing!

I NEED to teach people how to take care of her!  I NEED people to do it!  J and I are such a team...  We rarely leave her with anyone.  It's a lot to ask....  We just don't do it.  But that's not good.  If you don't have someone in your life who can step in and bolus your kid for a meal and test their bg, you need to find someone.  Whether it's a friend or family member or another D Mama you met on facebook....  You have got to have a team behind you.  You just never know when you're going to need it.

I know that's not easy.  Trust me.

I don't like to ask for help.  I often feel like asking people to take care of diabetes is a burden, too much to ask, something I never push on anyone.  I have always felt like it was ok.  I could handle it.

I had a moment sitting in the hospital where it just hit me....  I needed help.  I couldn't be in two places at once.  J needed me.  Sweets needed to be taken care of.  And I could literally count one one hand the number of people who could actually step in and take care of my child.

Wow.

Sometimes being so self sufficient isn't such a great thing.

I urge you to learn from me.  If you're like me... well, you've just got to find some folks who can fand will step in if needed.

There's more.  More I learned.  More to tell about how life has changed the past few months.

But I'm tired.  And I need to go correct a blood sugar!

In the past, I would have kept working.  Kept writing.  But I'm working on realizing my limitations. (I don't like to admit they exist... but they sooooo do!)

So, until tomorrow....


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4 comments:

  1. What a fabulous read. I am glad your family is pulling through. Make sure you take a break for yourself, burning out is harder to recover from than admitting you need some rest.

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  2. Thanks for the post. We sooo need to find people who can care for Roxy. We never go out, let alone have a back up for overnight in case of an emergency. I hope you don't need back up soon either.

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  3. Our family has had similar experiences, but they happened before diabetes--and it was still crazy difficult to manage everything. I have just started becoming more relaxed with leaving my daughter with sitters. She just turned 8 and she does so much of her own care that it's easier to let others help. Now that my other daughters are older, too, they've become another line of help. I'm glad to read an update on your family. You aren't lucky--just blessed.

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  4. Thank you for sharing. This really hit home about needing help. My sweet Lydia is five and her support team consists of me, my husband and his mom. It is time to reach out to family and get a couple more takers on-board.

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