I'm always trying to remind myself to be aware of how much I have to be thankful for and how blessed my life is. Well, the past few days have been pretty tough and when life gets tough - sometimes I have a hard time coping!
There has been a little bit of a family crisis happening the past week that involves someone who I love and care for deeply and I'm very concerned for her.
Then, Katie went to Children's Hospital via ambulance Saturday night. Some of you know that on September 11, 2001, the day the world seemed to be falling apart, my then 2 1/2 year old daughter got a stomach bug and could not keep her endocrine meds down and went into adrenal shock. It was a horribly scary event. Don was out of town on business and I was here alone - mostly. She was hospitalized and I learned the hard way that day how serious it was when Katie got a stomach bug. We were trained in how to administer a shot of solu-cortef in the event that she become ill like that again in the future.
We never had to use it - only refill the Rx when the shelf life expired. Then in 2004 we were told that the manufacturer had discontinued it.
Then, in July 2007, we were in North Carolina visiting family when Katie got a stomach bug and was very ill and could barely keep anything down for more than 10 minutes. We raced across the mountain and went strait to Children's Hospital. She was well cared for and she rebounded quickly!
Then on Saturday, Don had a wedding and Katie and I spent the day having fun and went to STAR at 3. It was her first session for the winter and she was working with a new horse - Cheyenne. Crazy, crazy horse! Made Belle look like a perfectly sane creature on her worst day when I first got her. Katie started feeling ill and at first, I thought it was because she was scared of crazy Cheyenne! But, no! We left STAR early and Katie got sick before we even made it to the car. The trip home was rough and by the time we got home, she just wanted to lay in the bathroom to be close to the toilet.
I was worried that when it came time for her meds at 7pm, she wouldn't be able to keep them down. So my best friend Lisa, came to our rescue, and went to Walgreens and got some anti-nausea medicine. It seemed to help at first.
We gave her the normal meds at 7:00pm - Don was home by then. Dr. Nichels, her endocrinologist had always told us - if she can keep her meds down at least 1/2 hour - she's good. Not that I didn't trust him - just my gut always said "let's shoot for 1 hour". She kept everything down until 7:55. We should have gone ahead and headed for the ER but there is so much flu and stuff out there right now - the tought of Children's ER on a Saturday night left me saying "let's try it one more time".
So we tried the anti-nasuea med again with her other meds and this time she only kept it down 40 minutes. At this point, she was getting sick and not waking up and her finger tips were blue. In trying to get her awake and aware, I touched her feet, which had furry furry socks and they were like ice bricks.
I didn't pass go, I definitely didn't collect $100 - I went strait for the phone and called 911. The ambulance was here within 5-8 minutes and the 6'4 paramedic who was absolutely AWESOME about broke down our door. He went strait for Katie and did like a 60 second assesment and radioed that he was coming in. Don said "let me grab her jacket" and the paramedic said "no time for jackets".
Don rode in the ambulance because I was panic ridden and Katie was clinging to Don. Don said that when they got in the ambulance, the paramedic called in and told the driver Code 3, Code 3... then started getting Katie all hooked up.
Apparently, the driver of the ambulance was a firefighter and not use to driving the ambulance and got lost on the way to Children's.
I actually got to Children's before the ambulance. As I was walking into the ER - I saw and ambulance going West on Cumberland lights and siren and I thought - "oh that couldn't be them"... well it was.
Long story short, the team at Children's descended on Katie once the driver got her there and the acted quick and got her turning around.
Turns out - the manufacturer of the Solu-Cortef actually put it back on the market in 2005 and no one told us. Obviously, we have a good supply of it now and if one of Katie's meds ever gets "discontinued" again - you better believe I will be much more vigilant.
Katie came home Sunday but has been pretty weak and still under the weather the past few days. She isn't sleeping well at all.
Obviously, I have not exercised in the past four days and I definitely have not eaten well. I'm not making excuses - it just is what it is. I have had NOTHING left after the hospital stint and taking care of Katie.
In the midst of all this, I was dealing with a new client who apparently not a sane person. He was via email, demanding to meet with me face to face while Katie was in the hospital. Obviously, he's no longer my client.
I'm trying desperately to have a successful 21 day stint of eating everything right and exercising daily... if you do anything for 21 days - it supposedly becomes habit.
Hopefully, once she is well and level - I will be back on track. But, one day at a time and just trying to keep my head above water!
LA :)
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