It has been said the 13th day of the month is unlucky. I beg to differ with that point of view. It turned out to be a positive life changing time for me. Several events were set in motion that opened my eyes to the love of God that surrounds me. These things were unseen because of the hardness of my heart. Such things can not be realized with hate and animosity acting as a shield that separates us from His virtues.
It was a blustery winter day, the 13th of March Twenty05. The roads were frozen with patches of snow and ice. I remember bouncing around inside the ambulance and swaying with every turn. I recall the kindness and compassion of the EMT and how she watched me so meticulously with her laptop displaying my vital signs. And oh how I remember the bitter cold as I lay on the gurney and they rolled me inside the hospital upon arrival in Dayton.
Near the end of February my youngest daughter Heather came down with the flu. She is basically a healthy child so I nursed her for a week or so at home. She was able to return to school in the early days of March. Then just about the time she went back to school the flu bug got its hold on me! Well thinking what a good job I had done of tending to her I’d try to take care of myself also. That was a serious error of judgment.
To start with a little background on my health concerns. I am a diabetic with several complications. A few of them are Eye concerns such as Retinopathy, Diabetic Neuropathy which is damage to nerves throughout the body, Foot-Leg and Hand issues, different Skin Problems and Depression. After someone has had diabetes for a number of years it really takes its toll on his or her body. Another of the primary concerns is of the immune system it cannot fight off common infections as before. All complicated by the fact that as the years roll by ones blood sugar gets harder and harder to control.
High blood sugar causes damage to internal organs and the damage plays directly relative to the number of years the sugar levels are elevated. One of my doctors explained it in so many words but this is not a direct quote: “The higher the sugar reading the thicker the blood. In turn it effects every organ in us. When it gets loaded with glucose it cannot pass easily through the small blood capillaries within the body. This is especially true in the brain where there is a multitude of capillaries and therefore it is a major contributor to Chronic Diabetic Depression.”
But I must confess, for the most part, my sugar was out of control because obeying my doctor’s rules wasn’t on my agenda. Living without the simple things in life is so hard for me. Things such as candy and other sweets are a big problem. A favorite of mine is the little peanut butter pies with the milk chocolate crust. You know em. They’re about 2” in diameter and often come 1, 2 or 4 in a pack. Oh Yeah, they have an orange wrapper too. Needless to mention I just can’t go without a cold soda pop. It’s quite common for me to drink in excess of a 2 liter per day. Unfortunately in those days it usually wasn’t diet.
You’ll find cola, lemon lime and the mountain stuff very close to my heart. No product endorsement intended.
As I said I had myself a case of the flu. Day after day passed and lying on the sofa was all I could do. I would wake my 5th grade daughter up in the morning and she would get herself off to school. As each day passed my body got weaker and weaker. After a few days I could barely get up for restroom purposes. Soon my best was calling her from the sofa to get her up.
She saw that my condition was deteriorating badly and begged me to call Grand pa for help. But I thought things were OK. Man, I was so sick I didn’t know I was so sick! Now I am sure this was a case of high blood sugar impeding my brain from sound judgment.
An additional point is something of a double whammy. When a diabetic has a major infection in their body the infection itself causes the sugar levels to skyrocket.
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