Keep Calm.......

HAWMC Day #9: Keep calm and carry on. Write (and create) your own Keep Calm and Carry On poster. Can you make it about your condition? Then go to (http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/) and actually make an image to post to your blog.


So for those of you reading this for the first time, my condition is Diabetes. 
Diabetes is a tough disease.  There are various reasons for this.  Most of which we have no control over!  There are times in all of our lives when we feel like giving up.  When we are tired of doing math for every little thing we eat. When the math we do doesnt work.  When our glucose levels just don't play fair.  And so for this, we need to be reminded that we are not alone.  That  WE CAN DO THIS.

So if you need to, feel free to copy and post it on your fridge, or your bathroom mirror, or wherever you need it!  I know I'm going to!!

it's not about the pop, it's the colour of the pump

todays prompt from Wego Health is to try writing script-style (or with dialogue) to recap an awesome conversation you had this week. 

well the number 1 conversation i had this week, was with the surgeon who did my dad's pacemaker operation.  when she told my mother and i that all went well and he would be fine, that about tops the week for conversations!

but then, running second are the conversations i have every single day with my grandchildren.  some of them are sooo funny.  some are sad, and some are so serious it kind of floors me.

this week Cameron, who just turned 6, came up to me in his usual manner, and said to me,

"Nan, can I talk to you?"

"Of course you can Bud, what's up?" says I.  he sounds so serious that i am expecting some monumental question.  something of great importance.

"Well, I was just wondering..."

"Yes, what where you wondering?"

"Ummm, I was just wondering if I could have a drink?  Maybe some of that pop that you've got hiding in the fridge."

Cameron doesn't get pop very often.  He is usually quite content with juice, maybe a cup of tea in the morning.  Water and milk or chocolate milk are high on his list, but pop is not something he will ask for often.

"Do I have pop in the fridge Cam?  I didn't think there was any in there."

"Yes there is Nan, you know the one,  the Diabetic pop"

the "Diabetic pop" is actually a bottle of Coke Zero.  ever since he was little he's called it Diabetic pop instead of Diet Pop. 

"Ah, yes, the Diabetic pop.  Well I guess you can have a little glass."

"Thanks Nan.  Ummm Nan?"

"Yes Cam?"

"If I drink your Diabetic pop, will that make me Diabetic too?"

"No honey, drinking my pop will not make you Diabetic."

"Oh that's good, cause i wouldn't want to have a green pump like yours.  Green is not my favourite colour you know."

in the end, it's not so much about the kind of pop.  it's more about the colour of the pump! oh the worries of a 6 year old!!

entering the unknown

HAWMC Day #7: Health Activist Choice! Write about what you want today.

I was going to pick a topic from the Early Bird choices, but instead i decided to just write about...i don't even know what!  LOL!!

i will tell you about my week.  on monday, i had the 2 grandchildren for the day, as always.  things went well.  no fighting.  nothing remarkable.  i worked monday evening at the grocery store as per usual.  i have worked every monday night since the beginning of the year.  literally!  the only monday i've had off was for Family Day in February,  but so did everyone else so it doesn't really count!
 
Tuesday was quiet.  1 kidlet in school, the other playing nicely on her own for a short time.  no work tonight.  i tried to do some painting but without success.  there were 4 weeks without a class and the last week i missed because she changed the day, and i am unable to change my days off or switch shifts.  which sucked.
 
Wednesday i am minding my own business.  i gave the kids lunch and was just cleaning up their mess and eating my own lunch when the phone rang.  it was my dad's cell # so i figured he might be in town and dropping by for a visit.  nope.  i answered and this is what i hear....
"hello kim?  it's your mother"

now my mother doesn't know how to use a cell phone, so immediately i am alarmed.  she goes on to say that my dad is in the hospital.  but don't worry, says she,  he's going to be fine.   he went to the doctor in the morning because his blood pressure and pulse rate were a little low.  the doctor did an ECG and then another and told her to drive him to the hospital right away.  the Vascular Surgeon would be waiting for them in Emerg.  my dad would need a pacemaker put in right away!!
so my mother drove the 45min to the hospital and after some tests and paperwork my dad was whisked off to surgery.
 
she called me at 12:50pm and i told her i would be there ASAP.    I arrived at about 1:40.  my youngest daughter was home so she was watching the grandkids for me.  i had to stop for coffee, at my mother's request.  we sat there for about another hour, and then there he was.  being rolled down the hall on a gurney!  the nurse said something about being discharged from emerg so i thought that meant he would be admitted.  nope.  apparently having a pacemaker inserted was just outpatient surgery.  home he goes. 

i must say, i was a little shocked.  how did they know this pacemaker was working properly?  did they realize these elderly people (my mother's 70 and dad's 71) live 45 minutes from the hospital?  how is it possible they were sending them home?  well according to the surgeon, his pulse and heart rate have improved.  he must go to the cardiac clinic the next day to meet with a cardiologist.  and on friday he must come back to the hospital for some lab work to see if the coumadin is working properly. 

still seems weird to me.   on friday we were supposed to go to my parents but instead the whole fam damily came to my house for Easter Dinner instead. and all seems fine.  he is a little slower than i am used to.  looks a little frailer.  but i think they are both still in shock.  he has to take it easy for  a couple weeks.  no lifting anything.  he can sit at the computer, he can hold a coffee cup, but no driving, no reaching over his head.  no carrying anything, not even a bag of milk.  golfing is out for a while.   

my son has been going over every day to help them with whatever they need.  he only lives about 10min away.  i am thankful for what he is doing.  he's says "they are the only grampa and gramma i have so of course i will do this for them."  this makes me proud.  

if you lasted this long, thanks for "listening".    HAPPY EASTER!!

p.s.  after all this, my grandson ended up with strepthoat, and the baby has chickenpox!!!  Lord give me strength!!  i'm gonna need it!
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