Everytime that I loss consciousness someone had found me. One time in particular stands out to me. I was talking with Pam one night, she was at her home in New Brunswick, and I just faded off on her. Since she is friends with Pastor and Cathy as well, she grabbed her cellphone and called them. Pastor rushed to my house and called the ambulance. I got teased alot because a new ambulance bay was built right across from my house! The paramedic's got to know me and knew where to find my medication and even where I kept my medical information! Alice used to tease me about how cute the paramedic's were. I would retort back, "How am I suppose to know, you never call them when I'm awake!"
Sometimes I would be admitted for a few days to get my sugars under better control. My doctor told me that at times it seems my system just needs a good flushing out with an IV for a couple of days. She told me that I'm what they call a "Brittle Diabetic", because my sugars seem to spike and drop on a whim!
With the neuropathy worse it's sometimes impossible to sleep in bed and I have to spend the night in my recliner. One morning I woke up in my chair. As my eyes began to focus I stared down the hallway. What I thought I was seeing didn't make any sense to me. It looked as if one of my shoes was floating! I put my chair upright and stood up...in ankle deep water! My house was flooded. I just sort of stood there for a minute trying to take it in and I walked over a very squishy livingroom rug into the hall. Yes, it was my shoe and it was floating down my hallway!
I grabbed the phone not really being able to think straight. I called Alice...no answer. I called Anne...no answer. I called mom...no answer. Finally I had no choice, I didn't want to bother him, but no one else was home. I called the Pastor...he answered. I told him in one breath that my house was flooded. He said, "What!!" I repeated what I had said and he told me to hang on and he hung up. He called right back to say that the deacon was on his way over. So I sat down and then thought...the Co-op!, they needed to be told. By the time the deacon showed up a man from the Co-op was here. I overheard the deacon calling the Pastor and saying to him, "No, its really bad!"
Within minutes people from the church started showing up. One sweet friend came over to me and gave me a big hug and said, "Now lets start moving things". She kind of took charge, and it was a good thing because I still couldn't think straight. Everything had to be moved into one of the front bedrooms that had only been partly flooded. How I hadn't been electrocuted amazed everyone as they picked up extension cord after extension cord out of the water! Within minutes my house was being torn apart. Everything that could be moved was moved. Men from the Co-op had already sucked out most of the water with a shop-vac and had thrown out the hot water heater which had been the cause of the problem. The floor was being ripped up and the baseboards torn off! What a mess.
Pastor came over to where I was and quietly said that I should take my computer and any other valuables with me as my house was going to have a lot of workmen going in and out and I wouldn't be there. That was the first that I realized that I would have to find a place to stay. One of the ladies volunteered to help me pack some of my things. I started down the hall looking for my shoes, they were finally found outside in the growing pile of debris! I still hadn't talked to Anne, but I knew that I would be able to stay there. So with my bird Sunny in tow and my van packed with my computer and other important things I left for her place.
The next day, we received word that a sweet lady from the church had died in her sleep, it was such a shock, she was younger than I was. Everyone started preparing for the funeral. The next evening at church we had a special service. The funeral was in a couple of days but the Pastor wanted that night to be just a "family" night remembering our dear friend. It was a special time remembering a very special person.
The next day I went to check on the house. No one was there working. I went in and found huge industrial heaters all through the house. It felt like a sauna! They had to dry out the floors and walls before any repairs could be started. What a mess everything was. That's when I noticed my plants...they were being baked! I went and picked up Alice and she helped me move them all to her house. I hoped that she would be able to coax life back into them...they were boiling hot even to touch.
I left her place and went back to Anne's. I was upset. I don't like when things are topsy-turvy and my world was in that state again.
Anne wasn't home, she was at the church setting up the basement for the reception that would follow the funeral the next day. Sitting down on her couch to wait for her to get home would be the last thing I would remember.
She told me later that when she and Bruce got home to pick me up to go to the viewing at the Funeral Home they couldn't wake me up. An ambulance was called and once again I woke up in the emergency room, however this time I was crying and struggling when I came around. The nurse told me later that night that on the way to the hospital I had started crying and trying to get off the stretcher. She said that I managed to fight my way half out of the restraints and had even gotten in a good punch at the paramedic before he could pin me down! Alice told me that when they were walking to the Funeral Home an ambulance sped by them faster then they had ever seen one going in town before, sirens were blaring and the driver was laying on the horn! Little did they realize that I was in the back giving the paramedic a workout!
Once again I spent the night in observation and was released the next morning after a good IV flushing. I got out in time to go to the funeral that afternoon.
Josiah had a plane ticket to come home for a visit, and even though I was still at Anne and Bruce's he came. He arrived in time to spend my last night with Anne and Bruce with me. After two weeks my little house was ready to move back into.
Once again my friends from the church came and helped me. By night nearly everything was back to rights and I was home. I saw many good things come out of this terrible experience. The Co-op provided me with a beautiful new livingroom carpet and lovely flooring that match. They built me a wheelchair ramp which made it much easier to get in and out of the house. They even replaced my old toilet with a higher handicapped one! Also one of the men from the church offered to mow my lawn every week and his father-in-law volunteered to come and put out my garbage each week. These two things might not seem important to most people, but when you can't do them its a big deal! I'm so thankful for these two men and their willingness to help me be able to stay in my own home. Alice and her kids help me with all my doctor's appointments and shopping too.
Josiah was only home for a week and it went by very quickly. Before I knew it, it was time for him to go back to Ontario. He wasn't in college anymore but loved living up there. He had found a good job and a nice apartment. I told him when I sent him off to college I had expected him to return home, not settle down 3 provinces away from me. But I was glad he was happy so I kissed him good-bye and watched him leave again.
My relationship with Elizabeth had improved. She was still living in Halifax and although there were still things I didn't improve of, it seemed like we had gotten closer. She was no longer keeping things from me. I was so very thankful.
Once my kids were grown and on their own, I vowed to myself that I would not be an interfering mother in their lives. If they asked my opinion on something I would give it. But I refused to butt into their lives with questions and opinions all the time. If they wanted to share something with me they were free to do so, but I was going to give them their privacy as grown-ups. I had enough on my plate to deal with, I didn't need the added pressure of knowing every little detail in their lives as well. This is something that seems to be working out well for all 3 of us.
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