Christmas at Sutter Hospital
Dec. 27th, 2004 09:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
raefinlayI have a new appreciation for emergency services workers.
At 8:00 a.m. on Christmas morning, my brother's mother-in-law went into hypoglycemic shock. We were all asleep, so we don't know how long she seized before my nephew, 8-yr-old Kevin, said, "Uh...I think something is wrong with abuelita."
Delfina is about 74 years old (at least we think so--they didn't keep good records in Mexico when she was born, and half of her siblings starved to death anyway, so why bother?) and diabetic with hypertension. She speaks only Spanish, has extraordinary pain tolerance (if you'd been through what she has, you would too) and this is her first trip to the U.S. She doesn't complain. About anything. Because life is pain. So we had no idea that she was feeling dizzy, or that she'd been fighting a urinary tract infection for a day or so.
We called 911 and a very cheerful paramedic crew arrived within 5 minutes. It's a good thing, because her glucose level was down to 24. They wished us all a Merry Christmas and gave her a glucose IV until she stopped seizing. But then, she couldn't wake up. She tried, and she thrashed and moaned, but couldn't open her eyes. So the ambulance drove her away to the hospital and we followed behind.
She stabilized about an hour later, and woke up with her family standing around her. She didn't remember a thing. But she was all grins and hugs and kisses and was absolutely delighted with the American hospital with its soft bed and yummy food. I told her it was like having breakfast in bed at a fancy hotel, and she just laughed and laughed.
They released her a couple hours later. All ten of us crowded into my sister's one bedroom apt to exchange gifts and eat a good breakfast/lunch/meal-thing with complex carbs and protein. Then, Delfina seized again.
Back to the hospital. Fortunately, we caught it sooner this time and she stabilized easily, but they kept her overnight for observation. My nephew came home with me to spend time with his Tía Rae and to distance himself from the situation. Much tickling happened.
Last night, a much recovered Delfina spent the night at my house. As we were turning off the lights to go to bed, my nephew insisted that the lamp next to her bed stay on all night. "I want to see abuelita's face," he said. He was the one to discover her both times. He's a smart kid, so he knows he saved her life, and he's feeling a certain responsibility now. Poor baby.
But all's well that ends well. We know what to watch for now. We'll be pricking her a bit more often, and we'll have a little juice on hand at all times. The really amazing and wonderful thing about all this is if she had been in Mexico, she would have died. Our emergency services folks responded quickly and compassionately. I asked them how they felt about getting the bum shift, and to a person, they shook their heads and said something like, "Ah, don't worry about it. This is the best job in the world."
And that's all I have to say about that. Except that I'm really tired and I didn't get to write at all this weekend. But I guess my world can't always be just about me.
At 8:00 a.m. on Christmas morning, my brother's mother-in-law went into hypoglycemic shock. We were all asleep, so we don't know how long she seized before my nephew, 8-yr-old Kevin, said, "Uh...I think something is wrong with abuelita."
Delfina is about 74 years old (at least we think so--they didn't keep good records in Mexico when she was born, and half of her siblings starved to death anyway, so why bother?) and diabetic with hypertension. She speaks only Spanish, has extraordinary pain tolerance (if you'd been through what she has, you would too) and this is her first trip to the U.S. She doesn't complain. About anything. Because life is pain. So we had no idea that she was feeling dizzy, or that she'd been fighting a urinary tract infection for a day or so.
We called 911 and a very cheerful paramedic crew arrived within 5 minutes. It's a good thing, because her glucose level was down to 24. They wished us all a Merry Christmas and gave her a glucose IV until she stopped seizing. But then, she couldn't wake up. She tried, and she thrashed and moaned, but couldn't open her eyes. So the ambulance drove her away to the hospital and we followed behind.
She stabilized about an hour later, and woke up with her family standing around her. She didn't remember a thing. But she was all grins and hugs and kisses and was absolutely delighted with the American hospital with its soft bed and yummy food. I told her it was like having breakfast in bed at a fancy hotel, and she just laughed and laughed.
They released her a couple hours later. All ten of us crowded into my sister's one bedroom apt to exchange gifts and eat a good breakfast/lunch/meal-thing with complex carbs and protein. Then, Delfina seized again.
Back to the hospital. Fortunately, we caught it sooner this time and she stabilized easily, but they kept her overnight for observation. My nephew came home with me to spend time with his Tía Rae and to distance himself from the situation. Much tickling happened.
Last night, a much recovered Delfina spent the night at my house. As we were turning off the lights to go to bed, my nephew insisted that the lamp next to her bed stay on all night. "I want to see abuelita's face," he said. He was the one to discover her both times. He's a smart kid, so he knows he saved her life, and he's feeling a certain responsibility now. Poor baby.
But all's well that ends well. We know what to watch for now. We'll be pricking her a bit more often, and we'll have a little juice on hand at all times. The really amazing and wonderful thing about all this is if she had been in Mexico, she would have died. Our emergency services folks responded quickly and compassionately. I asked them how they felt about getting the bum shift, and to a person, they shook their heads and said something like, "Ah, don't worry about it. This is the best job in the world."
And that's all I have to say about that. Except that I'm really tired and I didn't get to write at all this weekend. But I guess my world can't always be just about me.
