So, like I mentioned before, when we got home from Christmas Part One I went to bed and pretty much immediately passed out.
Somehow Chris stayed awake for awhile though and was watching some shows on Netflix and playing some games on his tablet.
It was a good thing too.
Around 12:30 our house phone started ringing. He was trying to find it, and I was all "Nooooo.", not realizing what time it was and who was calling at said time. He found it and answered anyways. It was my grandmother, who asked us to come upstairs right away.
I was still half asleep and fumbling around, walking in circles proclaiming that I needed pants! Chris found my pants and threw them at me and said that it was serious and I needed to hurry. I was all, "What'd she say? How do you know it's serious? What does serious sound like?" I had no idea what time it was and assumed it was early in the morning and she wanted something silly. Chris was all, "Serious sounds like your grandmother telling us to come upstairs at 12:30, hurry up!" That woke me up a bit more and I got dressed and fumbled out the door the best I could.
I don't sleep well because of where my brain damage is, so the medicine I take at night really knocks me out. It's hard to shake out of sleep once I get to sleep deep enough.
We got upstairs and the door was standing open, we walked in and found my Pop soaking wet sweated sitting in bed. That woke me up instantly. My grandmother was panicking and didn't know what to do. I could tell right away it was his sugar from his symptoms and used his glucometer to check, his reading was 31.
A sugar level that low can cause seizure and/or diabetic coma. It was really hard not to panic or get emotional. He was really out of it. My grandmother grabbed his glucose tablets while Chris helped me peel oranges. It was hard at first to convince him to even eat them fast enough because he was that out of it.
By that point five minutes had passed and I checked his sugar again, it was only 34. I wasn't satisfied at all with how slow it was rising and knowing the dangers of hypoglycemia I called 911 to have an ambulance on the way for backup.
Chris ran to our house to get orange juice for me and we started giving him non-diet soda and orange juice. Getting him to drink was easier and quicker than getting him to eat. By the time I got off the phone with 911 I had his sugar to 58 and rising, and by the time the EMT's showed up it was 134 and he was becoming more lucid by the minute.
When I got off the phone with 911 I called my Mom to let her know what was going on because she was the one person I knew would answer the phone at that time of night. She drove down and woke my Aunt up on her way and brought her with. They showed up about twenty minutes after the EMTs left.
The EMTs said we did everything perfectly and pretty much saved his life. They called the doctor at the hospital just to let them know what happened and get their opinion on whether or not he was fine to stay home now. The doctor said as long as we kept an eye on his sugar every hour for the rest of the night until the insulin filtered out of his system he could stay home.
His sugar had to be monitored for awhile because his insulin level was still high and his kidney function is impaired making it filter out slower. By the time we went home his sugar was dropping back to 110ish. My grandmother made him some peanut butter toast and that got it back up. My Mom and Aunt stayed and kept an eye on him for awhile, and we went home.
My grandparents were never taught by their doctor to adjust his insulin dosage based on his glucometer reading before bedtime. They were giving 36 units of insulin every night like a prescribed dose of medication. He ate Subway and cupcakes with us, and was tired and didn't snack then before bed. The cupcake most likely raised his natural insulin levels and made his sugar lower, combined with a lack of snacking, and a full insulin dose without doing a glucometer reading. His levels crashed.
The one EMT was a dousche and whining because it was his third night working in a row. While it sucks working on a holiday and I commend all of those that are stuck working, whine about that at least. Don't whine that it's your third night, lol.
It was hard to fall back to sleep afterwards because of all the adrenaline rushing still. My Pop Pop means so much to me. He's the main father figure I had in my life growing up, and I just can't imagine if I would have lost him that night.
It was really lucky that everything happened like it did. That he woke up to go to the bathroom and knew enough yet to tell my grandmother that he didn't feel well. That she woke up and paid attention to him not feeling well. That Chris was still awake to answer the phone and wake me up, and that I knew what to do when we got up there. So many things took place that allowed him to still be here with us. I'm glad we live as close by as we do.
I guess really, that's how life is though. Small little instances of fate leading up to a bigger picture.
My Pop was pretty exhausted in the morning then so they didn't go to Christmas Part Two, understandably so. I missed them there, but I was just happy that he was okay.
He's feeling much better by today. He's still battling bronchitis though and needs to get another round of antibiotics.
Stay tuned for Christmas Part Two, and to find out what Chris and I got each other for Christmas!
Around 12:30 our house phone started ringing. He was trying to find it, and I was all "Nooooo.", not realizing what time it was and who was calling at said time. He found it and answered anyways. It was my grandmother, who asked us to come upstairs right away.
I was still half asleep and fumbling around, walking in circles proclaiming that I needed pants! Chris found my pants and threw them at me and said that it was serious and I needed to hurry. I was all, "What'd she say? How do you know it's serious? What does serious sound like?" I had no idea what time it was and assumed it was early in the morning and she wanted something silly. Chris was all, "Serious sounds like your grandmother telling us to come upstairs at 12:30, hurry up!" That woke me up a bit more and I got dressed and fumbled out the door the best I could.
I don't sleep well because of where my brain damage is, so the medicine I take at night really knocks me out. It's hard to shake out of sleep once I get to sleep deep enough.
We got upstairs and the door was standing open, we walked in and found my Pop soaking wet sweated sitting in bed. That woke me up instantly. My grandmother was panicking and didn't know what to do. I could tell right away it was his sugar from his symptoms and used his glucometer to check, his reading was 31.
A sugar level that low can cause seizure and/or diabetic coma. It was really hard not to panic or get emotional. He was really out of it. My grandmother grabbed his glucose tablets while Chris helped me peel oranges. It was hard at first to convince him to even eat them fast enough because he was that out of it.
By that point five minutes had passed and I checked his sugar again, it was only 34. I wasn't satisfied at all with how slow it was rising and knowing the dangers of hypoglycemia I called 911 to have an ambulance on the way for backup.
Chris ran to our house to get orange juice for me and we started giving him non-diet soda and orange juice. Getting him to drink was easier and quicker than getting him to eat. By the time I got off the phone with 911 I had his sugar to 58 and rising, and by the time the EMT's showed up it was 134 and he was becoming more lucid by the minute.
When I got off the phone with 911 I called my Mom to let her know what was going on because she was the one person I knew would answer the phone at that time of night. She drove down and woke my Aunt up on her way and brought her with. They showed up about twenty minutes after the EMTs left.
The EMTs said we did everything perfectly and pretty much saved his life. They called the doctor at the hospital just to let them know what happened and get their opinion on whether or not he was fine to stay home now. The doctor said as long as we kept an eye on his sugar every hour for the rest of the night until the insulin filtered out of his system he could stay home.
His sugar had to be monitored for awhile because his insulin level was still high and his kidney function is impaired making it filter out slower. By the time we went home his sugar was dropping back to 110ish. My grandmother made him some peanut butter toast and that got it back up. My Mom and Aunt stayed and kept an eye on him for awhile, and we went home.
My grandparents were never taught by their doctor to adjust his insulin dosage based on his glucometer reading before bedtime. They were giving 36 units of insulin every night like a prescribed dose of medication. He ate Subway and cupcakes with us, and was tired and didn't snack then before bed. The cupcake most likely raised his natural insulin levels and made his sugar lower, combined with a lack of snacking, and a full insulin dose without doing a glucometer reading. His levels crashed.
The one EMT was a dousche and whining because it was his third night working in a row. While it sucks working on a holiday and I commend all of those that are stuck working, whine about that at least. Don't whine that it's your third night, lol.
It was hard to fall back to sleep afterwards because of all the adrenaline rushing still. My Pop Pop means so much to me. He's the main father figure I had in my life growing up, and I just can't imagine if I would have lost him that night.
It was really lucky that everything happened like it did. That he woke up to go to the bathroom and knew enough yet to tell my grandmother that he didn't feel well. That she woke up and paid attention to him not feeling well. That Chris was still awake to answer the phone and wake me up, and that I knew what to do when we got up there. So many things took place that allowed him to still be here with us. I'm glad we live as close by as we do.
I guess really, that's how life is though. Small little instances of fate leading up to a bigger picture.
My Pop was pretty exhausted in the morning then so they didn't go to Christmas Part Two, understandably so. I missed them there, but I was just happy that he was okay.
He's feeling much better by today. He's still battling bronchitis though and needs to get another round of antibiotics.
Stay tuned for Christmas Part Two, and to find out what Chris and I got each other for Christmas!
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