A Few Prayers for Texas Cowboy!!

The Horse's Mouth | 08-Apr-05 | Tom Eaker

[Eaker]

Prayers for TexasCowboy!

TexasCowboy has been using his hip injury as an excuse to prevent his friends from shooting his new riot gun.

Well some of us offered to take a look at it for him and he decided both a proffesional and sober opinion might make more sense.

So he found a coupon and now he is going to let some old saw-bones cut on him.

Probably a better idea than letting us do it, but a few folks feelings are still hurt!

Please all say a prayer for our Cowboy that he is back in the saddle again real soon.

[El Gato]

Ahhh, what can I tell you about my angel, Faith?? A lady told me yesterday that Faith was very lucky to have me. I explained to her that she couldn't be more wrong. Faith is my rock, and she loves the role

I see you still hold to The Motto (not that I would expect anything different from a Marine.):

Semper Fidelis

(Always Faithful, or in the modern vernacular Keep the Faith!)

Carry On!

[Brad’s Gramma]

OK. Here's the deal.

You & me. We'll sneak into Texas and kidnap Nana, Beth and the baby. We'll bring them back here and keep 'em for awhile.

Don't say a word to anyone, OK?

[LadyX]

"We'll sneak into Texas and kidnap Nana, Beth and the baby. We'll bring them back here and keep 'em for awhile.
Don't say a word to anyone, OK?"

Okey-dokey, Sistah Nancy - - mum's the word about THAT - - however,

I Object!! and DEMAND AN APOLOGY
for the fact you DID NOT PING!!
folks to see TC's newest Reply # 5755...:(

(If you need some help with The Plan, there are a few thousand Marines
down at Camp Pendleton who would just luv to go on sich a maneuver..:))

[luvie]

Prayers continue for you and for Faith....God bless and keep you, and if it be Your will, dear Father, please let this good man be healed and this woman--his rock--not have any more seizures!

[Txsleuth]

What a terrific note from TC!

Hey TC--you are very good at painting the picture! You make me feel like I am right there with you and Faith...which I am, in spirit...

Most of all, God is with you both..and you two better remember who to lean on....and don't do more than you can.

The pictures with you and Logan were just adorable...and Logan was cute, too! lol

Stay the course (as President Bush would say), and you could be home in time to welcome the Texas troops home soon---

Are you sure you don't want to go to Crawford, and sit out in a lawn chair across the street from Cindy Sheehan? The Texas freepers have a gang going...I wish I could go, but my 5 year old granddaughter is turning 6 tomorrow and Nama's attendance at the Birthday party is NOT OPTIONAL...

Prayers Up, Cowboy, Texas is here and we are praying and waiting for your return..

later
sleuth

[Iowa Granny]

What an absolute JOY to see your update. Prayers continue for additional progress for you and for Faith!

Granny Hugs

[LadyX]

Happy Birthday to your precious granddaughter, sleuth!

I just had a visit Wednesday and Thursday from my grandson, Kyle, who 'somehow' turned 20 on Wednesday (seems like just a blink ago I was present at his birth!) - and his very sweet girlfriend....

On Sunday, his Mom amd Dad were here...
it's been a Very Good Week..:))

[Bigun]

The irony of a pain in the ass getting operated on for a pain in the ass is apparent to all who know and love TexasCowboy.

LOL! I'll second that emotion!

Get well soon, big guy!

And that one to!

Take care of yourself my friend as there ain't a whole bunch of us real oil field trash types left anywho!

[Txsleuth]

Thank you---I hope Kailey doesn't turn 20 TOO fast!

I already can't believe she is turning 6! You might remember that she is the granddaughter that has Type 1 Diabetes...she is soooooooo good about it, Lady. She gives herself her shots 4 times a day....and tests herself 5 times a day!

She starts 1st grade on Monday...and she thinks she is really grown up! LOL

I never, ever thought the being a "Nama" would be so fun!

In fact, I am sure that Logan was just the medicine TC needed, to give him the extra energy to post such a wonderful note to us!

I am also so glad that you got to spend some time with your family! I DOES make for a wonderful week, doesn't it?

later
sleuth

[LadyX]

I do indeed remember all about Kailey, sleuth, and always include her in my prayers - as I do you and all her family.

As one who has handled being a very brittle diabetic for 31 years, I can assure you the shots are not any more a 'hardship' than combing your hair or brushing your teeth - you cease to 'think' about it, and do it as casually as opening a door.

Blood testing on the fingers?
Twenty-three years now, since the home test kits first became available....those, too, are 'nothings.'

There will be real challenges for her in the very structured school environment, but I'm sure her parents have talked with her teacher (and the school nurse) to explain her various needs, and what to watch for during her time there...most especially signs of insulin reactions developing, requiring immediate attention.

I imagine her mother makes sure she *ALWAYS* has a source of candy in a ZipLock bag WITH her everywhere she goes .
If not reversed promptly, they can rapidly reach a state where she cannot focus and treat herself...if 'out of it' or unconscious, others can squeeze Karo syrup or honey into the inside of her cheek to be absorbed until real help can be given.

Has her physician prescribed for her "emergency glucagon kits" (to quickly elevate her blood glucose) to carry to be administered?
Always have one with her teacher/school nurse/family for her?

I have never been the least bit embarrassed to pluck a sweet drink (juice; Sunny-D; etc.) and bag of cookies from shelves in a grocery store and slurp/wolf them down, knowing I don't have the luxury of 'time' to delay; or to sit in the car and administer a glucagon injection to myself (kit *always* in my pocketbook, as is a bag of spice drops) before the final curtains descend.

Oddly enough, no one ever raised an eyebrow, nor did the checkout clerks who rang up the 'badly damaged' goods - LOL

The joy is the fact there are great strides being made right now in the treatment of this monster!
Your Kailey might well be on the front of the wave of those for whom the tide is turned...

[TheMom]

Darlin', you are in every one of my prayers!!!

My loudest prayer is that you are able to come home and complete your dream!

On a side note: when you do make it home and find that kick ass weed eater gone, you will not find it in my sock drawer. ;-)

[Txsleuth]

You have got everything down...you could have been Kailey's "coach"...

Yes, she went to a meeting with the teacher and nurse last night...and myself, her other grandmother and her great-grandmother take turns going up on her lunch hour to make sure she eats all of her lunch (she gets too distracted talking with friends to trust her to get her carbs)...

We all carry candy, cake icing(she doesn't like honey), apple juice and glucogone with us wherever we go. she is very scary...she can be running across the room with her normal energy...but will just pass out without notice when her blood sugar gets too low..she has scared me many times...that is why we test her so often.

She isn't allowed to go anywhere at the school without a "buddy" that goes with her...in case something happens, the buddy can go get help.

I keep finding articles here on Free Republic about new treatments and I print them off and give them to my son and daughter in law...but of course, her mother and all do the same thing...LOL They get lots of help from the family!!!

I do so appreciate it when you post to me like you did tonight, it makes me feel a lot better about Kailey's future.

Have a great weekend, Lady---and I always include you in MY prayers!

God Bless you,
sleuth

[El Gato]

We'll sneak into Texas and kidnap Nana, Beth and the baby.

Baby? What Baby? TT is not a baby. He's little boy, well on his way to being a big boy and eventually a young man, and he'll be a heck of a young man when he gets to that point.

[LadyX]

Your family sounds wonderful, and thoroughly educated and prepared.

As for the "suddenly running and then dropping like a fly," many diabetics do not have or do not pay attention to early *warning signs* - -

I am so attuned to my body's changes that even if I test and get something quite high, if I *feel* a drop in progress I TREAT ANYWAY.
Far better to overtreat and correct than to plummet and pass out.

I ALWAYS go on instinct, time being of the essence, and even go against a professional, if warranted.
One day at the Medical College of Georgia, a PA was doing my workup before my Endocrinologist was to come into the room. With me suddenly feeling a drop in BG was in progress, he had a nurse come in to check it.

Yep - it said a "safe high 180" - - he was smug and actually making fun of me for the little interruption -
HOWEVER, I KNEW IT WAS DROPPING RAPIDLY!

I insisted firmly I needed some orange juice or cola RIGHT NOW, and yanked out my spice drops and practically inhaled them....he reluctantly had it checked again as he gave me the juice, and it was already down to 53 and falling further....

I am blessed now with all my caregivers (Nephrologist, Endocrinologist, Dialysis Clinic staff) comfortably believing anything I say.

The best advice I can give Kailey is to learn to recognize "changes/differences" in herself and promptly pursue them aggressively, no matter what - not overly depend on persons who have not had diabetes, and simply cannot understand the complexities.
I tell persons I would cheerfully maim or kill, snatching from their hands vital fluids or foodstuffs to treat an insulin reaction - and I mean that, as Kailey must.

In my case, usually/often there is a drop in the tone level of my speech that signals a drop in progress - can/but not always be a tightening in the stomach, overall slightly agitated, sped up shift - she will learn to recogize her own signals, and treat right away, hopefully.

The opposite was a quite familiar thing, too, often working with BG of 500 and much higher and not breaking stride...injected insulin and kept plodding along..:))
(It takes a *long period* of extreme highs to create diabetic ketoacidosis and/or coma.)

[Txsleuth]

We have asked her if she remembers how she feels right before she "forgets what she was doing", which is how she first catagorized her blackouts...she just couldn't remember. She says she doesn't know how she feels before yet, but we are trying to get her to pay attention.

Her problem is that she is like a whirling dervish and just never stops...when she spends the night with me, she wouldn't go to sleep before 1:30 AM, if I let her make the rules!

Even Kailey's "coach" told us in the hospital when she was first diagnosed that whenever he sees one of his "kids", he can't tell by their demeanor anything about their blood sugar...

I have had times when Kailey would be laying down more than usual, so I will take her BS...and she will over 300---which USUALLY causes her to be cranky and argumentative...so we just can't tell...

And you are right about it dropping fast..I have tested her at over 250 at lunch time, and by 5:00 PM, had to give her coke because she has gotten so low---and yet her diet and insulin doesn't vary at all...

You give the BEST pep talks....I just have no way of thanking you enough for this, and telling you how much it means to me that you have taken the time to discuss this with me...

U R the BEST!

sleuth

[LadyX]

"I have had times when Kailey would be laying down more than usual, so I will take her BS...and she will over 300---which USUALLY causes her to be cranky and argumentative...so we just can't tell..."

It is confusing to 'well persons' how to view what they see in a diabetic.
The highs DO bring on lethargy and the desire to lie down -
I was a Department Secretary in a major hospital, though, and kept going like Energizer Bunny, even when I had 2-3 insulin reactions in a single day - 7 to 12 insulin reactions every week of every year for years.
With coffee privileges in the Physicians Lounge in my position, I interacted with many of them and others keenly observed me, so unique a case, able to withstand what most cannot.

As for "and yet her diet and insulin doesn't vary at all..." tx, do please grasp the fact EXERCISE can cause the drops!!
That was definitely so in my case, walking all over a 6 floors plus basement hospital in my job.

Is she not on a sliding scale of insulin for the food she is about to eat, and taught how to adjust the dosage knowing she will be more active and need LESS insulin injected??

NO body is always level 24/7!!
I even use a sliding scale for the Lantus (24-hour level), and always for the Humalog given AFTER meals, rather than before, based on what I actually have ingested and plan to do physically...and remember that housework seriously counts as exercise....I tread carefully, needless to say.

[Rightfootforward]

Hey, big guy. What a treat it is to hear from you!

You are definitely the man with a medical plan. Imagine it helps to know what the docs have lined up for you. Would be for me. Will be sending you extra special good thoughts for the coming week. Once they get all the good meds on board, I have no doubt you'll ramp up your internal force multiplier and help fix yourself right up. I know you have tough days but that life force of yours is something else! It comes through beautifully every time you write.

Our prayers continue for you and Faith every single day. Know what else? We love you!

Healing hugs, my friend. Healing hugs!

[Brad’s Gramma]

Let's try this again! :)

Hi TC. I KNOW you're not here right now, reading this....but know that a whole BUNCH of us are praying for you tonight, tomorrow and forever. We love you!

Don't tell anyone but me and The Boss are gonna kidnap Nana, Beth and Punkin and bring them back here for a loooooooooooooooooooooooong time. WhatEVER you do, don't say anything to Nana, OK? ;)

[Brad’s Gramma]

Note to self:

It will not always work.

:)

(Hi Cowboy...)

[LadyX]

Hahahaha - about The Grand Plan, Nancy the Younger....
Mama always said you had a great imagination..:))

All right - whatcha gonna do with Nana, though,
once you get Punkin and her out to LA LA LAND
and accomplish the heist?!

HUH? HUH???