All's Quiet on the Western Front

 Our life has more than its share of crises. In fact, we spent the entire first five years of Maggie’s life in crisis mode. There have been hundreds of crises since then too, and we have fretted and cried, wondered and feared the outcome.  So far, we have weathered the storms.

We do not live in crisis mode every day anymore, which is good. A crisis is, by definition, an emergency and it takes precedence over all other issues in your life.  You just have to get through it and hope and pray for a positive outcome and deal with the fallout later. We see others dealing with crisis and understand the fear and exhaustion, even if the circumstances are different.  

When one has experienced crisis as often as we have, you learn to enjoy the quieter days. Our day to day life is a busy one with issues and activities very different from those of most people. It is always different and often difficult, but we have adapted to it well.  Periodically we have to make adjustments to “normalize the abnormal.”   Sometimes those adjustments have ripple effects financially, emotionally or socially.  We just figure it out and marshal on. C’est la vie.

In times like these, when our biggest “crisis” of the week is the Christmas tree falling over, I have to stop and be thankful for all that is going right.  It’s December 15^th, Christmas is coming, Maggie is healthy, the boys are doing well and will both be here next week..

All is calm, all is bright.  

And a pleasant good morning to you too

The nurse left this morning and Maggie was snoozing. I sat just outside her room using the computer. After a while I heard her kicking the side rail of her bed. That's Maggie's sign that she is up and SOMEONE SHOULD BE IN HER PAYING ATTENTION TO ME. Generally it's done in good humor along with throwing pillows out of her bed.


I said "morning Mag, I'll be right there. That usually shuts her up because she knows she's not alone.

The noise didn't stop. I went in and she was struggling to breathe and her face was bluish purple. YIKES!

I don't know what happened but I just cranked the oxygen and did a deep suction. There didn't seem to be any obstruction. Her heart rate was 140 and when I took the oxygen away, her sats dropped to high 80's. (that's not good). I didn't let it get any lower and put the O2 back on her and whatever it was passed. Now she's up in her wheelchair - which is always a better position after something like that - and looking a litte wan. Heart rate is out of the stratosphere and the oxygen if off. Now she's smiling and not in any distress.

My heart rate is escalating by the moment. It always does that. I'm fine while the crises is happening, but crumble afterward.

I just did Maggie's #s again and she's still at only 93 so I put the O2 back on. She doesn't look bad though. Heart rate is down to 120 - which is still a bit high for her, but not terribly. Her ability to "call" for help impresses me. The constant banging was different than usual and made me go in there.

From now on if she's sleeping I will take my computer in there. It is a laptop and I can take my lap with me.

And so the day begins.....