Life as a Spectator Sport

My daugher saved a woman's life today. Early this morning, Shelley called from somewhere in Ohio. She was at a shipper's guard shack, coming in to pick up a load. "Mom," she said, "the guard here is diabetic and I think she has low blood sugar. What should I do?"

I replied, "Give her something sweet--candy or juice or something like that." I was about to ask whether the guard had specifically said that her blood sugar was low, when Shelley said, "I got her to check her blood sugar and it's 21, and she's acting really spaced out."

"Call 911!" I said immediately and forcefully. "And then get some sugar into her if you can! She's in insulin shock!"

Shelley yelled, "Okay!" and hung up and I crossed my fingers and prayed. About ten minutes later, she called back. "A fire truck is here," she said, "and I think the guard is going to be okay. I had some orange juice in my truck, so I gave her some of that and she's already a lot better."

She told me that the woman said she'd been fine, when "something came over her."

"She was sweating," Shelley said, "and couldn't focus on anything--it took her forever to write down my truck number and my load information. I thought at first that maybe she just had a fever, but you don't go from being fine to being in that condition in a few minutes if you just have a cold or the flu. I don't know what made me think of diabetes, but I asked her and she said, yes, she was diabetic. So then I got her to check her blood sugar, but she was so far gone that she couldn't tell me what a normal reading would be and I wasn't sure if 21 was low or high, so I called you."

I said to her, "You know you probably saved that woman's life, don't you? A blood sugar of 21 is just about rock bottom. In another few minutes, she could have been dead."

"Yeah," Shelley agreed. "There's another truck here now, but it was half an hour behind me. She was all by herself in the guard shack."

She had to go on and get unloaded, so we hung up, but I've been sitting here glowing with pride at her for being so level-headed and quick. If Clarence had a blood sugar level of 21, he'd be dead and gone. This woman is just damn lucky that Shelley came along when she did.

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RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email to liz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002