The first few days in the hospital

The first few days of that hospital stay are kind of a blur. My mom had completely lost her mobility by then. She had a motorized scooter at home and had to be pushed in a wheelchair to go to appointments. My dad, who used a cane at that point, was able to push her wheelchair and brought her to see me only one time, when I was still in the ICU. Otherwise, my dad came to the hospital almost every day. I will never really know what kind of grief my parents experienced seeing their almost 36-year-old daughter in ICU. Not cool.

My best friend, Beth, visited me. She has said she didn't like the numbers on my monitors in ICU. They scared her. Otherwise, my boyfriend at the time, Jason, and my dad's good friends Bill and Nancy, also visited.

My care team in the ICU was amazing. The ones who especially stand out in my mind include nurse Amanda, nurse Laura (who Amanda was training), and tech (nurse's assistant) Krisann (my former middle school basketball teammate). By Wednesday I was starting to feel a little better. Kris helped me bathe and she washed my hair. They got me sitting in a chair. Amanda came in my room and sat down on the edge of the bed. She said we were going to have "a talk".

She asked me to tell her my story and why I had ended up in the hospital. She asked me if I was going to start taking care of myself. I told her I was. And I meant it. That talk from a young rising star nurse was the beginning of my turnaround. 

But controlling my blood sugars was only the beginning of the challenges I faced. More to come . . .