Day 6 - 12th July

Tuesday, 12th July

Iain usually checked his blood sugar before each meal. We were scared to see the figure sky rocketing. Normally it was between 9 to 13 however it rose to 23.8 before breakfast on this day. We both knew this was very serious – if it’s not regulated high blood sugar levels such as this can cause damage. So we knew we had to see a doctor quickly. The earliest he could make an appointment was at 11.30. Given his condition I wondered why he hadn’t asked to be seen earlier but Iain liked to wait his turn.

At eleven I drove him to the doctor. After waiting for some time Dr. Burnett saw him. She listened to him very carefully and checked his blood pressure and pulse. She then palpated him, listened to his heart using a stethoscope – both on his front and his back. Then she asked for a urine sample and told Iain to go to the waiting room. In ten minutes or so his name was called and a nurse took an ECG. It was not the first time for Iain to have his ECG taken. So he looked relaxed and when finished he joked about how timid he felt to peel off the electrode patches because it hurt.

The doctor took a look at his ECG and pointed out irregularities in the curves and said, after explaining a few things, “This is a 999 job.” She said, “You look amazingly well for a patient in this condition.” We listened to the conversation with the parmedic. “Yes, he is breathing.” “Yes he is sitting, and smiling!” Then she gave him aspirin with a glass of water, brought an oxygen tank (which was empty) then brought a smaller bottle and put an oxygen mask on him. Iain was smiling.

At this point we were both worried but not excessively so. He looked calm and fine. As I said he was talking and smiling. Also we had had so many experiences with his mum being taken into hospital as a precaution. She is diabetic, actually both of his parents are diabetic.

In about twenty minutes an ambulance arrived and took him to ‘Carlisle Hospital’. He smiled good-bye to me from inside the ambulance. He told me later he was worried about me. I found out later that he had been driven at high speed up the motorway to Carlisle with the siren going and the blue light flushing. He was indeed in an emergency case. After the ambulance left, I hurried back home to pack his pyjamas and underwear as the doctor told me to bring some. She kindly offered to take the bag to him since she said she lived near Carlisle.

After I came home I looked for the phone number of Carlisle Hospital. First I checked the Internet but then there was no such institution with that name. So I rang the GP to ask the actual name of the hospital and discovered that it was the Cumberland Infirmary.

In the late afternoon I talked with Iain on the phone and he sounded well and perfectly normal – as if nothing had happened. He told me that his blood sugar was under control, the pain had gone and he felt better. The attending doctor told him he had a minor heart attack on the 7th or 8th, which was before he saw the doctor who diagnosed a frozen shoulder! He said, “It was a good job we went to the doctor again today.” We agreed. During the conversation he reported on various tests he had and was going to have – possibly in Newcastle since they have the necessary equipment there. There was every expectation that he would be discharged in about a week. Iain had some instructions for me; to update this blog to explain his situation and to bring a book he had bought recently. I asked him where he was. He said, “Nurse base D in the CCU.” At the time I didn't know what CCU meant.

posted by Edera