It has been a few days since the woman
with type 2 diabetes was released by the hospital and Brenda called
today and said she was back in the hospital and still in very poor
condition. She said that this time is was hyperglycemia and she had
not been okay when her husband left for work and he had sent the
children off to school before he left. He did go home at noon and
found her unconscious and called the ambulance.
Brenda would be picking up the children
today and taking them directly to the hospital per the doctor's
instructions. The husband had objected, but the doctor told him that
his wife may not recover and he felt the children should see her
before something happened. He then agreed and said he would allow
this.
Sue said that after the children
arrived and saw their mother, they started crying and between tears
asked their dad why they were keeping everything a secret when
something was wrong with mom. The father asked the nurse to come
over and explain what was the matter with their mother. Sue said the
nurse asked the doctor if this was okay and he said he would as soon
as he checked on their mother.
After he returned from that, he sat the
children down and spent about 20 minutes answering their questions
and then he had the nurse continue while he checked on their mother
again. Brenda said both did an excellent job of answering their
questions and the nurse showed them some slides about diabetes and
explained what each slide meant and what they should be watching for
when their mother was released from the hospital and then what steps
to take.
Brenda said that the eldest then asked
her if this was serious. Brenda had to think before she answered.
She told them that it was serious as long as her mother would not
talk about it with her and thought that she still had a secret from
them. If she started talking to them about her diabetes and what she
may need when they were not in school, then it could be less serious.
The daughter then asked about what she had done the first time by
calling 911 and if that was the correct action. Brenda said under
the circumstances is was the correct thing to do. This is what
should have been done that morning, but their father had not realized
how serious it was since she could still talk.
The father came out then and asked if
Brenda could take the children home. The two put up some resistance
and Brenda said she would take them to her house until their father
picked them up.
The next morning, Brenda called more of
us together and said the two girls had asked many questions and asked
to see the medication she was taking. The eldest said that was the
same as they had seen in the refrigerator at home and asked how she
took it and many more questions. Brenda said they were very patient
and when they asked about saying something at school, Brenda said she
advised them that this would not be something wise as this time. She
said that this was the reason her mother had not said anything to
tell them about her diabetes.
Brenda did say that she told them about
the horror stories other children would tell them and while the two
hospital stays by her mother were serious, they would only add to the
horror stories other children would tell them. Most of this was
because of misinformation that the other children had been told about
diabetes.
Brenda said she would give us
additional as she and Sue learn about it. She stated that this
situation is scary and she hoped the woman does not lose her life
over her desire for secrecy.
