Long day and accomplished almost nothing

peternap · March 15, 2008, 08:20:51 PM

I went to the farm early this morning with a long list of things to do. I had a full load of lumber (1x6 to 1x25) that I cut last weekend. I did get them stickered and stacked in the kiln.
I got exactly one timber in place on the house.
I graded part of the road that had washed.

I set out feed plots with seed corn and bacon grease for the bears and reset cameras on them.

My son, his wife and granddaughter came down and the day was shot.

We did do some shooting and the 45/70 won out again. (Love that gun)

I didn't stay the night and it turned out to be a good thing.

I had an asthma attack on the way home. By the time I got in the house I didn't have enough oxygen to go any further. Took hits on the Primitine mist and mt breathing was better but I was still very tired. Took my blood sugar and it was 35. That's the second lowest it's ever been.

A can of peaches later and three cups of coffee later.....I'm beat!
I didn't ever scratch the surface on the list either sooooo back tomorrow. $:-\$

MountainDon · March 15, 2008, 08:34:55 PM

I hope you're breathing okay and feeling better soon, Peter. It's the pits when one's O₂ sinks.

I'm feeling a little green about the gills myself...

March 15, 2008, 08:38:38 PM

That may just be the bright spot of the day Don,,,Thanks!

glenn kangiser · March 15, 2008, 09:42:54 PM

Peter, I take a half a Bronkaid or so every once in a while when I notice I'm being sluggish or about a third at night sometimes just before bed. The pollution in the air can cause you to be sluggish due to lack of oxygen and you won't even realize it. Many times I won't think of it until I later look back and see I was overly tired for no reason.

Problem is seeing it before it is past. It slips up on you like having a heavy weight on your chest and not realizing it.

Sassy · March 15, 2008, 10:19:00 PM

Peter, you worry me!

That blood sugar is awfully low, I'm surprised that you made it home... can you tell when you blood sugar is low? Some people have such dramatic swings that they no longer are sensitive to the changes... do you sense when you are feeling shaky, nervous, sweaty, weak, confused? If it goes too low, you won't even know that there's anything wrong - you just go into a coma... that would be bad!

You mentioned you are using Primatene mist - do you have albuterol or combivent or atrovent rx's? Those would probably be better for you... although Glenn hasn't been using inhalers for years & he used to use them all the time... takes the Bronkaid when he needs it & seems to keep him doing pretty good.

You gotta watch out for yourself! You sound so much like Glenn's best friend who has diabetes...

March 17, 2008, 10:24:17 AM

Gosh Peter, my legs would have turned to rubber if my sugar was down to the 60s or 70s... I don't know how you made it home. Sounds like you need to be careful!

peternap · March 17, 2008, 11:16:15 AM

Quote from: Sassy on March 15, 2008, 10:19:00 PM
Peter, you worry me! That blood sugar is awfully low, I'm surprised that you made it home... can you tell when you blood sugar is low? Some people have such dramatic swings that they no longer are sensitive to the changes... do you sense when you are feeling shaky, nervous, sweaty, weak, confused? If it goes too low, you won't even know that there's anything wrong - you just go into a coma... that would be bad!

You mentioned you are using Primatene mist - do you have albuterol or combivent or atrovent rx's? Those would probably be better for you... although Glenn hasn't been using inhalers for years & he used to use them all the time... takes the Bronkaid when he needs it & seems to keep him doing pretty good.

You gotta watch out for yourself! You sound so much like Glenn's best friend who has diabetes...

It sneaks up on me most of the time Sassy. I take readings several times a day and when it gets to 70, I know I need to eat. That doesn't always work though. I notice shaking sometimes and My Wife, tells me my temper gets worse (I'm not sure how you could tell

).

Around 50, I get weak and do notice that because I'm just a few points away from passing out. Yes, just before going out, I am very confused. I hate to admit this....For a while, Jane wouldn't let me drive for two reasons. The big one is that I was passing out. The other was I was getting lost. I would just realize that I had no idea where I was. I could be 2 blocks from home but didn't have a clue.

I tried the Bronkaid yesterday and it helped a lot. I just have to use it when my breathing starts to get a little difficult.

HT...believe me, My legs were rubber! $:-\$

Homegrown Tomatoes · March 17, 2008, 11:54:45 AM

Peter, have you had issues with your blood sugar for a long time, or is it something relatively new for you? I am asking because I'd never had issues until this pregnancy, and particularly around the time we started the move. The first few weeks I was checking my blood sugar, it was all over the place, no matter what I ate, but after we kind of got back in our normal routines a little bit and got a few things unpacked, it seemed to help to regulate it. I've actually stayed close to within range now for about four days (there was the little splurge on Vietnamese noodle soup yesterday that threw me off for a while.) I feel so much better when I'm within range, but I've found that I have to eat a LOT more often than I am used to... I am not a snacker, so it's been hard for me to learn to eat more than three meals a day. Instead of anything I'd consider a "meal" I just keep a big jar of peanuts handy, because they don't send my sugar skyrocketing, but they do help curb the intense hunger and keep my sugar from getting too low. If you've had to deal with this for a long time, my heart goes out to you... it's a pain in the neck keeping up with it, and it seems like any little thing can throw you off-- a lousy night's sleep, one meal that was less than perfect, eating out (no matter how careful you are about WHAT you eat.) I am really hoping that this is JUST gestational diabetes in my case and that it will go away completely after the baby arrives! Thankfully, in spite of eating a lot more often than I am used to, I have not gained much weight with this pregnancy (so far, just around 11-12 lbs.) (Must be the total elimination of carbs in the past several weeks!) It is scary when you get to the point where you're disoriented or can't remember things... I have a relative who lives alone and has severe diabetic episodes, and I always worry about him and what would happen if he got into that state when he was alone. The past few times it has happened, thankfully he was visiting his sister and they had the wherewithall to get him something to eat and check his sugar, but he was one step away from passing out and being a goner. Also, growing up, I had a good friend who was diabetic, and she was insulin dependent. One day she had a fight with her folks and walked out of the house, forgetting her insulin, and also having not eaten. They found her three days later in a cornfield near where she lived...she'd apparently become confused and passed out alone in the field... saddest thing I have ever seen... she was only 19 or 20 when it happened. SO BE CAREFUL! Make sure you have a cell phone or some way of contacting someone if you need help and take exceptional care of yourself. That granddaughter needs you around for a long time to come!!!

peternap · March 17, 2008, 02:41:51 PM

It's been about a year and 8 months now. All the health problems I have now seem to have surfaced when my appendix burst.

March 17, 2008, 06:00:38 PM

It's strange the things that docs routinely take out and don't really completely understand the function of and it's not until they're gone that other related things start having issues....like tonsils, spleens, gall bladders, and appendix. I figure that God put it there for a reason or it wouldn't be there, and short of a major emergency (ie. having your appendix burst) I sure wouldn't let anyone take any of it out. My mom has had all sorts of strange issues since she had a colon resectioning several years back...she gets infections way easier than she used to, and she even has to be careful drinking water in different places, etc.