I was out testing my worm theory and a guy in a kayak came cruising by. He said hi and I recognized his voice. He was one of my diabetes education patients. For 6 years I ran an out patient diabetes education program. Another one of those many career choices you have as a nurse.
He was one of my favorite patients. Mike, not his real name, was home from college, on a school holiday, when he found out he had diabetes. He came up to the hospital to visit one of his good buddies who had just been diagnosed with diabetes. They were both around 18 years of age. His buddy was also on school holiday but went to a different university.
Well, on one of Mike's visits he used his buddies blood sugar monitor to check his own blood sugar. Not something we recommend since you can spread blood borne illnesses using another person's monitor. His blood sugar was over 300. That scared him. He had been listening to his buddies instructions and knew that wasn't good. He didn't say a word, just put the monitor down.
He later told his dad and soon after that he was enrolled in my out-patient education program. I had a hell of a good time teaching him. We got to be quite close and every time he came to town for a holiday, he came to see me. He was an athlete and we discussed all the things that could affect his blood sugar and how to make adjustment to his management program. He managed his own diabetes very well.
It is such a joy to run into some of my old students whether they had been my patients or my nursing students. Another little episode of synchronicity today.
29 comments:
BTW, that's my kayak he's borrowing so one of his friends can cruise along with him. He tested out my new little kayak wharf design. My, can do anything, river rat neighbors, built it for me. It worked well for mounting and dismounting his kayak.
Ok, The first time I refreshed, I didn't see your new blog, but I noticed you had 5 followers now.
Looks like a beautiful day there.
It's actually quite tolerable outside. Nice north breeze. Already mowed the grass and just hanging out on the wharf.
When I went to fish and casted my line in the water, the bobber hit the metal on my pontoon boat. It made a loud noise and Maggie went balistic. That little girl is getting seriously neurotic. She wanted nothing to do with the wharf and she used to love to fish.
We have to figure out something before I have to put her on meds. Aren't you the psychology expert. Between you and Ivy, ya'll better come up with somethin.
Carol, I'm not an expert on anything. But if it were me, I'd try to figure out what brought it on. And you can usually only do that, by tracing the steps back to before it began. Go back and try to figure out what changed or happen.
I still keep wondering if she does miss your other residence. Didn't this start since you've been living at the lake house? I don't think meds are the answer. She just needs to feel secure, and something is stressing her, if she wasn't like this before. Is she eating well, and acting normal any of the time?
No, she always wanted to come to the camp when we were at home. She loves road trips, well at least short ones.
It's noise that does it. Any noise, like thunder, hammering, hitting that metal. She developed that noise fear 4 years ago after Rita when those construction workers came to my house to change the roof. I wasn't home and 10 guys were up on the roof making a hell of a racket. That's when it all started.
I think you said she was abused when you found here. There's that, and some animals are very high strung and nervous. I have pets all living under the same conditions, and some spend most of the time hiding, and others don't worry about anything. I respect their difference, and know their often inborn.
Maggie needs a lot of consistency in her life (which I know she has) and I'm sure like all other animals, and finds comfort in thing being repetitive and familiar.
I don't think the noise thing is at all unusual in some pets. I also don't think the hiding thing is at all unusual in some pets. If I were you, I'd comfort her when she's afraid, do what I could to keep things from scaring her, and not worry about it. When she's extra nervous, keep her in.
Regarding possible previous abuse: Maybe dogs get post stress disorder too. Why wouldn't they. Her sensitivity is what makes her so precious. It even shows in her pictures.
(I'm too lazy to preview, so forgive my 'many' mistakes.
I think you're right.
Carol --
I also think Chloe's right. Kindness, patience, love and treats...
Carol,
I think that Chloe is right also, lots, of patience and comfort: Wish that she would practice that with me; I keep telling her how sensitive I am; but does she listen? NO.! She just shoves me in the back of a pick-em-up truck.........
Hearing about Maggie's plight gives me flashbacks to our first Scottie. She was only five months old when we brought her home, but was born in a PA puppy mill. We were already the fourth owners. We know she had been neglected and maybe mistreated. Over the years, we did everything we could to relieve her anxiety ...took her to professional obedience training every week for two years. At times she would show improvement, but if there was another "trauma," she would regress. I did come to believe it was a form of post-traumatic stress. In the end, living with her was a matter of training ourselves to accommodate her foibles, and keep others from violating her boundaries. Kids love Scotties and they would be all over her, so I always supervised and showed them where to pet her (the head) and what not to touch (her tail). We never considered "getting rid of her," and we learned to love her just the way she was. She returned our loyalty in many ways. On the day we sent her to the Rainbow Bridge, I hugged her close and thanked her for all she had given us.
Hey Solar, having the big gun in the back of your pickup truck is soooo southern!
Thanks guys for the advice on Maggie. She is never mean. She loves people. She's just a fraidy cat.
When I saw that last post of yours Solar, I laughed so hard... I'm still laughing. Of course, when I write posts to you I usually am laughing, because we're usually in role play. I miss you so much. You're hardly ever around any more.
ps I'm sorry if I treat my dog better than you. :)
... oh, and Carol. Timid animals are my favorite. They bring out the mother in me, and I'm constantly giving them special treatment and protection. I love the timid ones.
(there you go Solar, be more timid and I'll treat you more tenderly)
:(there you go Solar, be more timid and I'll treat you more tenderly):
Thats ok; I like the rough stuff. I love making you laugh, and Carol too, but she takes a little bit of diff. humor, to get a good laugh from her.
I like this change here: It looks like im going for the short post's, and all of you are doing the long ones.....getting to know you better this way. Now I can really see how you all think this a way.
Oh, I do a lot of laughing Solar, you just can't hear me!
I wrote this in a diff thread? and wanted to bring it to where you could see it.
Twin sister; OOO no there's two of you.! Im in trouble.
Chlo, I always know when you are kidding, and if you are not, and there's bound to be a time when you or someone will get a little mad at me....well we already covered that ground, just be your self, and we can never go wrong.
Ps. Same here L & L
Solar, my twin sister and I ate totally different but both of us are TROUBLE.
I know Carol: I will take you, and your kind of trouble, cos you are a lot of fun; your sister, sounds like one of my sisters. I would end up drowning her in her own winning. I hate whining.!
That was supposed to be...are totally different.
Mad at you? Never. If I'm rude, then I'm joking.
Carol, Those photos are amazing again. Little Maggie looks so sweet, sitting there on that blanket. I thought I was looking out a window at first, that blankets great.
That's a little couch in my little kitchen. It's for people or Maggie to sit on while I do my cooking.
I did have my little spicy lemon chicken wings tonight. Maggie was right there to get her share. Now if I had that treat available when she was scared, she'd overcome her fear real quick. I don't cook her food with any seasoning but she's a little cajun dog and likes spicy treats
I don't think the treats make her overcome her fear necessarily. All that rewarding does is encourage the behavior you want. But the fear is still there, if the noise (or whatever scares her) is still there. I guess we could call it a phobia.
Yes, Chloe is very much the southern belle even though she was born up north. Very polite. I think we'll keep her down here. We are a little picky in the south.
In my limited experience, I have found that people from some areas up north have a tendency to be more blunt, more brutally honest. We, in the south, will usually lie thru our teeth trying to be polite.
I remember when I was about 5 years old and my mom, born up there near Chicago, ran into an old friend of hers. She said to her friend, "you look like you've put on a little weight". I tugged on her skirt to shut her up. At five, I knew that was inappropriate. It should have been, "you're looking quite healthy these days".
I tried to explain it to her when we got in the car but I don't think she ever got it. She just wasn't born in the south.
Carol, I loved that story. 5 years old, and you already had things figured out. You are so smart.
I'm a combination Carol. Blunt and brutally honest at times, and other times trying to be polite, not lying, but finding a positive point to focus on. I really do believe there is no excuse for bad manners. That doesn't mean I always follow that rule though. I was born up North, but left so young, that I have no memory of it. I'm all California, slightly changed by Texas.
Carol, Do you have a Louisiana accent? I guess I mean Cajun?
No Chloe, since my mom was from the Chicago area and had a strong yankee accent, I did also. And I talked really fast. People thought I was from up north. Mom's accent faded over the years and so did mine but I don't sound like I'm from around here. I wish I did. I enjoy hearing that strong cajun accent.
Ivy and Solar were over on the last blog post. Not sure if they are still there.
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