Jan 17, 2014

10 Reflections from the past week:

1. Forgetting the Glidewell proclivity to fainting, when Kyra slumped to the floor Monday night, we panicked and dialed 9-1-1.

2. She was later diagnosed w/ Influenza A and passed out from dehydration. This was new. Traditionally the Glidewell fainting modus operandi involves b-l-o-o-d (for my brother Mark’s sake we always spell this word).

3. But we didn’t know this as the emergency medics crowded into our home. As I watched them check my precious 16 year old vitals, give her oxygen and care for her I couldn’t help worrying and thinking to myself, “I don’t think this is covered by our insurance.”

4. Later, Katrina, my mother and I …oh, and Kyra…shared an emergency room with an unusual handicapped man in poor health but with excellent hearing.

5. Though the thin veil of a curtain hid us from one another’s view, there was no privacy in our conversations and whatever medical attention Kyra received, he’d immediately demand the same (“where’s my t.v.!? Don’t I get a t.v.?” “where’s MY call button???” “I want some water too!” etc. )

6. Later, the doctor came in to review how much pain medication Kyra had already received. None of us could recall for certain…after a few seconds the silence was broken by a low voice from the other side of the curtain, “400 milligrams.” He was right! Our strange (if not slightly deranged) roommate saved the day!

7. Kyra wasn’t our only sick family member. M&M, a pregnant ewe, was discovered late one night to be terribly ill and aborting her lambs.

8. The lambing season routine began. Katrina corralled and haltered the ewe. Then she gathered different medications and took the ewe’s temperature. After that she began hooking up the monitors. I washed the dishes.

9. Exhausted from doing the dishes and watching Katrina I was laying on the bed when the phone rang. I was both curious and confused when the caller I.D. said it was Katrina.

10. She was calling from the garden. The mini-steers had chased her into the pen and wouldn’t let her out. I bravely chased them off and released her from confinement and then proudly let her back into the house. I don’t know what she’d do without me.

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