It was the year 2007, one day in December the morning was very busy at work because we had to deliver an important assignment and it was the last day of work before going on vacation.
Days before I was already tired and stressed, I was also eating late and the Governmental Institute where I was working as a public official was located in La Guaira, 75 kilometers away from where I live in Guarenas. This meant that taking into account the long lines that formed, I lost approximately three hours a day between my commute from home to work and from work to home.
I remember clearly that it was a Friday and once the assignment ended at two o'clock in the afternoon my co-workers invited me to have a few beers, I only had in my stomach one of those diet meringues that assure that with just one glass you get the necessary nutrients to keep you going all day long since they replace meals.
I got in my vehicle, and just when I started it, an intense pain started, abruptly from the lumbar region forward, the pain seemed like a heartbeat, I was thirsty, hungry, tired, tingling in my hands.
I drove to the nearest tollbooth, I parked next to the convenience store, I got off, I saw my cell phone and it had no charge, the pain increased, I immediately went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet seat, I felt short of breath. I tried to relieve myself and I couldn't, I was scared and my eyes were blurred. I think that if I am not mistaken I spent approximately three hours inside the bathroom.
As I could and almost crying I got out of that bathroom, thank goodness it was clean, I got into the vehicle, I put my flashing lights and returned to the highway, every time I stepped on the accelerator my pain became more acute. Tired I slowed down and took the slow channel of the highway, I could not continue driving, but I decided not to go home, so I diverted to my mother's house, as it was much closer than mine, while my vision was blurring more and more I almost collided with other vehicles.
I arrived at approximately nine o'clock at night, blowing the horn for someone to come down to help me out of the vehicle. Immediately my mom and aunt came down, I was pale and sweating.
Once in my old bed, at my mother's house, they called a cousin who arrived about fifteen minutes later, and massaged me near my kidneys with Fricsol Gel, believing that I was suffering from muscle pain. The pain remained, in the meantime they called my wife, who suggested that they take me to a hospital, suddenly my brain cleared up a little and I remembered that I had an insurance policy that I had bought in cash, my mom and my aunt took me to an emergency clinic, the closest one, which was opening: La Trinidad Teaching Medical Center.
When I arrived at the emergency room I could no longer walk because of the pain, the place was spotless, with very white walls and it still smelled of fresh cement. I was immediately taken to an X-ray room, they did blood tests, and then I went to a room where there was a Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine.
After these tests I was hospitalized and sedated until the next day, in which at approximately ten o'clock in the morning I was given a diagnosis and these were the doctor's words:
¨ You have what is called a colic nephriticus, that is to say what they call a stone lodged in the kidney, or calcium which is due to a solid piece of material that is formed due to substances that are not processed in the urine, this could be due to the excessive intake of salt together with large amounts of beverages such as soda. The pain produced by this calculus is comparable to the pain a woman has when she gives birth to a baby.¨
If that was not enough the doctor continued with his talk: "In addition to this I have to inform you that you have blood glucose levels above 500 mg/dl, which means that you have hyperglycemia with many possibilities of going into a diabetic coma that could have caused you to lose consciousness, hence the blurred vision, fatigue, headaches, stomach pains and dry mouth. All this could have caused your death.¨
Long story short, you have a combination of Diabetes in conjunction with a pain caused by Colic Nephriticus.
I had some additional tests and the diagnosis was Diabetes Militus 2, with sugar levels too high, my body was not generating enough insulin, a hormone that helps glucose enter the blood to provide energy to the human body.
Type 2 diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose or blood sugar levels are too high. Glucose is your main source of energy. It comes from the food you eat. A hormone called insulin helps glucose enter your cells to give them energy. If glucose stays in your blood and does not get enough into your cells, you may be at risk for blindness, kidney failure and limb amputation.
The nephritic colic, in my case could have caused damage to the kidneys, I was prescribed analgesics, anti-inflammatory drugs, the application of heat to the painful area, drinking water several times a day, and keeping calm. This made me expel the stone in approximately eight weeks, through the urinary tract.
Diabetes Melitus type 2 is a chronic disease, which I must treat for life and therefore I must inject insulin, take care of my weight, eat well and balanced and exercise to control the levels of sugar in my blood.
I must follow a diet free of soft drinks, eat fruits moderately, measure my blood sugar regularly, eliminate sweets, energy drinks containing sugar. Starchy vegetables, such as potatoes, corn and peas.
As you can see it is not easy for me to have a balanced diet, with specialized food for a diabetic person and the monthly purchase of the type of insulin that I must use here in Venezuela since I must spend between forty and fifty dollars a month (the minimum salary in my country although you may not believe it is 5.33 US$), but if I want to continue having quality of life I must manage to get more cash income: I do financial and credit analysis, I market points of sale, sell cleaning products, and I even learned to make cakes for sale. I am also very appreciative of the opportunity Hive has given me to earn income.
A large part of these conditions that I described were caused by overwork which caused me stress and worries, a sedentary life without exercising, the intake of soft drinks, eating at the wrong time and consuming products that ensure that you replace the three meals a day, ( especially these types of products were the definitive triggers to raise my sugar levels).
Now I work to live and I learned not to live to work, I stress very little and I try to follow a healthy lifestyle within my limitations.
It's a pleasure to share my story with you, I think I learned my lesson.
This blog is my proposal this week for the Posting prompts - Weekend-Engagement initiative: WEEK 143 Link Here, suggested by @galenkp. I wish you all a happy weekend.
Photo of my property taken with my Umidigi F2 cell phone
Life and death situations
Have you, or someone close to you, been in a life and death situation? Explain it in a post of at least 300 words.