The end of my hospital stay

Along with my blood sugars being uncontrolled, which was bad enough, there were some other issues as well. Working in a sporting goods store, I had access to all of the latest styles of athletic footwear. Unfortunately, the fashionable sneakers I had been wearing led to what I thought was a "blister". Well, that "blister" turned into an infected diabetic ulcer. Suddenly I was being set up with a wound vac and crutches. I also had an MRI. This thing was pretty bad. At that point, there was no major infection, but I was on an antibiotic just in case.

My fifth full day in the hospital, after being transferred from ICU to a regular medical/surgical unit the night before, I woke up and realized while watching TV that suddenly everything seemed cloudy. What the heck? Now my vision was shot, too? I couldn't read a newspaper. I had trouble seeing the TV. It was like there was a hazy film over my eyes. I had no idea what was happening. I asked my dad if he could bring me a magnifying glass, and he found one at a pharmacy. It didn't really help that much, but I tried my best to read. Watching TV was tough. Looking back on it, I remember not truly understanding what was happening. I never mentioned it to the doctors in the hospital. I guess I was hoping the cloudiness would just go away. I also remember that my parents didn't say too much to me about the vision problems, even though they knew something was wrong. They understood that I already had enough to handle with my blood sugars, learning how to use insulin, and my foot. At the same time, they also knew that I would have to go see an ophthalmologist sooner than later. That wouldn't happen until March, though.

In the meantime, I was finally discharged from the hospital Thursday, January 31st. I went home to the apartment where I was living with Dad and Mom. I was set up with visiting nurses to come in and do wound care on my foot. Figuring out how to function on crutches with the wound vac was, believe it or not, a bigger challenge than learning about insulin, carbohydrates, etc. My mother would serve me meals from her motorized chair that she used in the apartment. She also taught me so much about using my health insurance, and she also learned about Type 1 diabetes along with me. Meanwhile, Dad was doing the food shopping and other errands, laundry, and driving me and Mom to all of our appointments, all while continuing to work parttime as an overnight police dispatcher at Moravian College Sundays and Mondays. I was very lucky to have both of my parents to help me. I swear that without them, I would have been in a nursing home. I did learn to adapt and do quite a bit for myself despite the crutches, but I still needed a lot of assistance. There was quite a bit of work to be done in upcoming months as I began my Type 1 diabetes journey.