Around this time, I had begun to suffer from hearing loss along with an unquenchable thirst in a big way and found I had to relieve myself quite often. I went in to see my doctor about setting up a hearing test. As I was leaving his office, I remembered to mention my thirst and the need to constantly urinate. He told me to sit back down and called a nurse in to give me a blood sugar test. After testing, she showed my doctor the results, but in a way I could not see. He then told me that he wanted me to leave his office and go across the street to the hospital emergency where they would take me up to the ICU. I asked him what was going on. He said I was so close to being dead that he was surprised I was still standing; my blood sugars were the highest he had seen in one of his patients.
Our Hospital was brand new with a very modern ICU. The whole unit was round with a large desk in the middle, the rooms were all along the outer wall, and there was 1 patient per room with a window that those in the center could watch. In front of the window was a small desk and seating for a nurse; each room had a dedicated nurse who looked after you for her whole shift. These nurses were just incredible. Over my stay there, I had become attached to these young ladies. As it was COVID time, I could not have any visitors. My wife was allowed to visit, but as we lived in a community 50 km away and she did not drive, she was only able to visit on two occasions. Without the nurses, I might have gone mad. I can still see the smiles that they greeted me with every time they entered my room. I can’t say enough about how awesome these young ladies were.
After 13 days, the doctor informed me that I was going to be released the next day. I asked all the nurses to come into my room. When they were all there, I told them that if they were my daughters, I would be so very proud of them all, as their fathers must be. It was quite emotional, with tears shed by all of us.