Endings and Beginnings

Chapter 21

"Thank you so much for rushing in, Stacey." Don kissed his cousin Stacey's cheek as she rushed over to him and Meryl.

Meryl reached out for Stacey's hand. "I'm sorry to pull you away from all the festivities. I kept thinking it would go away. Please don't be mad, Don. I really thought I was okay until I was in here."

"I'm not mad, Darl; I'm just worried about you." Don said stroking her hair as his cousin gave him  a questioning look. "I've had a feeling something hasn't been right. Her coloring is worse today, mainly this afternoon, than it has been and she's been really hot. I was worried all of this is too much too soon."

Stacey nodded. "Meryl can I check you out? Ask you some questions?"

"I think my husband would like that." Meryl teased. "So would I; thank you, Stace."

Stace smiled at her favorite cousin-in-law. "My pleasure. Meryl, tell me what happened before Mikey came to get me. Have you been in any pain?"

Don smiled at Meryl to continue as he helped her sit up while his cousin took her vitals. "Not really pain; just twinges from my surgeries and the babies which I've been through this enough to know that is normal two weeks postpartum. I've been feeling hot since the ceremony. I just thought it was all the excitement and people. I've either been nursing or doing something. I came in to get some water and I felt dizzy and shaky. I was hanging onto the sink after getting some water afraid that I would fall if I walked; but when I heard Don's voice I knew if I could just walk to him then I would be okay."

"And you will be." Don kissed her hand. "She was wobbly and I caught her. Darl, didn't you say this morning that you were feeling like that as well?"

Meryl nodded as Stacey continued to listen and check her vitals. "Yeah, not quite to this extent though; but that was just my blood sugar like I said. Once we stopped and got something to eat on the way here I was fine."

"Meryl." Stacey's head popped up. "You had Gestational Diabetes with the twins; and had two emergency surgeries at once, right?"

Meryl looked at Don and then his cousin. "Yeah; they took Mags first then when I started bleeding out again after her birth they said there was too much damage and did a total hysterectomy. Is that right, Don?"

"That's what they told me after they got Mags and got you stable; when they asked for consent for the hysterectomy." Don told both his wife and cousin; he could read his cousin and knew she was thinking something in particular. "What are you thinking?"

Stacey was thinking through this. "After you had the babies did they monitor your blood sugar?"

"They took it a few times and said it wasn't bad and she was fine." Don said. "She stopped her medications and everything."

Stacey pulled something out of her bag. "I'm glad I travel with this blood glucose meter. Meryl, I want to take your blood sugar."

"Yeah, sure." Meryl said laying her head back as Stacey poked her finger. "You think I have diabetes?"

Stacey shook her head. "Just the opposite; I think you're hypoglycemic."

"But she had Gestational Diabetes." Don said. "Isn't hypoglycemia too low of blood sugar?"

Stacey nodded as she saw the reading. "Just what I thought; your blood sugar is 70. You felt this way earlier and then ate and were better?"

"Yeah, I was." Meryl nodded.

Stacey got up and went to get some juice from the refrigerator coming back over to Meryl. "Drink this. I'll check it again in a little bit. I'm surprised they didn't check your blood sugar more in the hospital. So, when someone has surgery, has something removed; it can throw their body all out of whack. It is not uncommon to develop hypoglycemia after that; actually it's very common. Then having Gestational Diabetes can cause that."