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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Big V, Off On (With?) the Wrong Foot

It seems that Big V took a tumble in the shower a couple weeks ago, and broke her leg near the ankle and a bone or two in the arch of her foot. Now it must be remembered that Big V isn’t the most stable isotope on the periodic table; she has diabetes and lives on junk food anyway. So it’s no surprise that she didn’t do anything about her foot until infection set in… and she’s already lost a toe on one foot (not sure which, relative to the broken one). So by the time she finally got around to seeing the doctor, she ended up getting sent to a hospital in Decatur. Her glucose level was around 500 by then, so Job One was getting that down to something approaching normal while Job Two involved tackling the infection.

Meanwhile, there’s a lawn care business to run. Cousin Splat has been doing a lot of the work, but he doesn’t have much management skill (and will blow off a day of work for whatever reason). Big V’s husband has taken up truck driving — staying away to keep the marriage together, perhaps — so guess who got stuck managing things? Yup… Mrs. Fetched. Big V gave her power of attorney, and she’s busy trying to reassure clients that they’ll get serviced while trying to dig the bank accounts out of an impressive hole. “You think we have financial problems?” she reassured me. “You ought to see this.” She’s been spending a lot of time down at the hospital with Big V, just to keep abreast of what’s going on there and partially to keep her from talking someone into getting her a bag of sugar bombs. She keeps asking for this and that, Mrs. Fetched keeps telling her no — it’s likely that she’s going through junk food withdrawal. Seeing as she’s going to be in some kind of managed situation for the next couple of months, maybe she’ll have a chance to develop new habits before coming home. There was some doubt at first that Big V would come home with both feet attached, but at least that outcome is starting to look more likely. In the hospital, they can control her diet.

So last night, Mrs. Fetched asked me, “What do you think? How is this going to work out?”

“The same way it always does for people who get involved with Big V,” I said. “Badly. It’s going to turn into a big hairball and end with some kind of screaming match.”

“Yeah, well… I couldn’t just let them lose their house.”

True. The attempt has to be made, although it’s not going to end well. Now if Cousin Splat can get a clue about how serious things are…

11 comments:

  1. Hope all goes well for all concerned, FAR. It's just sad that it sometimes takes a disaster to get people to change their habits. Good luck to Mrs. Fetched and hospital crew on trying to do that. Sounds like they have their hands full! I feel for Mrs. having her hands full with Big v and her business.

    Holy Crap, I am glad my Hubby Dearest is not like that. Once he found out he had diabetes, it took him a couple of weeks to adjust, but he realized that it would only be in "Our" (LOL!!) best interest for him to change the eating habits and get the sugar under control.

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  2. Hi Mrs. M!

    I've been nagging The Boy to take care of himself (he also has diabetes), and used this as an opportunity to explain "why I bitch at you about this." He claims to be taking care of himself, although I think mostly he doesn't eat.

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  3. He definitely does need to eat good food and on a regular schedule. With Hubby Dearest home on medical leave, he sometimes gets off schedule and that is when his sugar goes higher. It takes a day or so to get back on track. Tell The Boy he doesn't need to sit and eat a regular meal 3 times a day, so long as he snacks on healthy snacks, even it is nothing more than a couple slices of wheat toast. If that doesn't get through to him, BIP him upside the head! LOL!!

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  4. All I can say is GET OUT!! RUN!!! RUN!!! RUN AND DON'T LOOK BACK!!

    Does anyone up there accept responsibility other than You and the Mrs. ? Maybe Big V should've taken better care of herself instead of pushing her problems to you guys.

    Solar

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  5. Solar, that seems to be a theme lately: first Mr. Sunshine, then Big V's hubby. I'm staying as far put of it as I can.

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  6. Yikes FAR ... that's really scary! Wishing you and Mrs F best of luck as you deal w/ all of that. I hope it all works out well and don't let Mrs F get too run down herself!

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  7. Gee, I must be on the wrong site, I was looking were the blue sunshiney sky with fluffy white clouds and ponies are...

    Isn't it just a state of mind? By the time some people stop day dreaming, it's too late. My heart goes out for ya Far and Mrs. Farfetched..

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  8. I hope things work out well, Far. Both financially and health-wise, that is.

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  9. Hey all!

    Olivia, Mrs. Fetched thrives on being stressed out. As far as I can tell, for her anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

    Yooper, Big V has horses, not ponies, and none of them are fluffy or white. :-P

    Me too, Boran. I'm hoping they can implant some better eating habits while they're putting her foot back together.

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  10. Hey FAR,
    Wow, I miss a few posts and all hell breaks loose (again) down there ... that's serious stuff V is messing with ... is she Type 1 or 2 diabetes? If she's Type 1 and playing those games, she may not last long, or well, the limbs may go soon.

    I'm glad you're being able to keep your distance (keep that up, buddy) from this whole mess. I do hope it helps you to get through to the Boy, because he's way too young to be setting himself up for such serious health problems. Good luck down there!

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  11. Thanks, IVG. It's just the usual bloody flux here.

    Big V is Type 2, as is The Boy. But if I understood Mrs. Fetched correctly, she might live five more years if she doesn't start doing what she's supposed to. I hope she manages to break out of the mule-headed mindset that seems to run in that family & get it together.

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