I am not sure if my email auto-reply message is working and my website notice is minimal, so I am posting this on the websites most frequented by my customers.
Unfortunately I have been hit with a barrage of issues lately which have kept me away from work. In early October I was told that my father was not doing well and I should get up to NH (where he and Mom retired) as soon as possible. I returned to TX on Oct 8 and had back surgery on Oct 10. Dad passed on October 13, 2023. I was unable to attend his service. On November 13, 2023 my mother passed. I was able to drive up for her service.
There have been many phone calls, emails, letters, forms and trips between TX and NH to settle their estate, clean out the house, etc. Last month I drove to NH one last time for their interment on April 30 at the Veteran’s Cemetery in Boscawen NH and to bring the final truck load (mostly from Dad’s garage) home.
Friday morning (5/3) we were just south of Dallas when we stopped for fuel and I returned a call from a neighbor. He said he noticed our front door open Thursday evening and it was still open when he went by that morning. I called Cheryl (my wife) and got no answer. That’s not unusual - if she’s driving or doing something she wouldn’t answer. I figured she was feeding the animals or taking a shower. When we talked Thursday night she said that she wasn’t feeling right and was going to bed early. I called again 15 minutes later, no answer. Another 15 minutes, no answer. Texted her, no answer. Checked with work to see if she had been called in. No. I am 150 miles away and getting worried. I asked an ex-cop friend of hers (‘C’) to go over since the dogs know her so she can get into the house and Cheryl is less apt to shoot someone she knows if surprised.
C calls me back - she’s in the house, Cheryl is on the bedroom floor barely responsive and she has called 911. Her insulin pump is on the bed, empty. Cheryl is a Type 1 diabetic so no pump is bad. We hang up, I tell my sister and B-I-L driving the truck what I know and hit the gas. While I am driving home the ambulance arrives and takes Cheryl to the ER 35 miles away. I get to the house, take care of the animals, and head to the ER.
Apparently Cheryl had had a heart attack Thursday night after we talked and she had layed on the floor all night with no insulin and gone into Diabetic KetoAcidosis (DKA). Her pump was off because it was time to refill it. DKA occurs when your blood sugar gets too high and ketos build up in your blood. Basically the body is poisoning itself. One of the side effects of DKA is dehydration which leads to low blood pressure, and things go downhill from there. After 14 IV bags of fluid her BP would still not come up. They decided that they needed to get her to a cardiologist at the main hospital in Abilene ASAP. About this time the nasty torrents of rain got here. No helicopter, she has to go by ambulance.
Long story shortened: ICU, IVs, three stents, more IVs, more drugs, lots of observation, driving 2 hours each way every day. I finally brought her home Saturday night (5/11).
All this came out of the blue because as a Type 1 diabetic for 40+ years and a Nurse, Cheryl does all the right things: stays in shape, eats right, exercises, etc. and had no prior symptoms at all.
To top it all off the hills behind my place had massive run-off and it went through my shop. No damage to anything, all of the important stuff is up off the ground, but the cleanup is just one more thing on my long list of things to deal with.
So, now you know why orders are backed up, emails and phone calls are not getting answered right away and I have not been around.
This is the message that should be on the website and auto-replying to emails: .
I will be completing orders as soon as I can, but cannot guarantee delivery dates. If you have already placed an order and sent in your gauge(s) and need them for car season, I understand. If you ask, I will ship your gauge(s) back to you and hold the order open until you send it in again. This will guarantee your price, as the latest smack in the face is a major increase in prices so I will be raising mine when I can get to it.
Hope life smooths out a bit for you in the future!