God has a new Angel

In case you had not heard, we lost my cousin Freda. It all started on April 20th, Freda fell and was rushed to the ER at Memorial Regional Hospital. She said her leg was hurting her so we feared she broke something, we later found out she broke her hip. Freda was a diabetic and had been since she was about 15. Her blood sugars and blood pressure was up so they put the surgery off until they could stabilize her. They finally decided on during the surgery Saturday the 24th. Because of her fragile state, we were afraid she would not survive the surgery, but God brought her thru. We thought that was the biggest hurdle and therapy would be her next hurdle. But for some reason the pain medicine was too much for Freda and she seemed to be real loopy from it. Her appetite was nil and that worried us that she would not eat. Her blood sugars constantly stayed low. With all the ups and downs they moved her to Manor Care @Imperial Plaza on Wednesday the 28th because she was too weak for therapy. I was glad she was going to be close to my job so I could check on her at lunch time. Thursday I planned to go and see her and had talked to Dad b/c and he said he was going to see her on Thursday night. Had changed my mind and was going to wait, but something made me change my plans again. I called Daynon who works downtown to see if he wanted to go with and he came by and picked me up. When I walked in Freda's room, I was genuinely surprised. She was sitting up in the chair smacking chewing gum and watching TV. I was so happy to see she was her old self. Her, Daynon and I laughed and talked for about thirty minutes. Her food came in and I cut her meat up and was so surprised to see that she had her appetite back. She was eating her food like she was actually hungry. I thanked God for that b/c I know that she needed to eat to get her strength back. I hugged her, kissed her and told her that I loved her and we left.

That evening, I went back with Daddy and Steve and her condition had made an about face in a matter of hours. Her blood pressure was dangerously low and they were doing everything to get it back up. Freda was not the same person I saw at lunch time. The Dr said if they could not get it back up, she would have to go back to the hospital. And that is what happened on Friday. They gave her medication to draw all the pain medicine out of her system because they felt that was what was causing her Blood pressure to drop. But this caused her to feel the pain from her surgery which became unbearable for her. On Friday night, she asked Jesus to take her because she said she could not take no more. Around four on Saturday morning they called Babysis and Reggie to come to the hospital. Babysis called me around seven in morning and told me Freda was on a respirator. Steve and I went to the hospital and Daddy came later. Our Pastor was there and he prayed over Freda. We were waiting for the visiting hours at ten to go back and see her but by then she was gone.

Today is her funeral. I still have not wrapped my mind around it. Freda and I were the same age. We did everything together when we were young. Went skating every Saturday, took swimming lessons together, joined Girl Scouts together, was on the Usher Board together at St. Peter's. She was my sister. When she moved to California, I missed her so much and was glad when she moved back to VA. For selfish reasons, I wished God had not taken her away and kept her here with us but I know she was suffering. Diabetes is such a ugly disease. If you have it, please take care of your health and eat the right things and take care of your health. Support the American Diabetic Association that they will one day find a cure. I know I am going to be a champion for them so that one day, people will not have to suffer like Freda did.

Keep our family in your prayers. Pray for Babysis and Reggie because their baby sister has gone on to heaven and is a angel watching over us now.

LOVE YOU ALWAYS FREDA!