Today is No D Day in the Diabetes On-Line Community. What is No D Day? It’s a day where we don’t blog about diabetes, we don’t Tweet about diabetes, we don’t put anything about diabetes on Facebook. We still count our carbs and test our blood and take our meds . . . . we still do everything in “real life” that we need to do . . . . but in our on-line world we focus on all of the other aspects of our life besides diabetes. Since this blog has been a quiet this week, I thought you might enjoy reading my No D Day post here . . .
The Power of Twins
I believe there are things in the world we don’t quite understand. To some extent, I believe in spirits and psychics and energies that have no explanation. (Although I also believe many cases are pure flim-flam.) My mom is not much of a believer in these things, but there is one we both agree on. And that is the power of twins. The “other-worldly” connection twins have that defy any reasonable explanation.
You see, my father is a twin. Uncle J, my godfather, is my Dad’s twin brother. My mom tells me that long ago, when I was very little or perhaps before I was born, my dad caught a terrible flu and came home from work early for the first time since she had known him. That afternoon, my uncle called to see how my dad was feeling. Mom asked who told him my dad was sick. Uncle J said nobody told him, he just had a feeling and knew he should call to check on his brother.
** cue Twilight Zone music **
The instance that really convinced me of the power of twins happened a few years back. You see, Uncle J had been diagnosed with cancer and had a tough surgery coming up. A few weeks before the surgery, Dad came down with what seemed to be a terrible cold. He got worse and worse and worse, until he finally went to his doctor. She immediately called an ambulance and rushed him to the hospital.
Tests confirmed there was some kind of virus that had attacked the fluid around his heart. The problem was, the doctors couldn’t figure out what the virus was. They ran test after test and tried treatment after treatment - just like an episode of
House. We didn't find out until later just how serious things were and just how dire the situation was.
A week went by, with Dad in the hospital getting worse and no answers to be found. The day came for Uncle J to have his surgery. It took hours longer than the doctors had expected, but in the end it was a success.
As soon as Uncle J was out of surgery and starting to recover, my dad started to recover too. The doctors couldn’t figure out what caused the sudden improvement. They continued to test and test until the insurance companies balked at keeping Dad in the hospital since he no longer needed to be there. In the end, the doctors had to admit they would never know what virus had attacked his heart. They also admitted they would never know which medication had healed him.
A few weeks later, Dad suddenly got sick again. This time, he went straight to the ER and was admitted. They believe it was a reaction to one of the medications he was being weaned off of. That evening, we found out Uncle J had also been admitted back into the hospital that day. It seems a sponge was left in his body during his operation and they had to do emergency surgery to remove it. Two days later, Dad and Uncle J were both better and were both released from the hospital on the same day.
I know doubters will laugh at me and say that this story is just a bunch of coincidences. But I disagree with my whole heart. I know for sure, with every fiber of my being, that what happened is an example of the connection twins have that we just don’t understand.
