If it were not for my nurses that come just about every day to help care for me, I wold not be where I am at currently.

I am bedridden.  Diabetes cost me both of my legs (am a double amputee) and I am dependent on insulin injections twice a day (once in the morning and again at night).  In addition to this, I  have chronic renal failure and am on dialysis treatments three times a week (I have those done at the kidney care clinic).

I also have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) due to years of smoking.  Because of this, I have wrecked my lungs; they have lost their elasticity and I don't breathe nearly as well as I used to.  I have to use oxygen; I use it 24/7.  

Let's face it.  I'm a medical nightmare.

Yet if it were not for the loving, compassionate care that I get from my nurses, I would probably be in a nursing home, waiting to die.  My wife, Corabelle, and myself did not want that, so we both opted for them to care for me at home.  It would be considerably less expensive, and I could be surrounded by the ones I loved the most.  I am happier here in my own house, and everybody else is, too.

I consider my nurses as living angels.  Among them include Stephanie, Roberta, Carole, Della, and Debi.  They all have their own lives, and they all have families, but all are very dedicated to their job, in providing the best possible care for their most challenging of patients (of which I am one).  I appreciate that, and I am sure the other patients do, too.

My wife does help care for me, but I am happier with the nurses coming to help.  That way, Corabelle can get out of the house and visit her friends, go to church, volunteer at the homeless shelter every Saturday, and run her errands.  When she is gone, any one of the nurses I mentioned above are here with me.  That way, if something were to happen unexpectedly, they can take care of it as soon as possible (and if I need to go to the hospital, then they can send for an ambulance and alert my wife via cell phone).

I don't like it when I have to go into the hospital (for whatever reason it may be), but my health is just too precarious for me to function normally.  And when I am in the hospital, I always ask for Della, Debi, Stephanie, Roberta, or Carole if they are on duty.  If I don't have any of them, I pray for a good nurse who can provide expert care, given my situation.

Usually God delivers.  There have been very few times where I have had bad nurses.  Now doctors on the o ther hand ... I'd rather not go into details!

I just hope that when I die and wake up in Heaven, my wife and family join me.  I also hope that my nurse-angels come as well.  If there is anybody who deserves a pair of shiny angel's wings, it's my nurses.  They may be here on earth, but they are angels in the true st sense of the word.  I pray and hope that God gives them extra jewels in their crowns; they are certainly most deserving of that ... and a whole lot more.