Murphy Visits College Parents' Weekend

It started Friday morning, an eight-hour, door-to-door trip to Tucson, to see our daughter for Parents' Weekend at University of Arizona. I hadn't seen Rachel in six weeks, our longest time apart ever, so, of course I was excited in anticipation of the trip. She seemed very happy in all her phone calls and texts. Would all go smoothly?

The flight was fine, as was our drive from Phoenix, despite unwanted traffic along the way. Come on, come on, let's get to Tucson. Cars and trucks move faster, please!

Finally, hotel check-in, and off to campus, me with my dressy clothes over my arm for that evening's event, a cocktail party at a resort a little off the beaten path, thrown for the new pledges of Alpha Epsilon Phi. We had a great reunion with Rachel in her newly redesigned dorm room. We chatted endlessly and caught up with her and her roommate on what's been happening at school, and we met some of the girls on her floor. So, I felt great. Everything was going so well, right?

We got ready for the party, with make-up freshened and party clothes on. We all piled into our rental car, with Rachel and her friend, Lindsay, in the back seat, and drove off. It took awhile to drive to the resort, and then we had a long, gravelly walk through the parking lot, in our much-too-high heels.

We walked and talked with other students and their parents in the “mingling room,” and then we were invited into the party room. The hors d'oeuvres, mashed potatoes, and meats were stationed around the room, and I was hungry and ready to gobble up some goodies. I went through my purse to grab my blood sugar testing meter, as I must always do before I eat. Uh, oh! It wasn’t there! Where had I left it? Was it in Rachel’s dorm room? Was it in the car? Had I left it in the market on campus? Without being able to test, I was afraid to eat. What if I took too much insulin for my blood sugar? What if I don’t take enough and my blood sugar goes the roof? I didn’t eat. I had a piece of cauliflower, a chunk of broccoli, and a cup of coffee – not a good combination in the evening. I was worried. I wanted the evening and the weekend to go so well, but now I wasn’t sure that that was going to happen.

There was a ceremony where the pledges were officially “presented” to their sorority big sisters. It was touching and well done.

Whew!

Time to leave, walk back to the car. And there, on the passenger seat of the car, was my diabetes kit. Okay, too late to go back and get food. I’d get through the night. I wasn’t particularly hungry at this point anyway. It had already been a trying, long, intense day. It was time to say good night to Rachel, go back to the hotel, and get a good night’s rest.

“Murphy” walked in our hotel room. (You know, the guy with the “law” that says, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.") I tried to relax, but I couldn’t sleep. I was having chest discomfort. I couldn’t help but worry. I couldn’t relax. My heart seemed to be racing, and I couldn’t slow it down no matter what tricks and maneuvers I tried. What to do? I gave it some time, but it got worse, and eventually gave in and told my husband that I needed to go to the ER. Neither of us was happy about it, but I was frightened, having been through similar episodes before.

We spent two hours in the ER, where I was attached to monitors, had blood tests done, gave medical history about 50 times. In the end, except for my pressure being very, very high, I was okay, and we went back to the hotel, where we both eventually fell asleep.

The rest of the weekend, thankfully, was uneventful. Exhausted, we took Rachel to the mall (well, she’s a teen girl) on Saturday, went to the big football game that evening, had a fabulous brunch at her sorority house on Sunday, and left a little saddened later that afternoon. The next visit wouldn’t be until Thanksgiving.

But despite Murphy, despite the hospital visit, the misplacing of my diabetes equipment, the too-small-plane-for-my-comfort, we made it. And fortunately, Rachel is happy, healthy, surrounded by friends she loves, and is doing well with her school work. It was all worthwhile!