Tribe

The people who visit make my shop hum.  They are the life blood of the place.  They are some of the most creative, loving, fabulous humans in our community.  It's one thing to start a business to make money.  It's quite another to develop a group, a community, or a tribe.  These folks are a tribe.  They come from vastly different backgrounds and perspectives.  They have vastly different skills and materials preferences.  But they love and support one another through thick and thin.

It's one of the unintended consequences.  Who sets out to form a tribe?

A little more than a year ago, we almost lost a member of the tribe.  She broke into a bazillion little pieces but somehow managed to survive.  This pic is one of her first times back in the shop.  Feel the joy in this pic.  There were a few tears that night and a lot more laughter.  Her best friends pulled off a massive surprise that night and found a way to bring her sister in from California.  A surprise party from the tribe converged at the shop. 

The past year has seen the tribe change and stretch and grow.  Two members moved, a beloved parent died, pipes froze, serious illnesses were endured, children were born, teens rebelled, and lovers left.  The tribe listened to it all and provided support in the most loving of ways. 

May you all have a tribe like this.

Frustration

We took a short car ride to the ER last night at 10 PM.  Asthma helps us to do this on a pretty regular basis.  Asthma came as part of the package deal with our 11 year old.   He has had it since babyhood.

Usually asthma is just a quiet presence in our routine.  We make sure the daily meds happen.  We take daily peak flow readings.  We fill out health forms for school, scouts, and special events.  We carry a nebulizer in the car and an emergency kit too.  We just do what you do when a family member has a health concern.  You learn all you can and then you do the best you can.

Last night none of that worked.  We did the inhaler bit.  We did the nebulizer bit.  We repeated steps A and B.  Still no improvement and a lot of pain.  I couldn't get the peak flow over 50-100.  Shuttle child off to the car and head to the ER.

We live in a very small town in a very rural region.  There is no doc that stays at the hospital 24/7.  Last night we were fortunate that the ER was already busy and the doc was there.  The nurse at the desk was right on his game and got us right to a bed.  No waiting at all.  The nurse listened to everything that I had tried at home and hooked up the O2 monitor.  The respiratory therapist came in and listened to the breathing.  The doc came and listened to everything I had done at home.   They consulted and puzzled a bit together.

The thing is, even when you do everything right, sometimes it's just a puzzle.   I gave them good information as far as peak flow readings and amounts of meds that I had already given at home.  I gave them times of treatment from the whole evening.  They were impressed that I had the info but puzzled.  He should have gotten better quickly with what we did at home.

Asthma doesn't follow a formula.  It is different in every person.  We don't know why meds that have been working stop working.  In the end, they took chest xrays, gave steroid shots, gave more neb treatments and things improved.  We go back to the specialist next week but the point is sometimes you just don't know with asthma.  But we had a really good experience at the ER even at 1 AM.