Life almost lost

I was having a busy day after Thanksgiving gearing up to clean house and get ready for Christmas. The phone rang and it was the daughter of a friend who watches our farm sometimes. Her mom was not answering the phone and she was worried. We live about 10 minutes away from her mom. Her mom lives alone with several horses, a few cats and two dogs. The daughter did not have a car. 

So I got in my truck and drove to her farm. Her mom was not in a good way, she was in bed in the middle of the day, high fever and the house a mess. This is a woman who works, farms and is pretty tough. Appointment was made but most places were closed. I went and got her up, fed, washed and cleaned her house. Got her on her meds, rehydrated and fed. After about 4 hours she was talking. She thought she had food poisoning but it was not that. She was fine overnight but she called me twice thinking it was time for her doctor visit. The next day I took her in and she drained 2 bags of fluid and was told she needed to be in the hospital. She was not having that. But she went down and blood was taken, badly. She had what was going around these days and severely dehydrated. She was very underweight. I was given her Rx's to get, a list of foods she must eat and drink, and I left her in my truck so I could shop for her as she was not able to stand. I got her home and made her a meal. She went to bed. I called her daughter and kept her informed. The next week it was doctor visits, meals, cleaning and keeping her healthy. The next week was more meals, animal checks, winter prep and laundry. She was stronger and she cleaned her house. She had no memory of the Dr. office visits nor the late night calls. Her fever broke and she got stronger. We installed propane heaters as she no longer trusted her wood stoves for heat. By Christmas week she was her normal self again. We picked up feed for her herd and checked fences. She went back to work after spending Christmas at our place. I am glad we had a short winter storm. The weather was perfect the rest of that time. I was able to get to her farm and take care of my farm thanks to mild days. We never would have known she was feeling this bad. I am grateful she did get over this.