A Scary Story

I have thankfully never passed out from a low blood sugar, nor have I ever been rushed to the hospital due to ketoacidosis, and my A1C has never been over 8.1 mmol/L, so I often get told that I have good blood sugar control.  But before it sounds like I’m bragging, I should say that I’m nowhere near perfect, and the following diabetic horror story about a “scary” low is more than enough proof of that.

A week ago I arrived at Chris’ house (the boyfriend) and I think my blood sugars were already dropping because his housemates’ loud jamming session was really irritating me while we tried to make dinner (I tend to get very irritable and emotional when low).  I tested and sure enough I was dropping, though I had not yet dropped into that range classified as hypoglycemia.  I had forgotten to bring juice or fruit to gos (one of those chance occasions that rarely happens, I promise!) and Chris didn’t have any quick sugar (or really much food at all) at his house as he had not been grocery shopping in awhile (oh the woes of student life) so I decided I would take the 7 minute walk to the convenience store. Naturally Chris didn’t like the idea of me going by myself and tried to stop me, but he was also unsure whether it was the loud music that made me want to get out of the house, and since I rather rushed out, he couldn’t stop me (and the dinner on the stove made it hard for him to follow me).  It was obviously a poor decision on my part to go walking by myself in search of sugar when I was dropping (mistake #1), but I was irritated by the loud noise, errr music, and I was in that low blood sugar survival mode where all energy is focused on getting sugar, quickly, and so none is left for reasoning. 

So I set out to the convenience store on my own, and I remember being conscious of my walking speed and thinking that walking too fast would make me drop faster, but walking to slow might mean I might not get to the store in time (it’s funny, the things that become important when my brain is lacking sugar).  I got to the store fine, but as I only had $1.50 in change, (and my sugar lacking brain decided that it was important that I not use my debit card) I debated over which single candy had the highest carb count. I chose a pack of Cherry Blasters (48g for the pack) which cost me $1.45 and immediately started downing them (which was a little hard to do since they were sour).  I headed back to Chris’ house immediately (mistake #2, I should have sat down to let my blood sugars rise) because I knew he’d be worried about me (mistake #3, having my phone on silent).  I was still walking slowly, but it was no longer deliberate, I now felt that I couldn’t possibly walk any faster. Uh oh, that could only mean one thing.  I tested, and yes I was still low. But this wasn’t a normal low at 3.6 mmol/L, or 3.1 mmol/L or even 2.8 mmol/L.  My meter told me I was 1.3 mmol/L (24 mg/dl).  You don’t have to know much about blood sugars to know that once you get to 1, there isn’t much farther you can drop. 

At this point I was about ½ way to Chris’ but decided to turn around, go back to the store, and buy an overload of sugary things (mistake #4, I didn’t call Chris to update him about this dangerous situation I was now in).  I headed back, thankfully made it to the store okay, bought a bottle of juice and two packs of candy for good measure (of course this time I had to use my debit card).  I paused for a moment (at least I had enough sense to do that) and downed half the juice and a whole pack of candies.  At this point I checked my phone, which was still on silent, because I had been gone for about 20mins and thought Chris might be worried.  Sure enough, I had 3 missed calls from him and 2 texts asking me where I was.  I called him back right away and told him I was almost to his house and I was okay.  Once I got to his house and he knew I was okay, he was understandably upset at me. He had his shoes on and said that right when I called, he had been ready to go searching the streets for my body.  I’m sorry he ever had to feel such worry on my account, especially when I had caused such a dangerous situation for myself.

I made a lot of mistakes that day, from my initial mistake of heading out on my own without first eating any type of carb, to not calling Chris to update him.  But everybody makes mistakes, that’s life, and life as a diabetic means that sometimes those mistakes might be life threatening.  Yes it was scary, but on the positive side, both Chris and I learned from it.  He decided to buy juice for his house for my lows that he would refrain from drinking (which is very thoughtful and sweet of him). And I was reminded of the importance of having quick sugar on me at all times (you won’t catch me without juice or fruit 2 gos anytime soon, that’s for sure).    

A Night on the Town

Last night was my organic chemistry exam, which means today is officially my first day of summer. Although, as a university student, “summer” is synonymous with “summer job” which I suppose I’m lucky to have given how difficult it seems to be for students to find jobs.  But the job (I’m going to be a camp counsellor, a job I’ve done before, though at a different camp) doesn’t start till next week so I have exactly 1 week to rejoice in sleeping in, enjoying the sun, hanging out with friends and starting up the diabetes support group that I’ve been slowly putting in motion since May. 

A photo I took of a peony in my mother's garden

After my exam, my boyfriend told me he was ‘taking me out for a night on the town’ (his words, not mine), which, when one is living the student debt life, meant wearing something other than jeans, going to a semi-swanky restaurant in town and ordering a delicious chai milkshake, along with salmon and cream cheese quiche.  I know it was a magical night because despite the extremely sugary (but oh so delicious) chai milkshake, my blood sugars were perfectly behaved all night.  It was a beautiful summer evening for walking around town, both peaceful and romantic, and fragrant summer air filled our lungs and reminded me why I love summer.  Afterwards there was a get together of friends, who had also finished their summer exams, and it got loud and rambunctious, but the relaxing summer walk was my favourite part of the night.     

More photos of flowers....

The past week I’ve woken up every day knowing that most of the day is going to be spent studying, which makes sleeping in seem mighty appealing most of the time.  But today, despite being out late last night, I woke up energized and excited (must be the weight of studying finally being lifted from my shoulders).  I’m hoping to spend today rollerblading or strawberry picking or doing some other wonderful summer activity.  Before I get carried away, I’m reminding myself that whenever I get excited and energized, I run on the low side, so I’ll need to set a low temporary basal for today, especially if I’m going to be active.  With a little luck, my blood sugars will be as perfect as they were last night.  I think they will be.  Today is going to be a good day.        

And more flowers...

Summertime and the Livin' Is Easy

Finally the sun has blessed Westdale after what seemed like a month of cold, rainy November-esque weather in May!  Walking around town, it seemed that many people were taking advantage of the sunny weather to go for a walk or a bike ride and soak up some UV rays.  I have always loved summer and everything that it brings; sunny days at the beach, sandals, sweaty runs, ice cream, summer dresses, swimming, and the general good vibrations that seem to accompany the fair weather. 

As a diabetic, summer also brings some concerns.  I’ve always found that a surge of warm weather causes my blood sugars to run low.  I had been led to believe that this was related to the general increase in (particularly outdoor) activity that generally accompanies warm weather, but I’ve noticed that if the weather suddenly warms up on a day that I spend sitting and studying, my blood sugars will still run low, despite my lack of activity. Whatever the cause, it’s always something I have to watch out for, particularly when I’m planning on taking advantage of the weather to spend some active time outside.

Yesterday, inspired by the sun, I grabbed a pair of rollerblades and a friend and headed to a beautifully scenic, well-paved, lakeside path, where the cool breeze coming off the lake nicely complimented the heat.  I set a temporary basal rate to 0 units for 2 hours, about the same duration of time I expected to be rollerblading for.  We rollerbladed for about an hour to our destination- a cafe- at which point my blood sugar had already dropped to 3.5 mmol/L.  I ordered a large mango smoothie, and we sat around for about half an hour, enjoying the weather and the view.  Before heading back, I tested again only to discover I was still low (drats!).  I finished off a juice box (those are generally what I keep handy for hypoglycemia) and by the time we had rollerbladed back to the car, my blood sugars were in a normal range.  I considered it a pretty successful outing, as I managed to control my blood sugars, enjoy the good company and drink a delicious smoothie without my blood sugars dropping low enough to make me grumpy or sluggish.

Another nuisance of being a diabetic in the summer is the issue of how to hide a pump within one’s clothing when wearing shorts and t-shirts.  When I was younger, I usually used a black spandex “holster” (like a spy, cool, I know) for my pump that fit around my thigh and had a little pocket for the pump.  I still use that when I’m wearing nice, flowing dresses or skirts, but I quickly discovered that the pump holster was pretty obvious when wearing shorts or tight jeans.  I know a popular option is to wear the pump like a pager, in a clip on your waist, but I’ve never been a particular fan of this style because I find it gets in the way.  I always cursed the ease with which diabetic boys could hide their pumps, as their clothes were always loose fitting and well equipped with big pockets, unlike the typical tiny, tight clothing fashionable for girls.

My solution to my pump-placement problem came one day when I was sitting in my high school cafeteria and noticed a girl reach in to her shirt and pull out her cell phone.  Though I had always found the trend of girls storing their cell phones, keys, money, combs (really?!?) and other important items in their bra rather strange, I realized that a pump, which is only slightly bigger than a heavy duty Blackberry or iPhone, could also be stored in a bra.  Since that day, I’ve discovered ways to strategically place the pump in my bra so that it isn’t really obvious that it’s there, and it is now definitely the number one place I keep my pump.  The biggest drawback is that I still find it awkward to reach into my shirt and whip out my pump in public, so I often go to the washroom to do this, or tactically place a backpack or sweater so that what I’m doing is less evident. 

All the things about summer that I love -the shorts, the outdoor activities, the icecream- are just as enjoyable with my diabetes as they were without.  Summer with diabetes just means a bit more planning, especially on those long rollerblading trips, and a bit more innovation, especially with pump placement.