The Adventure Of Low Blood Sugar

Those of us who have diabetes may get a lot of finger-wagging from medical professionals, family members, and even friends about high blood sugar. And it's absolutely true that if we're not managing our condition, if we're eating more than we should, forgetting to take our medication, or eating the wrong things, our blood glucose will be high and our risk of developing complications -- like blindness or strokes or heart attacks or neuropathy (which can cause us to lose an arm or a leg) -- are greatly increased. So I take this really seriously and try very hard to keep my numbers down where they belong.

But since 2008, when I was first diagnosed, I've had a number of adventures with low blood sugar, which can come on fast, is sometimes no fun to deal with, and can be dangerous itself. Low blood sugar can occur if we get busy and forget or don't take time to eat. It can occur if we accidentally take more medication (especially insulin) than we need. And it can occur if we exercise even moderately for a half hour or more. And those are just a few of the examples.

With Diabetes, Every Day Is Tough

A few weeks ago, I was talking to another person diagnosed with diabetes and we agreed that we've learned through the years to just "roll with it." If that's not a term with which you're familiar, to "roll with" something just means to "go with the flow," "deal with it," "let it be what it is." But whatever term you use, it's sometimes easier said than done, huh?

That's one of the reasons I wrote Your Life Isn't Over ~ It May Have Just Begun! There were many times those first few years that I would have greatly appreciated a little book that was full of inside tips and hints all in one place and in a style that didn't make me feel as if I was reading a dictionary.

YDMV (Your Diabetes May Vary)

When I was first diagnosed with diabetes, my diabetes nurse educator, in the process of throwing a thousand seemingly unrelated bits of information at my cowering psyche, said brightly at one point, "But, then, always remember: YDMV!"

"YDMV?" I repeated, lost.

"Yes. Your diabetes may vary!"

"My diabetes?" my brain said in a crabby voice. (I most certainly had not claimed this condition as "mine" yet.) But she continued, as if we were just two buddies chatting about our plans for the weekend.

"Each body is different. What works for one person may not work for another. Even medication may affect different people differently."

"Oh, great," I thought, feeling like a new kid in town walking up the steps to a middle school full of students I'd never seen before. What if I couldn't find my classes? What if the other students didn't like me? What if the teachers thought I was stupid? I was trying to pay attention, but there was so much to learn and now this: "Your diabetes may vary."

Diabetes Technology and You

Aside from the panic of being told you're diabetic (when that first occurs), one of the other things that sends most of us into a tizzy at that point is all the new technology with which we're suddenly presented. Some of us can't figure out how to stop activating the mute button on the cell phone we've had for more than a year. And here we are, neck deep in glucometers and test strips and lances and, for some of us, needles or pumps. Overwhelming? It's mind-blowing. Especially since we're already scared we're going to do something wrong and die. Any minute.

But we didn't even have insulin until the 1920's (despite having identified diabetes 3500 years ago). And people who needed insulin as recently as 1970 were still boiling syringes on the stove. (Ugh!) So while diabetic technology may be daunting to us at first, being without it -- it seems to me -- would be much, much tougher.

I discuss my own struggles with embracing and mastering the technology related to my condition in my book, Your Life Isn't Over ~ It May Have Just Begun! And actor/comedian Jim Turner, who's been managing his diabetes for nearly fifty years, gives us his take on diabetes technology in this short and helpful dLife tv video. If you haven't visited the dLife website yet, now might be a great time!

We're Not Alone

I went to a local Health Fest yesterday. It really covered the waterfront. The hundreds of community residents (like me) who were milling around from table to table could pick up information on nutrition; health care programs; medicaid, medicare, and insurance options; and all manner of possible ailments. I saw welcoming faces behind table after table willing and able to discuss all kinds of complicated and delicate matters. Are you at risk for a stroke? What are the early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease? Just how germ-y are your hands? And on and on and on.

Folks were having their blood pressure, pulse, respiration rate, and eye sight checked. They were getting flu shots. They were having mammograms done. They were being tested for HIV. And yes, they were were being tested for diabetes.