As I was painting my toe nails last evening, I was thinking of how my post was gonna roll out from our weekend. Joe and I roller bladed in the Memorial Day Parade together. I fell while donning said roller blades and abraded the decorative studded jewels off my ass pockets of my shorts, as I skidded across my neighbor's driveway. Free-basing Goldfish maintained Joe's blood sugars throughout the 3 hour~parade~skate in the heat. He was in the mid to high 100s the whole time. A pancreatic victory for sure.
The weekend had been full of friends, sun, and activity. Lows have been few. A non-symptomatic 60-something when Joe went swimming after the parade, but that had been it.
...Until last night...
It is lows like this that slap me back to reality. Joe was 43.
He was shaking. The complaints of "hunger" and "feeling horrible" were repetitive as he laid in my lap waiting for his body to right itself.
The reality is this, type 1 diabetes, does not go away. Management perhaps has become easier as time has blurred and skewed my memories of our "old normal". By "normal" I mean eating, playing, sleeping, growing, traveling, and participating in activities without a second thought given to life-supporting insulin needs, lifesaving sugar sources, and having a back up pancreas around to assist Joe in all of his endeavors. We are used to living this way. We have done it for close to six years now.
What has not eased with time is seeing my son suffer while he waits for a low to resolve. Stings my eyes every time.
What a bad low looks like in Joe's day-in-the-life.
Hypoglycemia, hypoglycæmia or low blood sugar (not to be confused with hyperglycemia) is an abnormally diminished content of glucose in the blood.[1] The term literally means "low sugar blood" (Gr. υπογλυκαιμία, from hypo-, glykys, haima). It can produce a variety of symptoms and effects but the principal problems arise from an inadequate supply of glucose to the brain, resulting in impairment of function (neuroglycopenia). Effects can range from mild dysphoria to more serious issues such as seizures, unconsciousness, and (rarely) permanent brain damage or death.[2]
12 comments:
That second picture..... thats EXACTLY what I look like. It's EXACTLY what I feel. Poor guy, he's too young to feel such horror.
And people think its no big deal. Every once in a while, I come across posts that I want to print out. That way I can hand them to the people in Justin's life that don't get it, don't understand, don't care to understand, or maybe just think I'm being over protective.
This is one of those posts.
I hope the rest of the holiday brings 100's your way.
Oh yes...sometimes I get suckered into feeling all is back to "normal," then we have a number like that that interrupts Adam's play and kicks us all back to reality. Hugs to you guys!
It's amazing how into the routine we can get when things are going well. Nothing like a sucky low to slap us back into reality.
Hate those lows that make them feel so horrible. Thankful most of Bean's aren't 'bad' like that, at least so far!
for some reason Isaac doesn't seem as hit by his lows, highs are another story. TJ on the other hand is often incoherent, he is shaky, desperate and focused on one thing - food. It is sometimes a bit scary to watch and thankfully he is always able to take care of the lows himself, but I wait patiently to the side just in case he were to ever need me. Our loves with d are so incredibly strong. I'm glad Joe is okay and you guys had such a fun weekend. Enjoy your short week :)
Right there with you, my friend. Emma was 2.7 (48 for you) this evening. stupid effin lows.
Your pictures amazingly captured how it feels to be low. Poor Joe, it really hurts to see a child go through this!
I hit a bad low (52) yesterday, right in the middle of cutting my hedges. It sucks!! No other way to describe it.
Just had one of those today...hate them, hate them, hate them! Slaps me back into reality everytime. xoxo
Oh sweet Joe.
Cruising along and slapped back into reality.
((hugs))
L had a 43 yesterday, after school. she said "it's a bad one". i wish there was more to do to make them feel better while we wait for the BG to come up. sigh. glad to hear your memorial day weekend went well besides that.
I am *a few* years older than Joe. But I don't care how old you are, that is EXACTLY how a low feels. I know I have flopped down on the bed at 3 am after downing a juice box, just waiting to feel normal again.
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