Six Until Me.: A dissertation on why my boyfriend should be cloned.

I changed my infusion set last night, moved it from one thigh to the other. No big deal. Except upon inserting the cannula into my thigh, I felt this icy cold feeling.

“Weird. This is weird. Hey Chris, this is easily the most bizarre feeling I’ve ever had from a set change.”

He stopped typing on his computer and looked over at me on the couch. (The couch that should be in our living room but is instead stuck in our den. More on that later.) Icy.

“What’s the matter? Did it sting?”

“No. This is strange. It doesn’t hurt, but the bit where the little plastic tube is … it feels ice cold. I can feel my pulse in it, like when you cut your finger and it throbs.” The quiet, icy feeling was not enough to make me want to rip the set out, but I kept touching the plastic cap to make sure it wasn’t leaking.

“Are you feeling the insulin injecting?”

“I don’t know. It’s strange, though.”

The night progressed and my bloodsugar, which was a sticky 200 mg/dl after leaving my pump off too long after the gym, had climbed to 313 mg/dl after the set change.

“I feel like shit. I’m not sure if the insulin is even getting in my system.”

Quick trot to the bathroom to check for ketones.

“No ketones. I’m not wasting this site. I’m going to bolus hard for this and test in the middle of the night to make sure it’s working. If I’m still high, I’ll rip the site and redo it.”

Lace in four units. The icy feeling is gone now, for some reason. We work on our respective computers for a little bit longer until it’s almost one-thirty in the morning. I test: 265 mg/dl. On the downslide. I wonder if that icy feeling had anything to do with that persistant high? Was something blocking the cannula? Hmmm...

Tucked into bed. Still no ketones. Stick a sports bottle of juice on the bedside table. Feeling exhausted from the extended high bloodsugar. The sweaters on my teeth are revolting and I’m wrapped up my Red Sox t-shirt to protect me from the chill of my hyperglycemia.

Ah, sleep.

Three-thirty in the morning.

"Kerri.” Shakes me gently. “Kerri, wake up.” A little harder this time. “Kerri. You have to test now.”

“Whaa… what’s the matter?” I roll over and ignore his request, my sweaty forehead against the white pillow.

“You need to wake up and test.”

Propelled purely by learned instinct, I fuss open my black meter case and load a strip in. Click of the lancet device. 41 mg/dl.

There is suddenly a bottle of juice in my hand and I’m throwing it back. Lay back down. He rubs my back as I wait for the juice to do its thing. A few minutes pass.

“I need you to test again to make sure you’re coming up.”

“No. I drank the juice. I don’t want to waste a test strip.” Damn insurance.

“Okay. I’ll wait up until you’re okay.”

And I drifted back to sleep, the fan whirrs beside the bed. Abby and Siah lounging on the floor, flat like manta rays. My boyfriend, always at the ready, keeping watch to make sure I’m okay.

Comments

He most certainly should be cloned!

It's great to have someone to take care of you, huh?

Although I consider myself a very independent diabetic, I never feel more loved than when my husband takes care of something diabetes related for me. It's the best.

Posted by: Kelsey | August 11, 2006 02:49 PM

He is my nominee for Boyfriend of the year!

You are so lucky to have someone so great in your life!

Posted by: George | August 11, 2006 04:18 PM

Somehow I suspect you give as good as you get Kerri. You don't get a partner like that without being a pretty kickass person yourself.

So when are you going to make an honest man out of him? (ducking to avoid thrown objects...)

Posted by: artsweet | August 11, 2006 04:32 PM

Can I get myself first in line for one of the clones?

Posted by: Caro | August 11, 2006 06:00 PM

Yep, he needs to be cloned. :-)

Posted by: Brittney | August 11, 2006 09:14 PM

as his mother i am in total agreement with that sentiment. he is a good guy, we like him. but just as it was said in another post you are a "kick ass girl" kerri.it's a good match

Posted by: chris' mom | August 12, 2006 08:06 AM

What a guy. Just imagine the price a clone would fetch.

Posted by: Kieran | August 12, 2006 08:18 AM

I often think about what life would be like if I were the one who was in love with the diabetic instead of the one who is diabetic, and I like to think that I would handle it with the same compassion and grace that Chris handles it.

And thank you, Art-Sweet and Diane. I try my best to be kick-ass.

Kieran - Asking price on the streets for a ChrisClone is astronomical. But you have to get an original - the knock off just aren't the same. :)

Posted by: Kerri. | August 12, 2006 07:49 PM

He definitely sounds like a keeper to me. Let me know when the clones are as good as the original and ready for shipment! By the way, thank you for the comment on my site. I wouldn’t mind one bit if you added me to your blogroll.

Posted by: Michelle | August 12, 2006 09:05 PM

Hey Kerri,

Yeah, Chris sounds like a pretty awesome guy. It's nice when you have someone that can & will help you with some of these D things that are forced upon us.

And as you said, the compassion & grace that he handles it with really comes through in your posts.

I have never had an "icy" feeling infusion set. Sure, there are the ones that hurt like heck for a while, but I've never had one with that type of sensation. Strange.

So, after that sensation went away, and time continued to pass - does it seem like it's working Ok?

Posted by: Scott K. Johnson | August 12, 2006 10:24 PM

How awful that you have to worry about wasting a blood glucose strip while working for dLife :-(. BIG SIGH. Maybe they should interview you about that on their show.

Glad you're ok! Chris is indeed wonderful.

Posted by: Kathleen | August 13, 2006 02:04 AM

I am so glad that you two found one another.

You are both very lucky-- a good match, indeed :-)

Posted by: Sandra Miller | August 13, 2006 09:11 AM

Reading your post made me wonder if your Chris is somehow related to my Jimmi ;-) It is wonderful to have a boyfriend that makes sure diabetes does not knock us out too often.

Just yesterday Jimmi, once again, showed that not only is he able to spot even the slightest signs of BG imbalances, but also act upon them. We were out for groceries and standing in line he noticed me yarning (for me that can be a sign of hypoglycemia). He came a bit closer to give me a kiss, while at the same time looking me in the eyes to see if they too were showing sign of a hypo. Being sure a hypo was on its way he quietly told me that he thought that my BG was too low, something I could only agree upon. "Should I find something sweet for you to eat?" he asked, but I already had my hand in my pocket to grab my glucose tabs. He then turns around and realises that we are standing next to the freezer, which happen to keep some of the type of ice lolly that we both love. "Shouldn't we get a couple of these? Maybe the rain will cease while we eat them here inside" (big smile - he is obviously also a bit hungry, so he does not wait for my answer which probably would have been positive anyway). So we pay and eat our 15 g-of-carb ice creams, comfortably raising my BG, while watching the rain that actually ceases so that we can go home in dry weather :-)

Posted by: Heidi | August 13, 2006 12:49 PM

my boyfriend does that too. when i broke my foot he was always curing my hypos for me cuz i couldn't move for a week.

Posted by: v i c k i | August 13, 2006 02:27 PM

I hope my son finds someone as good for him as your boyfriend is to you! I'm sure your mom worries lsess because of that!

Posted by: Lori | August 13, 2006 04:26 PM

Does Chris have a brother by any chance?

I've never had an icy feeling, but lots of times, I have a big rise like that after changing the site, and then things even out later.

Don't you wish you could somehow tell if the canula was kinked?

-Stella

Posted by: Stella | August 13, 2006 10:01 PM

Who needs test strips when you have the boyfriend :)

I'm curious about the icy cold sensation and why that happened....