'Twas the Night Before Work ...
'Twas the night before work, and all through the flat,
Not a creature was stirring, except for two cats.
The meter was stashed on the table with care,
In case that there was a low blood sugar scare.
We two were all nestled, quite snug in our beds,
While fat cats named Abby made nests on our heads.
And Chris in his bedclothes and me tucked in mine,
Lay down our two heads for some earned sleepy-time.
When inside my body there arose such a clatter,
My liver awoke to see what was the matter.
He peeked at my glucose and spied with such vigor
That I was dropping low – I needed some sugar!
My liver, he poked me, and I shifted a bit.
Then awoke with a start and reached for my kit.
When, what to my startled blue eyes should appear,
But a reading of “50” and a small bit of fear.
More rapid than rapids, I sprang from the bed,
Unsettled the cat asleep up on my head,
I moved down the hallway, stumbled a smidge,
And made my way towards the juice stashed in my fridge.
Cracked open the bottle, drank down my eight sips,
Used the edge of the counter to steady my hips.
“This grape juice is tasty,” I said, don’t ya know.
“I wish I could drink it when I wasn’t low!”
I stood in the kitchen, admired our tree
As its white, twinkling lights glowed and comforted me.
The juice did its job as it coursed through my body
And after a spell, I felt not quite as shoddy.
I turned on my heel, shuffled off back to bed
Where my boyfriend was sleeping with two cats instead.
Slid under the covers, quick pass with the meter,
The result that popped up confirmed I was much sweeter.
I snuggled back in underneath the warm covers,
The cats got excited and meowed at each other.
Crisis averted, my body called “truce!”
And I drifted to sleep, ever-thankful for juice.
Comments
I love your writing abilities. However, I hate the fact that you, my daughter and all diabetics have to live their lives this way.
Yeah, I am also very thankful for juice. Madison(my daughter 7 yrs. old) was in the 30's the other day. I was freaking, she was making jokes about pretending to fight me off. "HaHa", I said. She starting laughing and drank her juice. Humor is great!
Posted by: libby | December 14, 2006 10:10 AM
Awesome!!
Posted by: Shannon | December 14, 2006 10:48 AM
I meant that about how the poem was written....not that you were low.
Posted by: Shannon | December 14, 2006 10:49 AM
You have such a great way of writing Kerri. Nice job!! And so true...
Posted by: flmgodog | December 14, 2006 10:49 AM
Oooo... I loved this! Excellent.
Posted by: Nicole P | December 14, 2006 10:55 AM
Loved it!
It's interesting how you do 8. How come 8? The reason I ask, being the esoteric Goddess that I am, is that 8 is a very earth-bound number, and it symbolizes "work", be it spiritual or physical work. I just find your use of 8 most fitting, particularly in that you are, in a sense, trying to ground your body (ground = earth) and that you are, in a sense, doing work.
Yeah, I've got the good green ;)lol
Posted by: SparkleMotion | December 14, 2006 11:05 AM
Nicely done! I can't believe you actually prefer juice over tablets or candy for treatment of hypos. In my own experience, juice takes twice as long to raise my blood glucose and its tough to measure properly (especially when low). Maybe its just me, but hate the taste of OJ anyway!
Posted by: Scott | December 14, 2006 11:11 AM
Haha, this is great!
Posted by: Sarah | December 14, 2006 12:06 PM
Kerri!
This is so great! :)
Posted by: Kelsey | December 14, 2006 12:53 PM
Kerri, you have such a way with words, I look forward to reading this everyday!
Posted by: nikki | December 14, 2006 01:02 PM
truely amazing. i had to print it out and show my mum. she loved it to, she started to read your blog as well. we both sit at work and read it!
Posted by: vicki | December 14, 2006 02:09 PM
Kerri - sorry about the low, but I gotta tell you - this post was GREAT!
I always love coming over here to your little neck of the woods. I'm addicted to your writing!
(be sure to publish this rendition of the night before christmas in your novel :) )
Posted by: Jamie | December 14, 2006 02:32 PM
Thanks so much, guys. I'm glad you enjoyed this poem!
And truth be told: The fat cat does sleep on my head. It's embarrassing. Like wearing a hat. Only a hat with a tail. Not unlike Davy Crocket. ;)
Posted by: Kerri. | December 14, 2006 02:56 PM
Wonderful Kerri
Merry Christmas to all!
Posted by: Gramma Donna | December 14, 2006 03:43 PM
Very nicely done, Kerri. :-)
Posted by: Sandra Miller | December 14, 2006 05:25 PM
That's great stuff Kerri!
Posted by: Scott K. Johnson | December 14, 2006 06:22 PM
Very talented piece Kerry. But, you should really consider lowering those nighttime basals. They seem to be making you low all the time, and you don't want Santa to deliver coal to them.
Posted by: Rhonda | December 14, 2006 11:39 PM
Clever and Cute! I love it!
Posted by: George | December 15, 2006 03:10 AM
Ha! I went to an office party last night and someone read the Christmas version of this.
In front of each person was a gift that s/he brought to the party. During the reading of the story, gifts were passed to the right if the word "the" was mentioned...and to the left if any body part was said.
It was really fun! Just jotting down ideas for holiday diabetic gatherings now... ;-)
Posted by: Johnboy | December 15, 2006 07:34 AM
Great stuff!
Posted by: Carey | December 15, 2006 08:40 AM
Kerri, you should send this to Jeff Hitchcock at CWD. He'd probably post it up on the site. It's fantastic!
Posted by: julia | December 15, 2006 02:14 PM
Love the story...how very creative you are! Thank you for sharing with us who live it every day!
Posted by: Jane | December 18, 2006 06:44 AM
gorgeous post - as usual. thanks for keeping babes entertained through fearful moments - you rock!
Posted by: Jenni Prokopy | December 19, 2006 11:29 AM
I think my favorite line was about wishing you could drink juice when you WEREN'T low!
Wonderful poem and very, very cleverly done! : D
"I was much sweeter..."
Like you need juice for us to believe that! Even at 50 you're sweet!
Merry Chistmas! : )
Posted by: Kim | December 20, 2006 11:43 AM
Nice poem. Me and my daughter will save this, it will give us something to read and discuss at 3am while she is drinking her juice.
Posted by: Katherine | December 31, 2006 08:33 PM
I came across this surfing through MedScape. I'm awful glad to find out I'm not the only one who has this identical experience. Please be safe. That sinking feeling as you wake up in the middle of the night is so scarey.....
Posted by: Ed | December 31, 2006 09:45 PM
This is wonderful.. great writing..
Posted by: Chandra | January 9, 2007 09:19 AM
I'm using this in my classroom tomorrow! My diabetic student will love reading it to the other kids.
Posted by: Jackie | January 10, 2007 07:58 PM