Lows on a Plane.
Yesterday morning, I boarded my flight at 7:15 am. (Which means I was up at 4 am, and then crossed into the strange time-space continuum into the Pacific time zone, which means I am bleary-eyed and totally confused about what time it actually is right now). Since it was such an early flight and since I'm trying my hardest to avoid taking medication to fly, I decided to take this trip without my trusty xanax prescription.*
* It's in my bag, but I'm not planning on using it. It's only if I have a wicked panic attack or something before the flight.
With the Dexcom plugged in and doing its thing, I felt pretty on top of the diabetes crap. My blood sugars were holding in a nice pattern of the low 100's, and my snacks were heavy on the protein side, so I wasn't anticipating any serious issues.
About three hours into the flight, I noticed that the music piping through my headphones sounded off. I couldn't put my finger on what the issue was, but there was something decidedly swimmy about the sounds. Then I felt a vibration near my foot - the Dexcom wailing and twitching inside of my purse. I reached down and retrieved the little football-shaped receiver to see a "LOW - Under 55 mg/dl" on the screen.
Five minutes passed and I still felt horrendous. My meter flashed me a 48 mg/dl. I needed a liquid solution to work through this low. So I got up from my seat and went back to where the flight attendants were sitting.
"Sure thing." She reached for a plastic cup and started to fill it with ice.
"Not a problem." She handed me the aluminum can of orange juice and I chugged half of it down without breathing.
"You okay? Do you need to sit down?"
"I'll be fine in just a few minutes. Thanks, though."
And I went back to my seat, plugged my headphones in, and listened to some music while my blood sugar started to rise. A few minutes later, I noticed the stewardess was kneeling by my seat. I took my headphones out. "Hi again!"
She smiled. "My sister's husband has diabetes, so I know how you can be totally wiped out after one of those lows. I can't wait to call her when we land, so I can tell her I saved one of you guys!" She smiled, patted my arm, and walked back to her seat.
I laughed to myself. "One of you guys." Like we're diabetes collectibles. (We should totally have baseball cards.)
Comments
Okay, so your posts usually make me cry, but this time I'm crying from laughing too hard! I had a similar comment the other day when my hair stylist asked me if I was "like super diabetic?".....ummmmm, well I don't have a cape or anything! Hah! Thanks for the laugh. And welcome to the Pacific Time Zone!
Posted by: Tammy | October 14, 2010 11:04 AM
I feel like there's dialog missing... I'm totally lost at the end.
Posted by: Elizabeth | October 14, 2010 12:29 PM
I always go a little overboard buying Swedish Fish before I get on the plane. Then it's an hour-long battle to keep myself from eating them just for fun.
Posted by: Jacquie | October 14, 2010 12:35 PM
Yowza! Now you have people giving you editorial advice?
Posted by: Link | October 14, 2010 01:19 PM
Tammy - LOL! Super Diabetic!! A cape is definitely in order.
Elizabeth - Can you tell I'm three hours out of sync? :)
Jacquie - Swedish Fish are a weapon of choice for me, too.
Link - Hey now. I don't mind editorial advice. Relax!
Posted by: Kerri. | October 14, 2010 01:37 PM
Kerri, I think you might have accidentally edited out the part where the stewardess was telling you her sister's husband (or was it brother's wife, can't remember) has diabetes and she knew how wiped out a low can make you. Now that paragraph is gone. I think that's the dialog that Elizabeth was referring to.
Real comment: I loved this post. Is it sad that I wish more people knew a diabetic so that they could be as sympathetic as your stewardess? I feel like everyone else thinks, "Oh my, she's not taking care of herself." P.S. Hope you're having fun in Vegas!
Posted by: Holly | October 14, 2010 02:02 PM
WE need cards. I'm on it.
Posted by: SuperG | October 14, 2010 02:18 PM
i wonder why the "one of you" comment really annoys me? Well, I've been chasing lows all day, and it must be making me super-sensitive! :)
Posted by: lindsay | October 14, 2010 02:22 PM
Oddly enough, reading this after a day of teaching where I spent 1 guided reading group treating and retreating a persistant low. The students loved it; they got some snacks while I treated the stubborn thing!
Posted by: Robin | October 14, 2010 03:10 PM
I usually take Ativan when I fly... but I have the opposite problem - I go too high on the plane. Not as scary as going too low, but I'm sure in my case it is stress-related. We need more people like your flight attendant!
Posted by: Sarah@natural diabetic | October 14, 2010 03:21 PM
I'm so glad you re-posted this....I thought I was reading something and my own blood sugar was low b/c I didn't get it. Duh, now I know why!
Posted by: Lindsay R. | October 14, 2010 03:29 PM
I always get the "Well....you don't look like a diabetic!" haha And what exactly is that supposed to look like???!! Good Gracious
Posted by: Heather | October 14, 2010 03:39 PM
Thanks for the chuckle. We are being watched aren't we. Welcome to California!! I am not brave anymore to fly alone. My hat is off to you. As I get older I seem to need more sense of security I guess.
Posted by: Christine | October 14, 2010 04:10 PM
LOL My husband (he's Type I)laughed and said he would like to see bobbleheads in addition to the baseball cards. :)
Posted by: Becca | October 14, 2010 05:59 PM
Collectibles :)
That made me smile!
Posted by: Wendy | October 14, 2010 06:51 PM
I love when people are nice to other people especially when you don't expect them tobe nice. Cheers to your flight attendant!!! and I'm glad you weren't left to wait for juice. Love ur blogs
Posted by: Marie | October 14, 2010 08:41 PM
That made me laugh! Thanks! Collectibles... awesome!
Posted by: Elizabeth | October 14, 2010 09:42 PM
I'm reading this with a (really) low blood sugar right now. Is that why the way you wrote the conversation totally makes sense to me?
If we get trading cards, how do we decide on rookie of the year?
Posted by: Sara | October 14, 2010 10:28 PM
Planes always make my sugar whacked out, no matter what I try to do to prevent it. Last time I was on a plane my sugar plunged into the 30s as we were descending, and my superhero husband ran up the lopsided aisle to get me some juice when the landing gear was coming down. He definitely got shouted at by the flight attendants, but he also got major husby points. Can he get an honorary card?
Posted by: Nicole | October 15, 2010 07:25 AM
Superg, if we make the cards collectible maybe we can raise funds for a diabetes-related organization.
Let me know if you need my stats!
Thanks Kerri for the fun post. Isn't it funny how lows affect us in different ways. I've had lows where loud sounds (like car door closing) made me physically jump, very unnerving.
Posted by: Bernard Farrell | October 15, 2010 07:49 AM
We DO need baseball cards!! That would be cool.... Have a great trip. :)
Posted by: jenn_ns | October 15, 2010 09:09 AM
Heehee on the cards - when I read the "one of you guys" I envisioned little troll dolls for some reason...like we're some sort of magical species of Smurfs or something!
Posted by: danielle | October 15, 2010 09:49 AM
Save the Diabetics!
Save the Diabetics!
that's all I can think of.
Posted by: Michelle | October 15, 2010 12:27 PM
Ha, ha! Too funny! :)
Posted by: Lindsay | October 15, 2010 03:42 PM
Thanks for sharing! I loved your stewardess's comment. 'One of us guys' - well, I never thought of it quite that way before. Guess we are members of an exclusive club (that we would love to get out of!)
Posted by: June S. | October 15, 2010 07:04 PM
I can totally relate to this, every plane trip we're on Hannah drops no matter how I prep before hand.
love the trading card concept though, this totally needs to be looked into further.
Posted by: Laurel | October 15, 2010 09:04 PM
I'm laughing but kind of jealous at how the flight attendant reacted!
On the few flights I have been on - most of them being 14 hrs long, each way - the flight attendants were very rude about my care. They would yell if I needed to get out, they acted as if getting a cup of apple juice for my low would end in a plane crash - I'm happy to know at least some people are seeing generosity and sincere concern!
Posted by: Diabeteen | October 19, 2010 08:25 PM
If you guys get cards, the cancer kids should get cards too!
Kerri - I think you're on to something! HA HA! great post. @stales
Posted by: @Stales | October 21, 2010 02:04 PM
AHA! I get it now! Cute!
(And I definitely wasn't giving editorial advice... Just wanting to be in on the joke I seemed to be missing! :) )
Posted by: Elizabeth | October 21, 2010 05:43 PM
Baseball cards and bobbleheads! We totally need them!
Posted by: Scott K. Johnson | October 26, 2010 06:00 PM