Low blood sugars have become moments that scare me more now than they did when I was younger, mostly because the symptoms of my lows have all but disappeared until I’m deep into the 40’s. It’s shocking to my system to have that gentle lag and foggy confusion suddenly open into the abyss of a properly symptomatic low, bringing about the sweat and shaking, confusion and disorientation.
But lately, I’ve been thinking about how lucky I am to have the ability to go low. Hear me out on this … it makes sense in the long run.
During the course of any given day, I’m able to deliver a basal rate of insulin that keeps my blood sugars under control, and I can take a bolus of insulin to cover any meals I’m eating. I have the option to correct a blood sugar of 140 mg/dL back down to 100 mg/dL with precision dosing from an insulin pump, insulin pen, or even a syringe. I can micro-manage my blood sugars throughout the day in efforts to achieve an A1C and time-in-range that gives me the best chance of good health for a long time.
It’s not a question of “will I or won’t I get insulin today?” My biggest worry is how in-range my numbers have been. Diabetes, no matter where you live, is not a pleasant disease, but in a country where my access to insulin is not a panic point, I realize how lucky I am.
And I know what I can do to help those who aren’t as lucky.
Yes, more of this Spare a Rose stuff. But you guys. It takes just a minute to make a donation to Spare a Rose, benefiting Life for a Child. Hang on … I just did it.
Making good on my Team Commercials #sparearose donation from yesterday. Because the game was badass. pic.twitter.com/qalwjvRBuS
— Kerri / Diabetes (@sixuntilme) February 8, 2016
I made good on my promise to donate a rose for yesterday’s Super Bowl game (during which I paid little attention to the game itself and was a bit more confused by how many babies truly are credited back to Super Bowl shaggings). A five dollar donation is one full month of life for a child with diabetes in a developing country.
This really put things into perspective for me in terms of how lucky I am to be living in a country where insulin is so easily accessible. I’ve been stressing a bit over an upcoming six-month thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, and after hearing stories of hikers eating 5-7 thousand calories a day, was a bit troubled. It turns out management will not be as difficult as I thought, but more importantly, the issue seems to pale in comparison to the prospect of having no insulin at all. Thanks for sharing info on this charity as well, I will try to bring it up it in my next diabetes-related article.
I was recently in Rwanda, Africa with a group treating women with obstetric fistula. One of the women we saw had type 1 diabetes but had run our of insulin 3 months earlier. She complained of constant urine leakage. She was in her 40s but looked 60. She was very thin and was confused. This reminded me of how lucky I am to have access to the best care in the world and the money to pay for it.
Thanks for putting things into perspective. I just donated, thanks to you for the inspiration!
Done. Thank you for the reminder. Sincerely.
Thanks for sharing the info! Happy to spare my share of roses this year. Thanks too for your continued blogging. Enjoy and appreciate your posts as a fellow T1D. Happy holiday weekend!