Hey ya'll...I'm going to rant for a minute against mankind in general...bear with me, or just skip now.
It is great for our friends and family to "understand" our moods and
crankiness and irritability, and just chalk it up to our "affliction. However, MOST of them don't understand what is required...ie give me a snack NOW dammit. And what really drives me nuts is when I am JUST moody, cranky or irritable and it has NOTHING to do with diabetes. I might just have had a s*****y day - we ARE allowed to have those, aren't we? Or did I miss that rule when my BS was low??
It used to drive me NUTS when my mom or dad would ask me, "is your sugar ok?" when I was having a "mood." Granted, a lot of those moods in the 70s and early 80s were probably caused by wildly swing sugars cuz peeing in a cup to test my sugar was not a thing I did regularly or with any pleasure, BUT STILLL!!!
And they still use it...Now when I check (7-9 times a day - Profile one touch), I always ANNOUNCE, "hey, I'm normal." when I am around them - just so they KNOW, I am just in a MOOD and not having a "sugar attack" or whatever they chose to call it - DESPITE all the education on the subject that have received.
And on another subject, just how many times do I have to explain the laser and retinopathy thing to my loved ones - I have had laser literally DOZENS of times and every time they ask the same questions, the same gossip floats around my family, as if they have nothing better to talk about than Sara and her diabetUS (that is how they insist on pronouncing it...)
Back to others being aware of our "condition." For good or bad, I am glad
shows like ER have had characters with diabetes - but the pregnant girl on ER who was too stupid to even draw up her own shot???! please - that is not an image I would like people to have...or the story that ran last year about a doctor having a low during a surgery or something. Heck, chaarcters pull out cell phones, or baby wipes etc. all the time. Why not have one whip out a meter, poke his or her finger and test - as an actor it would be a challenge to keep going - but WE manage to do it...I have done it on the subway, on the corner, in restaurants, where ever I needed to do it. I have gotten out of bed during intimate moments and checked my blood. I am expert at doing it driving down the highway and can do it in the dark now thanks to the little lite on my MM507. 99% of the people I come in contact with these days would have NO Clue what was happening or what to
do - in fact most of them probably wouldn't even notice the Medic Alert
bracelet I have worn for the last ???years...Living in NYC, if I was passed
out somewhere, they'd steal it and my wallet, and later, going though it,
maybe realize I had diabetes..like it mattered. Then I'd get hauled off for
vagrancy and having no ID, no one would know what to do. Just another
incentive to try and keep myself healthy, I guess...
I do not hide my pump. If I am dressed up and have no pockets, I can clip it to my undergarments, but despite what others say, it still shows on me. Normally I wear it on my waistband, where most people think it is a beeper with an antennae, but if they ask...I whip it out...most people are curious and intrigued...THEY HAVE BEEN AROUND for almost 20 years haven't they? Everyone knows what chemo therapy is, everyone knows what AZT is for, most people can pronouce artherosclerosis....I cna't even spell it...so why don't they know how diabetes works. HELLO WE ARE A BUTT LOAD OF PEOPLE. Why have we been pushed behind the door like this???
Both my niece (4.5) and nephew (7) are interested in my "toys - Sam since he was 3 years old. Both have tested my sugars and their own. Both have watched me do shots and set up the pump. Sam asked me one day if some guy walking by had on a pump too...it was just a beeper - so if a 7 year old can be aware, ANYONE can!
As for sleeping - since I am single, I sleep alone..most of the time, and my pump sleeps right next to me - it is like my arm, I always know where it is, I got tangled up with it at first, but haven't in a long while. Even in the
middle of the night when I get up to go to the bathroom or get a drink or
test I can just put my hand out...and there it is - right where I left it. On those rare occassions when I am not alone, it has never FREAKED anyone out to be attached - one has been ripped out, but I must say at the time, I felt no pain. And thanks to the tender, it is OH so simple to just unhook and be FREEEEEEEEEE.
OK. I am done. My bs just in case you want to know is 114. My drug of
choice today is caffeine.
Thanks for listening.
"Do or do not...there is no try".....................Yoda
