Is there specific etiquette for thanking someone whose quick thinking and kindness kept you from falling flat on your face during a low? Are there any written, or unwritten, rules for this? Should I send flowers or a note? Maybe baked goods are appropriate, since that's what really saved me. I guess I should ask my ever proper Great Aunt Lyn for suggestions. She's better with social graces than Peggy Post and Miss Manners combined.
As a type 2 diabetic, I never had to worry about lows until I started insulin last year. Then, when they hit, it wasn't anything too bad or too low, and I always enjoyed the excuse for eating candy. Besides, they always seemed to strike in a controlled setting, like my office or living room, just steps away from a handy juice box.
Now that I'm in my ninth month of pregnancy, the lows are starting to hit with a vengeance. It's actually a good sign and means that the crazy insulin-resistance hormones are starting to subside and I'll get to meet my little boy soon. (Just typing that made him jump around, so I have to assume he's excited too! Besides, he's getting mighty cramped in there!)
So here's what happened. To get my after-breakfast numbers right, I need a lot of insulin. Like 1 unit of Humalog for every 2 grams of carbs. However, this tends to leave me low at the three hour mark. Recognizing this pattern, I've started making sure I get a fruit and protein snack in every morning. On the day in question, it was fresh pineapple and cottage cheese, chased with a handful of almonds.
Now, my father-in-law has a lot of health problems-dementia and tremors topping the list. Not too steady on his feet, he took a tumble down cement stairs the other day, cutting himself up in a half dozen places. My worrywart husband is convinced one of the cuts is going to get infected and since I work from home, I get to take him to the doctor.
When we get there, he's too unstable to sit on the examination table, so he sits in the chair on the side and I get to sit in the patient's spot (for the third time in two days, no less, but who's counting). For once it was a good thing I was on the table. Kelly, the LPN, comes in to examine his cuts and bruises. As she's giving me wound care instructions, I start to get a little woozy. It has nothing to do with the blood on display, either.
When I stood up to get his paperwork to leave, the room gets really hot and starts spinning. Kelly looks at me and says, "You look a little peeked, why don't you lay down." So I take my blood sugar, and its only 73, which frankly is nothing compared to the 45s I've been seeing lately, yet feels so much worse.
I grab a juice box from my purse, fumble with the straw and finally suck it all down in two big slurps. Meanwhile, Kelly goes and gets me cookies while I lay there on the table. I have to say, they were the best cookies I've ever had.
A few minutes later, the color returned to my face. I was able to sit up, then walk, then drive (straight across the street to Wendy's for a Frosty). I know it's Kelly's job to care for patients, but I feel more than a bit silly considering it wasn't even my appointment. I'm very grateful that it happened at the doctor's office and not the mall.
So what's the appropriate way to thank her? A Blogabetes shout out hardly seems like thanks enough.




