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January 9th, 2009
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It's bad enough to get sick-any kind of sick-but add diabetes into the mix and you can have a real problem on your hands.

I've been sick only a handful of times since I was diagnosed. And when I say sick, I mean the kind of sick that keeps you from eating and leaves you laid up in bed for a couple days. It wasn't long after I was diagnosed that one of the kids got sick and I kept wondering when it would hit me. And then I realized that I literally didn't know what to do with myself if I did get sick. I didn't know what to expect from my blood sugar or how to manage it.

So I did some research. Actually, I wrote an article, for which I talked to my former diabetes educator at length. Ever since then, I've been meaning to do one of the essentials of sick-day management: put together a sick day kit with things like fast-acting sugars and a glucagon kit for low or high blood sugars, in addition to phone numbers for members of my healthcare team so my husband can call if I'm otherwise incapacitated. Have I done it yet? Nope.

I think about that kit every time I think I'm getting sick. It was on my mind most of the day Wednesday as I plotted my route to the bathroom at work just in case I thought I was finally going to blow. It's on my mind again today since No. 1 got the quickest stomach bug I've ever seen on Saturday. (Let me just say, thank God for empty Tostitos bags or the elevator in Mom's building would smell a lot different today.)

Nothing significant has hit me yet; in other words, my stomach is in knots, but I'm not confined to the bedroom yet. I no longer feel nervous, though, that I won't know how to take care of myself when or if that bug finally gets the better of me.

A word to the wise: know what to do and how to take care of yourself (or your child with diabetes) when you get sick; and stay on top of your sugar when you feel a bug coming on.



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Michelle Kowalski
Michelle Kowalski, a writer, editor and photography hobbiest living in Phoenix, was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in February 2005. In January 2008, as part of her quest to start on an insulin pump, Michelle learned that she actually has type 1 diabetes. (Read More)

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Kerri Sparling
Kerri Sparling, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was six years old, doesn't let diabetes define her. It just helps explain some things.
Creator of the diabetes blog Six Until Me and an editor for dLife, Kerri is an awareness advocate and an active member of the diabetes community. She'd also like a kitten. (Read More)


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