Yahoo News
Did you hear about this dad that found himself on the wrong side of the diabetes tracks? This may be ancient news by now, viewed from the internet eyes of the informed masses, but his story is touching and thought provoking. In North Platte, Nebraska a six year old little boy took over steering his father's vehicle after the man passed out from low blood sugar. While driving home from a restaurant dinner, the dad's blood sugar tanked and sent him slumping back into the driver's seat, without accelerating, but with the car still rolling down the road. His young son hopped on his dad's lap, grabbed the wheel and steered around until a patrolling police officer could intervene.
It brings to reality the inopportune times diabetes is able to steal the show. I know most of us can relate to a low blood sugar running up from behind and blind-siding us. I suspect, or at least could envision from personal experience, that the father had too much insulin in his system compared to the carb count of his dinner. Like when you bolus for that extra 25 carb grams worth of french bread, but get lost in the huge salad in front of you, not actually including that bread in the meal. Mix in some slowly digested chicken parmesan for the main course and that early meal bolus becomes an unwelcomed guest to the party.
Hirsch's book, Cheating Destiny, has a similar example that was powerful to read and still finds its way into the forefront of my brain sometimes. The ending was not as happy as the Nebraskan families, Hirsch ending up crashing, but luckily everyone ended up in one piece at the end of both stories.
Does diabetes get in the way of daily life, or is it the other way around? Sometimes it seems that all of the days decisions have to be about diabetes and if you let the real world sneak in, problems ensue. What a depressing thought...
Scott,
It's oddly comforting to know that diabetes demands its ugly share of all of us...that I'm not alone. I wrote a blog about my wedding ceremony a couple of weeks ago....and how diabetes demanded it's share of my special day. I was mad about that, but did my best to hold the lows at bay. I don't have anywhere to post blogs, but it is comforting to write them. I just wish Joe Public knew and WOULD SERIOUSLY REMEMBER that these things are beyond our control....even with careful, careful bolusing and attention!! WHen will they quit blaming us for something that is out of our control? Do they think we do this to ourselves for some weird attention? Geez
Do ya think they will ever learn? How many more 6 year old drivers will it take to teach them??
Mousie, MM722
Do share that story with everyone over at the dLife Diabetes Community, it is a great way to share with others who get both the big and the small struggles of diabetes. And believe me, I feel your frustration about how diligence can sometimes not pay off. Good thing there are positives to focus on, like your wedding, to help distract us from the letdowns.
Makes me chuckle because this past weekend we took our daughter's two boys (11 and almost 7) camping with us and our son and his wife and their two children (3 months and 18 months) joined us. Needless to say we had lots of activity and I was very testy (that's a play on words here folks = tested MANY TIMES). During the afternoon we went for a hay ride which didn't take much movement on my part; but I guess it was the walking to and from the cabin to the Lodge area, then up to the flatbed truck for the hay ride. By the time we got back to the cabin to fix dinner which I gladly began, but somewhere Muddlebrain was mine and our son finished cutting up the ingredients for the foil BBQ dinners we were going to have. All ended well and I was able to FINALLY reach over and drink the juice which had been placed in front of me. Really tasted bad though and wanted to spit it out, but KNEW I NEEDED TO DRINK ALL 4 OZ. DOWN. UGH!!! It did the job and we all laughed including my son and I. Having children who have grown up with your lows can be very calming for those who are not used to seeing such awkward attitudes and actions. Laughter makes a heart merry and lightens the surroundings. I am so very glad that we now have testers that give blood glucose readings in 5 seconds! Especially when I need to drive myself and sometimes others places. Before, all we had were feelings. Now we know for sure and we can add a 4 oz. juice and a bit of protein if even the hint of an on-coming low becomes evident on our glucose meters.
I hear that! And hooray for BBQ foil dinners! The quintessential camping food.