I met my boyfriend Curtis in April, just weeks after he was in a very serious car accident.  I have watched and helped, over the past months, as he's struggled with serious back injury that has impeded his ability to work and play in so many ways.  I've also watched and helped as post-concussion issues with cognition and vision have caused major struggles at work and home.  It has been a difficult road for him. 

The irony?  Curtis was hit head-on at 40 mph by a gentleman who had suffered a hypoglycemic seizure behind the wheel of his car.   The driver didn't realize that he'd been in an accident, and tried to drive his mangled van away, in spite of the fact that Curtis was unconscious in the cab of his truck. The photo above shows his truck after the accident.  He is lucky to be alive.  What you can't see here is the condition of his steering wheel, which was ridiculously warped, the windshield cracked by his head and the frame, which was bent at an irreparable angle.  Very scary.  

This accident has had ripples impacting every single part of his life.  Challenges with his very physically and mentally challenging job; those are just the tip of the iceberg.  

I've realized over the past several months that I could very well have been that driver, so out of it from a low bloodsugar that I'm thinking I just need to get home, just need to get away, after nearly killing someone.  There would be nothing spiteful or mal-intented in my behavior, in fact, it would be as if I didn't exist (as me) at all.  That terrifies the hell out of me.  And that fear has helped me.  I have, consistently, tested my bloodsugar before driving since the evening, just a week into our relationship, that Curtis told me the story of the accident. 

I've gotten into the habit of not driving at all unless I'm at 120 mg/dl or higher.  I also keep a load of glucose tabs and juice boxes in my purse and my car.  Maybe that sounds extreme,  choosing a bloodsugar of higher than 120 mg/dl,  but this world would be a seriously less light, special, fun, and lovely place without Curtis in it and I know that's true of so many other people - people who might cross my path when I'm driving to work, home, the store every day.   People that I could hurt, without meaning to at all, because of a low bloodsugar.  And given my insulin sensitivity and my tendency to drop FAST, driving only at higher than 120 mg/dl or food if I'm lower than that is just the right thing to do.  

It is odd, how the universe sends us messages.  Odd, how it sends us people when we need them most.  At a time when I was experiencing so much stress and difficulty and when I was dipping out without warning or cause, at a time when I was having low bloodsugars that completely changed my person on an all too regular basis, the universe sent me Curtis.  Someone I adore, and who adores me.  Someone the world is lucky to have.  Someone who has taught me, in spite of his own difficulties, to pay attention, to be better for myself, and most of all to listen to the messages the universe is sending.  To learn from those messages.

We all need to be careful, when it comes to driving.  I've certainly had my share of issues at the wheel and I am extremely fortunate to have not injured anyone or damaged anything during those incidents.  But I could have and it's a possibility for every one of us living with diabetes.  I encourage you to test before getting behind the wheel, to choose a "no-drive" number that's right for you and to do your best to follow the rules you set for yourself.  

In the long run, it's worth it.