Thursday, June 7, 2007

Diabetes and Relationships

Up until now all the posts on this blog have been about me and how I've been dealing with the disease. But really for us with diabetes that is only half the story. We all have an amazing support network and people who care about us that see us through our everyday struggles. At times I think our bs concerns may be more of a trial for them than for us. I'm perfectly cool not eating certain foods or taking it easy on the beers but what about when that prevents your significant other from enjoying some of the things they want to do.

Last night I was on the Upper West Side to check out a desk I found on Craig's List. Since my first apartment in Manhattan in 2002 I've had this monster IKEA corner desk - it was great for my studio as I put it right under the loft I built it has done nothing but take up way too much space in my 1 bedroom since 2003. I've made excuse after excuse not to get a new desk but finally I found the perfect match - the Jay Desk from West Elm. So after my first GMAT tutoring session I headed to 75th street to check out the desk and bought it for $100.

Because of work meetings, GMAT tutoring, not getting off the express train, and looking at the desk I had gone about 4 hours without eating. I had my turkey sandwich at 12:30, a cliff bar for my 3 and 1/2 mile run at 2:45 and a small bite of a cliff bar at 5. By the time I met Court on the UWS I was starved and really irritable (bs was down to about 85). She hadn't had the best of days and certainly would have rather seen a happy Ed than the low blood sugar ogar. However, with a headache coming on and my irritability towards all the lows I had in the past few days I tried as best as I could to be myself but just couldn't shake the bad mood.

As we walked past a few places on Columbus Ave. I continued to get more irritable as I was trying to find something that I knew I could correct properly for. She suggested sushi which I quickly shot down; I just didn't feel after the roller coaster since Sunday that I could account for that much rice, the soy sauce or fill up enough on sashimi without a $300 bill. Finally we found a nice bar & grill where I calculated everything I would eat on my trusty palm pilot loaded with Calorie King software. I need to remember that as new as this disease is for me, it's even newer for those around me. As many doctor's appointments that they attend or as much research as they do I can only explain how I feel to them not get them to live it. Court has been unbelievably supportive and as soon as I get my new Paradigm pump I think I owe her a big sushi dinner and maybe even a night of dancing which she always asks me to do.


3 comments:

Bernard said...

Don't forget to reduce your basal rate about an hour before dancing!

Seriously I think you'll find the pump just an awesome change (though maybe you need to experience longer without it to appreciate the improvement).

You may want to read Kevins latest post about establishing a basal rate. This is so important for the pump to work properly. Kevin is the creator of the great tracking spreadsheet that many D-blggers use. You can see it in his post.

I've also added your blog to my blogroll. Happy Friday.

Shannon said...

I'm impressed with how you held yourself together when you were crashing.

Shannon said...

Holy crap....I just read on your profile that you were diagnosed a couple of months ago.

It must be such a surreal experience for you right now.

I'm glad you managed to find a group of bloggers who can give you tremendous support and good advice on how to cope.