Thursday, March 27, 2008

Almost Made It The Full Year.....

A week before my first anniversary as a type 1 I came down with the flu. All year I had heard warnings from doctors, friends, and Internet buddies to be really cautious when you get sick because blood sugars can go crazy with illness. I had a rough cold back in October but nothing that really affected my blood sugars - my good fortune turned out to be short lived though.

Tuesday I was all set to head to the pool at 4pm; around 2:45 I got a slice of pumpkin loaf from Starbucks to shoot my blood sugar up into the 200s. Right before eating I had a bs of 130, 30 minutes after eating I had a bs of 75, wtf! I took a sip of coca-cola, 15 minutes later my blood sugar was 70 and my stomach started to feel less than happy. I sat at my desk wondering what the heck to do. Chelsea my most trusted diabetic alli told me to use a small shot of glucagon if my blood sugar got really low but otherwise just take the subway ride home really slowly.

So with great trepidation I set out of my office for the subway ride home. Once in my apartment I curled up in a ball on my bed until the stomach demons arrived forcing a mad dash to the bathroom. I tried to keep down Ginger Ale and Saltines but nothing was cooperating, worse yet after I emptied my stomach 3 or 4 times my blood sugar started to shoot into the 200s as I felt a fever come on. I tried to drink as much as I could, but I woke up at 1am with a bs of 230, a high fever and a ton of confusion. I knew I needed to drink something, and drink something fast so I mustered all the energy I could to make it to my refrigerator; the trip back to bed wasn't as successful as the trip to the fridge! After about 5 steps I felt my legs give out from under me and heard a loud crash and saw a flash of light. Next thing I knew I woke up in a puddle of sweat staring at my ceiling - guess I didn't get those liquids soon enough. Knocking my head on my hard wood floor kicked some sense into me however. Instead of drinking the ginger ale I remembered I was high, bolused and downed 2 water bottles filled with water and smartly kept one next to my bed that night.

Yesterday my blood sugars were still running a bit high so I found the energy to make it to my pharmacy to pick up my new prescription of insulin (was supposed to pick it up the day I got sick). Thankfully everything seems to be back to normal today but I learned a ton from my 48 hours of hell:

1 - Always, always, always, keep drinking fluids when sick with diabetes, the combination of a fever and high blood sugars can lead to huge problems - like passing out on your living room floor.

2 - Monitor blood sugars every 1/2 hour when battling the flu, recovery is alot easier when the bs is under control.

3 - Be less concerned about eating "perfect" foods than you are with eating things you can keep down when sick, 48 hours of white bread and saltines won't kill your A1c.

4 comments:

Anne Findlay said...

Ed, I'm so sorry you were so sick. How miserable. Glad you are feeling better. Congrat's on all you've accomplished & learned this past year.

Scott K. Johnson said...

Yes indeed, being sick sucks big time, and dealing with diabetes on top of all that makes it that much harder.

Glad you're feeling better!

Shannon said...

OMG...that's awful that you had to go through that without anyone to help you.

I'm glad you've gotten through it and are on the mend.

Dances with Corgis said...
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