13 might be an unlucky number for some but my luck, truly did change then I met my one and only and he asked me to marry him.
Your 13th anniversary is supposed to be your Lace anniversary, well even if you could find lace boxers in South Africa I am sure Mr P. would not be very impressed with them, so I was thinking out the box and I was going to get him a pair of Dr. Martens as they have many "laces" but this would entail that I would have to go and visit Dr. Marten's flagship store in Rosebank oh so tempting. I bought my first pair of Dr.Marten's at Moolas in the centre of Jhb CBD being a student at the time I had to save quite hard in order to afford these. As the money stakes are not so flush at the moment I played it safe but will have to visit the Dr. Marten's store in Rosebank come bonus day for sure.
What does this have to do with Diabetes you may asked , well really it has a lot to do with why I achieve good results most of the time.
If I did not have the amazing supportive husband I have I do not think I would have the courage to run my blood sugar's as close to normal as possible. There is always the fear that you will be sleeping and go low so naturally you would run your Blood sugars slightly high in order to avoid this.
My husband has been through a lot with me being a Diabetic, really he deserves a medal or a long time service award.
I have listed a few awesome things he does:
- He will willingly eat the low GI diet I am on.
- He does not nag me or act as an extreme know all , I suppose he trusts my judgement.
- He will make me a snack in the middle of the night or any time if I tell him I am going low.
- He will force feed me Glucose powder if my sugar is low and risk getting his fingers bitten.
- He will try numerous times to wake me on low blood sugar mornings and endure verbal abuse until he decides on an alternative tactic.
- If needs be, he will call the paramedics in order to get me the much needed Dextrose, he will make the paramedics coffee , diligently remove the picture that hangs above our bed before the paramedics arrive so they can use the nail to hang the drip off, let them in and let them out and take me to the toilet when the drip has only had half an effect and I only have half the use of my legs.
I think you have to be very strong to deal with a Diabetic most of the time and I do not for one minute underestimate how hard it can be to be a Diabetic's support person.
When I was young I went to a Diabetic Group day at the zoo all us kids where Diabetics and we where told by the leader to buddy up with some one in case something happens. I though back then ,why do I want to stay close to this person the whole day , nothing is going to happen to me. Now that I look back on it I can say I have definitely found my life long buddy in my husband , he has so many other awesome qualities but I have just mentioned the few Diabetic support related points.
Thank you for always being near for the last 13 years , my buddy.
Do you have an awesome Diabetic Support person or persons that you depend on?
Bye for Now
Kim
Thanks for your trust in my abilities. As an added not to the other followers of this blog remember to have the following on hand:
ReplyDeleteProducts:
1) Glucagon Pen (If you are travelling this festive season it would be very handy as you don't know the local EMS response times) If you have one make sure it hasn't expired.
2) Peanut butter is a great sandwich filler to get a more stable glucose level. Make sure of allergies first.
3) A large syringe to make it easier to use the Glucose Juice and Glucose Gel in 4 and 5 below
4) Glucose powder I have found that making a super sweet juice makes sure you don't get too many complaints.
5) Glucose Gel (The kind that runners use) it tastes disgusting and is difficult to get it into the mouth.
Information:
1) Your Security companies call centre number. (Most of them have an agreement with an Emergency Medical Service Company to send paramedics)
2) Your Diabetic management doctors 24 hour emergency number (If they don't have one recommend it)
Most importantly remember to stay calm and be supportive once the incident is over. I have said over the years that Diabetes is a condition that affects the whole family (and the weight loss from eating correctly is a bonus) at this point it must be mentioned that our two boys are also the stars here they will (sometimes) wake up and take care that the dogs don't bite the EMS guys that are walking through the house at the time by taking them off to their rooms and keeping them calm.
Also look at your pets reactions as a lot of them will naturally start alerting you when there is a Hypo happening and this is a great help. Remember to praise them when they do alert you so they will keep doing it (I know this is hard when you have just been woken up by a dog sitting on your chest at 2 AM. Kennel purchase is the first thought but they have just done a great thing.)
Regards,
Mr. P
You are the best. Some very useful information here.
Delete