I’m new to tudiabetes and I’ve recently went through quite an experience with my diabetes and thought I would share it with everyone here. A little bit about me first, I’m 24 and I was diagnosed with type 1 when I was 14. Having diabetes now for 10 years, I have to say last few years I was neglectful of my diabetes to say the least. The last few months I realized that I needed to start taking better care of myself, so I made an appointment with my endo, started working out, eating healthier, drinking less, etc. and things looked like they were starting to look up in terms of my health.
One night about 3 weeks back I met with a friend of mine that just got back from a trip so we spent the evening catching up. I ate some dinner at home and had a serving of soup and a beer while I was out. After I got home, I was feeling fine, and unfortunately still neglecting my diabetes I didn’t measure my BG before I went to sleep. The next thing that I remember was waking up in extreme pain and agony with my father and two paramedics in my room. I was told that I had a hypoglycemic seizure, and quite a sever one. I kept telling the paramedics that my shoulders were in horrible pain, so they decided to take me to the hospital. After arriving at the hospital and taking a few x-rays they found that I had broken bother my shoulders during the seizure.
The doctor said that they would be able to pop my right shoulder back into place, however a piece was still fractured, but no surgery would be necessary. My left shoulder would not be so lucky, it needed surgery and I had to get 3 screws put into my arm. The surgery was successful and I am now on my way to what I hope will be a speedy recovery.
Since then I’ve started taking care of my diabetes and am measuring 4-6 times a day and keep my BG under much better control. I’ve been to see a dietitian and nurse and will be seeing my endo shortly. This whole experience has been an eye opener for me, and has made me realize the importance of taking care of myself and my diabetes.
Wow, that sounds hair raising! I recall one time @ a restaurant I worked at I keeled over and was smashing my head on a concrete floor, alarming the kitchen staff in particular who said the sound was like a melon hitting the floor. I’m glad that you are trying to figure things out! One thing I’d suggest might be to experiment with testing more frequently? There’s a few threads about that floating around and a few more tests can fill in blanks that may allow you to have better data to make decisions with?
Those danged seizers. Want to hear about the time I had a seizer in the grocerie store or how about the time I had one during jury duty. Or even better the ones I had when my kids were small and they had to find my mother to call 911? Sounds like you got the right attitude now. YOU GO!!!
I second that, if strip costs aren’t an issue then I would say 8-12x to get a better picture. If you don’t like all the pricks, a CGM or shop for a better lancet device and strips that take less blood. Son’s uses Delica by One Touch and Freestyle’s new butterfly strips. What a scary ordeal, so glad your’e recovering. I am real thankful we got our son a CGM, he has only worn it 4 days now and it has warned him of two nighttime lows already. You can be on top of things, (even when days aren’t good ,you can learn from the numbers) the folks here are very supportive and a wealth of information, use them.
Glad to hear I’m not the only to have had a seizure. As for testing, everything that the nurse and dietitian have told me is that I’ve been testing enough. Would you guys recommend testing even more frequently? I live in Canada so a CGM is out of the question, as the only option we have here is from the MM pump.
Since both my shoulders are in slings I’m not able to work or do anything really at the moment, so I’ve been at home for the last three weeks. As a result I’ve been able to keep to a steady schedule and I’ve seen my BG levels drop to normal levels and my insulin dosage has dropped significantly. I hope to get a pump within the next few months and resume an active and healthy lifestyle =)
I agree with the testing more. At a minimum, you should be testing before and after meals and that is 6 right there is you eat 3 meals. You should also check before you get behind the wheel – can you imagine what would have happened if that low had happened while you were driving? That means if you go shopping for an hour, you check before you leave and again before you start home. You should also check before and after exercise and anytime that you feel low. You can really learn a lot by testing!
I am sorry about your shoulders. I hope they heal fast and you don’t have any problems because of them.
That is definitely quite the experience you went through. Im glad you are ok now and taking better care of yourself. From reading other posts and such, it seems that a lot of us go through a phase of neglecting our diabetes and not really caring. Best of luck and if you ever need to vent, just know the community is here for you.
Thanks for the support guys! The shoulders are slowly getting better and I’m starting to regain movement, however it looks like I still may need surgery on the other shoulder. I go in next week to get some x-rays done so we’ll see what happens.
@ Andrea: I’m in Mississauga, and I’ve started to look at pumps. Hopefully by the end of the summer I’ll be able to start pumping.
@Mike: Ya I’m definitely lucky that I woke up and still alive. You’re right about hitting rock bottom, sometimes it needs to happen to make you realize that you’ve got to change your life around