Does anyone have great stories about diabetes and the fun and sun of the beach? As a land locked fellow, I do not have the best stories, But, I do recall one sort of funny one. After I was diagnosed at age 17, I decided to go to the Indiana dunes state park. The day was so hot and I dutifully placed my insulin injection and a spare in a cooler and headed out to the beach.
As the day got hotter and the beach more crowded, I decided to go in the water, when I came back a park ranger was near my little spread. He siad someone had reported a drug sale on the beach. i reported that I am a diabetic and had an insulin syringe, so I opened the cooler, and there in place of my insulin was a summer sausage the size of Baltimore. I immediately went into panic mode. the officer laughed and told my my cooler had been switched at the place were one changes into swim suits. He told me where my insulin was and requested that I return the summer sausage to its rightful owner. When I took it back, I got my insulin and had a heck of a party with a German speaking family who were spending the day at the beach. Really all I understood, was that it was mistake of mistaken cooler, and they had their cold beer and two insulin syringes, instead of a ripe summer sausage. .
I had a heck of the day and upon departure, they insisted I take the remainder of the sausage as a token of our new friendship.
Of course after a day on a hot beach, I tossed the sausage, but still think of it whenever I see people eating those things.
rick phillips
That is too funny!
Jennifer,
Do you have any good beach stories, diabetic or not ?
I had gone for a few days to the beach in Guatemala where I was living. It was only a couple hours away, but I lived in the mountains where the weather was much cooler. It was off season and the beach town was nearly empty. I went to a restaurant right on the beach that was known for it’s homemade pasta. I rarely eat pasta anymore but decided sitting gazing at the ocean and eating homemade ravioli would be worth it and I would just bolus for it. I took my pen out to bolus and when I put the needle on it broke. I hadn’t put any extra needles in the frio. (I do now). It was a 15 minute walk each way in the heat to my hotel room and I’d already ordered. So I figured I’d just eat and then go back and correct for the huge high I anticipated. The ravioli was well worth it and when I strolled back to my room and tested I was still well in range. One hour later, two hours later and I was still fine. I never corrected and ended up bolusing very small amounts or nothing the rest of the visit including another wonderful oceanside meal of risotto which I can never eat now! I actually thought about moving to the beach for those great numbers and low insulin use…nah, I really hate hot weather!
No- not really - not yet anyway!
Does the river bank and fishing count? Not a ocean but a river?
Oh, I loved Guatemala when I visited, but I never got to see the beach - we were in the Peten the whole time. The one thing I remember most is the sign we saw, which was simply a picture of a King-Kong style gorilla wearing armaments and camo clothes in a red circle with a slash on it - “no guerrillas”! I really wanted to stop and take a picture of the sign but the leader of the group I was with was nervous that if someone from the military saw me do this, he’d assume we were communists and we’d be in grave danger of our lives (this was circa 1992). But, I sure loved the dark humor of that sign!
Funny thing - we were at the beach just this afternoon (Old Orchard Beach in Maine), but other than worrying about getting Eric’s pump wet when he proved far more enthused about playing in the waves than I expected, nothing to report in the way of funny beach stories.
i was tubing off a boat and kept my pump on… bad idea, my dad made a sharp turn and my pump flew off, and now it’s somewhere at the bottom of an ocean and it took some fighting to get a new pump!!
Thanks for that great image, Elizabeth! I truly miss Guatemala (which, in general is not known for its beaches, I was just longing to see the ocean).
Of course river stories count, so do fishing. Maybe I should have made this summer diabetic stories? heck even Jimmy Buffet, Tom Petty, or bad shorts stories count. Speaking of which I saw a young woman yesterday with shorts to tight, the seat had ripped out. She was walking thru the mall like it was perfectly normal. Heck maybe it is, I mean I doesnt everyone wear Poo underwaer at age 18or so? i know I went to buy some, now iof my pants woudl jsut rip!!
rick phillips
LOL! I guess we’re thinking “the old fashion way” but I do agree with that! LOL!
Here goes…Years ago when I first became a Type 1 my dad took me fishing at the local river here in TN and I had put my insulin in the cooler (now please remember this was just after I got diagnosed so the insulin bottles (yes put them in a seperate bowl with a top on it. No such thing as inslulated insulin carries at that time Heck we’re talking about 73! LOL) Anyway off we go to the river bank leaving my syringes in the car…I had decided (at 10 mind you) I could cast my own line would up “catching” mysel;f but anyway. When it came time to take my evening shot I looked in the cooler and there was no bowl there and of course no syringes. I ask my dad what had happened to them and looking like he had just killed the cat he said, “I took that out at the house b/c I thought it took up too much room in the cooler. I wandered what you were up to when you done that.” So needless to say instead of taking my required shot at 5 pm I would up taking it at 6:30 pm and when we went back to the truck I seen my needles and the notorice boel with the top on it in the hot car. Now I was on beef and pork insulin (the only kind at the time) and it had gotten SUPER hot so thank God my mom had more insulin in the frige at home! I guess you just had to be there and freaking out as a newly diagnosed diabetic with no insulin and those blassed clinitest kits! LOL!
oh i get it completely. I was 17 diagnosed three weeks earlier and if you can beleive this my parents let me go on a 35 day backpacking trip in New Mexico and Colorado. Anyway on day 16, we put up bear bags, for the night including my insulin. A bear climbed the tree jumped and ripped the bear bag spilling all the contents to the ground 15 feet below. .
The bear took the all the food and ran away. had he taken my insulin, or syringes, I was 4 days out of camp and woudl have kissed the sky. Some hikers gave us minimal food and luckily we got to a food supple camp in a day. Talk about dumb luck, these days the place i went have ahh more strict guidelines diabetics. Thank goodness.
rick phillips
I live right by the beach (I have to stand up on tip toes to be able to see it though lol) and yet I have no stories! I do love the beach for getting in my exercise though. There’s nothing as head-clearing & relaxing as a walk along the sand watching the waves - or even better, a gorgeous sunset 
now that is one expensive tube ride, I suspect you took the pump off after that ?
rick
About 8 years ago, was walking on the beach, shirt off, pump on. A little boy come up to me (he couldn’t have been more than 6 or 7), points to the infusion set on my abdomen, the tubing and the pump, and asks, "Hey Mr! What’s that thing!?"
I procede to explain to him, in 6 year-old-ese, that it is a special kind of computer that give me medicine all day long so that my body can use food the way his does al by itself.
Seeming satisfied with the answer, he goes running off to his dad a few feet away, tugs on dad’s swim trunks, turns around, points over at me, and declares, “DAD! That guy over there is a CYBORG!”
OMG I love that!!!
haha thanks for sharing that one! we go tubing in a lake near my house sometimes, and i never thought about my pump sinking to the bottom of the lake…
Cyborg, what a great description form a kid. DID you think of running toward him in a cyborg attack ?
LOL
rick
That would have been priceless!
The funniest thing was-He was exactly right! By definition, I pretty much am a cyborg!
LOL! Your right THANK GOODNESS!!!