Major low BG number 1

This story took place in August 1987. Imagine if you will, a newly diagnosed type I diabetic 4 months after diagnosis, 13 years old, and attending summer band rehearsals for the first time. I was a big marching band geek, and it all started right after I was diagnosed. I attended a very small school in central Texas, and due to size needs they started you in the high school marching band in 8th grade. So here I was, 13, new diabetic, and rehearsing marching in the 105 degree Texas sun in the middle of August. I was concentrating very hard on getting everything right – the marching, holding the instrument properly, trying to remember the music, trying to actually play and march AT THE SAME TIME! The band director had been advising (read SCREAMING) at us about “Don’t lock your knees, if you lock your knees it’ll block blood flow from getting back out of your legs and you’ll pass out!” So here I am about 3 hours later, I’m standing at attention in block formation and then weird things start to happen – everything I’m hearing seems farther away than it should, I have a hard time concentrating, and then a black circle forms in my vision, and hole in the middle gets smaller, and smaller, and smaller, and then… WHAM. I remember feeling an impact on my back. The next thing I knew, I was being led off the field toward the nearby gymnasium, unaware of what was going on. The 12th grade girl leading me off was saying, “I’ll get you a Dr Pepper, you just sit down right here in the shade.” I did my BG with the monstrously large Accu-Check II, and it read LLL, which means it was below 20. Major low BG #1 was in the books! I got the DP in my and felt much better. It was the first experience that I can remember with a low BG, and it was a doozy. Even “better” ones were to follow…

Wow. That’s a bad one! I have had a few like that, but less often the older I have gotten. That feeling of everything being farther away than it should… I have had that feeling & I know that I need to be getting something to eat, but I can’t seem to make my body act. No fun! Let’s hope there are fewer of those in the future!

Yeah, they’re few and far between now, but back in the early days I had to learn the hard way.

Oh man! My little one has had a Low in the 30’s, but so far hasn’t passed out or had anything lower. That is scary!

It must be scary being the parent of a Type I. Lows will happen, you just have to prepare your little one on how to avoid them, but also how to deal with them when they happen. They rarely are as bad as the one I described here. Only 4 “biggies” in 20+ years, and the last one was in 1999.