Hello Renee:
Have YOU ever given your husband, a “diabetic vacation”?
It is a VERY intimate gift… whereby for 48-72 hour period, you do ALL the diabetes stuff for him as if he were a young child again. You do his tests for him. You do his dosing, injecting, anything and everything diabetic… you are his doctor, his intimate friend and do it FOR him.
Two rules, only AFTER the time is up can you discuss it. During it… nope. The sole exception you might need his help with doing his insulin math/calculation, and to confirm the doses you intend. Absolutely nothing beyond the math, until the third day begins and he “POOF” becomes a diabetic again…
Stuart
I wouldn’t let anyone else touch my “diabetic business” in a million years. That might be part of my problem with the “artificial pancreas” notion…
Hello Acid:
Let me get this straight… if your beautiful wife, wanted to give you a couple days off, from “being a diabetic” and she offered with no strings or hesitation of any type "… sure hon, I’ll do your tests, your injections, bolus, whatever it was she would happily do it for you because she wanted to give you a tiny little break… for just a short while…
You honestly saying you would not kiss her feet for the gift, and would NOT accept her incredible offer ?
Just checking…
Acid, I feel the same way. I don’t want anyone taking care of me & don’t trust anyone to do it. Think the AP is a phenomenal waste of money.
No way. I shared my eggs w/ her this AM b/c she got my goodie bag for the race tomorrow. It was actually a devious play on my part as she is much more of a shopper and bought me way cooler stuff than I would have bought for myself.
No touching the pump though. There is no way anyone else would be engaged with it the same way I am.
Totally agree. No one knows my body or my ‘stuff’ like I do. No one can look at the results from the bolus wizard and make the little instinctual tweaks I do. No one can… well, I could go on and on. No way.
I have to agree with Acid on this one. I am comfortable with, and accountable for, my own body. I know how things make me feel, I know how I respond, and I know that when I make a mistake, the first place I should look is in the mirror. I assume my wife can follow doctors’ orders and trust bolus wizards, but she can’t feel what I feel, and doesn’t have the “diabetic intuition” that I have.
After thirty years, I’m comfortable taking care of myself. After eleven years of my wife watching me do it, she would still second-guess every bolus and squirm at the sight of every insertion needle.
Besides, if I went 24 hours without seeing a measurement of what my BG is, I’d go absolutely insane.
I will definitely be checking out Dr. Berstein’s book as well as the R-ALA for the neuropathy.
I told hubby about this site… he doesn’t mind that I shared his story but hasn’t expressed an interest in joining. All in time, I suppose.
Interesting discussion about giving him a “diabetic vacation”. I help him with many things throughout the day dealing with his diabetes but I don’t think he’d want to be “out of touch” and not in the know. I think he feels guilty enough that he’s a “burden” to allow me to do that for him… and truthfully, I handle so much of everything else in our lives… it would be extremely difficult for me. He often apologizes for the added stress he feels he adds to our lives. My response is that we do what we have to do for the ones’ we love.
Hello Scott:
And you don’t consider that admission a SERIOUS problem (eg “that you would go insane”) ?!?!!
For real?
Hello Gerri:
That’s unfortunate… taking a break is very therapeutic and quite revealing
I used to be a compulsive tester, like every hour on-the-hour, before I got my CGM. I like knowing not just how I’m doing now, but it also helps me to determine what will happen in the hour(s) to come. Having that information isn’t burdensome, it’s empowering.
Hello jrtpup:
And again, I’ll suggest this “individual as a island” routine many of us do is problematic too. I offer perhaps even more so in most/many respects… ?
Hello Acid:
Wow… ok what the heck do you do when you are NOT capable of doing it prey tell? You are sick, have some type of surgery… emotionally NEED to have a break… what then man?
My diabetic peer I would implicitly trust to do this based solely on their intimate personal knowledge. If someone else wants to take the burden from me, for a time then here’s the stuff… and bless you!
I get a vacation 8: D
Stuart,
I don’t think it’s unfortunate at all. You don’t seem to want to accept that others feel differently than you do. I wouldn’t expect my husband to take over my D care & he wouldn’t know how to. I make dozens of daily D decisions that have become almost instinctual, as I’m sure others do. Having someone take my BG, count carbs (my husband does carb count when he makes dinner) & inject me wouldn’t be relaxing.
What does it “reveal” Stuart?
Stuart, I’m not an ‘island’. I have the DOC. What do you mean by perhaps even more so in most/many respects… ?
I had surgery to repair an umbilical hernia two days ago and, when I woke up the first thing I reached for was my pump/CGM so I could fiddle around with it but it was @ 92 and calibrating well as the nurse told me their BG which was close to that. Presurgery (jitters! eek!) had me up a bit so she got a 133 and raised her eyebrows but I had already corrected it as I figured surgery would be a boost.
I don’t get emotionally engaged with diabetes so I dont need an emotional break from it. I need an emotional break from the 12 year old, like when she goes to slumber parties!