My friends got married in Washington, D.C. this weekend. My friends Erin and Ryan drove with me from Eastern Ohio/Western PA to DC on Saturday morning. I have learned, through trial and error to always be prepared. I never worry too much about what clothes and accessories I bring when I travel, but I triple check all my diabetes supplies and have enough back up. If I have all of these things and I know that I’ve triple checked, I can travel with much less on my mind.
For whatever reason I started off the drive in the mid 200s…gahhhh all I had had after waking up was coffee! Hormones/stress, could be both. It took a while to come back down and I over corrected. This was only the beginning and set me on my way…An hour or two later, I was low. At this point my paradigm is bleeeeeeping at me to calibrate, but my blood sugars have not been steady. “Boop beep boop METER BG” every half hour…I didn’t want to turn off the alarm, because I thought I’d be able to calibrate soon, but I was doomed…
We get to DC and have barely enough time to change in a grocery store bathroom before the wedding. I decide then just to turn off my sensor and forget it. I didn’t want it to bleeeeep all during the wedding ceremony. Especially it being stashed in my bra. Awkward. Then I go low mid wedding…My numbers have been pretty tightly controlled with the sensor and this has lead to pretty scary hypo unawareness. I don’t feel low at all until I am in the 40s. I sneak to the back of the church and slurp a juice box, trying to catch my breath. I feel much better and head to the reception.
Mistake #…? I’ve lost count… but it involves an amazing Italian buffet and me allowing myself to splurge since I’ve been eating so well for the past 5 months and never really allow myself to eat this kind of food. Manicotti, eggplant parmesan, italian sausage, bread, salad (with a sweet dressing…). And I ate it all. I think only God knew how many carbs I had just eaten, so I completely guessed and was in the mid 300s an hour or so later…and I felt like CRAP. I have not been this high in a long time and my body was feeling it. Great…I correct and loose track of time for a while, dancing, having fun. I thought more time had passed, but it was only an hour and checked again. Almost 400!! And I’m feeling even crappier. And panicy. And soooo mad at myself. My pump was pretty heated up being in my bra so close to my body so to be on the safe side I changed sites. And gave myself a shot with a syringe. And drink a whole pitcher of water while my friend Erin sat with me.
Roller coaster plunge: half an hour later I was just under 300. I knew this was dropping fast but I was too relieved to care. This extreme panic being met with extreme relive made me freak out again and start to cry. Erin had to help me calm down. And down and down and down did my blood sugar go. I hovered around 50 for at least 3 hours. No matter how much juice I drank, 20 minutes later I would stay about 50. More panic…and a blood sugar of 330 when I woke up the next morning.
My body hates me after this weekend, and finally a day later (Monday) I am home, with good blood sugars, and my new sensor, percolating away, getting ready for a calibration. And I have learned my lesson(s)
- Just DON’T over correct; be patient and my blood sugar WILL come down.
- Check my blood when my sensor isn’t on so I catch my lows.
- DON’T think I can eat a piled high plate of breaded veggies and cheesy, saucy pasta. Just have a little bit. Sheesh…
- Always have a good friend around who understands my diabetes and can help my through the panic and stress that comes with living with living every day with diabetes (I did follow this rule!)