It’s a quarter till, my shoe laces tied, gym bag packed,
ready for Zumba class, and I am wolfing down a Hershey’s candy bar as if it’s
my last meal. No, I’m not trying to give
myself an excuse to workout harder – having diabetes is a good enough excuse
for that. My blood sugar is a jittery 55 and I feel that at any moment I could
drop to the floor if I don’t eat something.
One of the first things I learned about blood sugar was that
food made it go up and exercise and insulin made it go down. I know it sounds simple, but keeping the
balance between up and down is tricky and often frustrating. Since I’m about to
exercise for over an hour, I know that I need food to get my blood sugar up to
a level comfortable enough for me to workout.
In a hurry to get to the gym and to get my blood sugar up, I consume the
entire candy bar so fast, I barely even taste it.
There is no other feeling like a hypoglycemic episode. When
I went to college and told my roommate that I had diabetes, I told her that sometimes
my blood sugar might drop, and that when it did, I might appear to be drunk or
just plain out-of-it. Typical low symptoms for me are shakiness, loss of focus
and concentration, extreme hunger, and that “I’m going to pass out” feeling.
This episode is no different. I feel like every bit of me is trembling, inside
and out. My body is telling me to eat something as my mind wanders elsewhere.
Although I have never passed out from a low, (knock on
wood), the fear of that happening never goes away. What if I passed out at the
gym? How would they know that I’m diabetic? I’d hope that they’d notice my
insulin pump. I’d hope that I remembered to wear my medical ID bracelet. How
would they know who to contact? I keep my emergency info in my gym bag but what
if they couldn’t find my bag in a room amongst everyone else’s? It’s hard to
think about all of these what if’s but like everything else in life, all I can
do is be prepared.
Before heading to the car, I throw out the Hershey’s wrapper
then check to make sure I have candy and my blood sugar meter in my gym bag. My
blood sugar has risen to a comfortable 132. My body feels steady again,
balanced and ready for my workout and whatever else lies ahead.
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