When I left for college, my mother worried about me, like most mothers do. She worried about whether I would go to church and choose the right friends. She worried whether I’d get up for class or hit snooze five times. (That never happened, I swear.) But my mother also worried about some things yours probably didn’t. My mother worried about whether I’d wake up.
When a diabetic’s blood sugar gets really low, they go into insulin shock, often resulting in a seizure. In my 18 years with diabetes, I’ve gone into insulin shock five times, but fortunately I’ve always been around other people when it happened. But if I were to have a seizure, and no one is around, I could die. I’m not exaggerating for dramatic effect; it’s a truth. It happens far too often in the diabetes community. It’s why my driver’s license says I’m a type 1 diabetic, and it’s why I wear a medic alert. It’s also why I try to have someone around if I’m low.
So if I go into insulin shock while sleeping, the risk of death is even higher because no one is around. For me, (your diabetes may vary), I don’t always wake up until I’m dangerously low. So wondering and worrying about whether I wake up each day was is a legitimate fear for my mother, as for anyone who loves someone with diabetes.
When I first got Ben, (what I named my continuous glucose monitor), my mother was probably most excited because Ben has an alarm that will beep if my blood sugar gets low. Which in return, makes my mother worry less. When my blood sugar drops to 80 mg/dL, Ben beeps and vibrates. But that beep and vibration on my nightstand doesn’t always wake me up. And meanwhile, Jerry, (what I named my insulin pump), is still giving me insulin causing my blood sugar to continue to drop. Dangerous doesn’t come close to describing it. Fatal and deadly come a little closer.
But wouldn’t it be amazing if Ben & Jerry could communicate with one another? If when my blood sugar is high, my CGM tells my pump and it gives me more insulin. Or even better, if I’m low, my CGM tells my pump and it suspends itself — cutting off the insulin flow. It works as its own Low Glucose Suspend system, or LGS. Currently, I have to suspend my pump manually. And if I’m sleeping through a low blood sugar, well, you see how that’s problematic.
Do you want to know the best part of the dream scenario for technology I just described? It’s out there, and it’s so close to being available to people like me. It’s called the Artificial Pancreas Project, or APP, and all those times I begged you for money for JDRF… well guess what? It worked. The APP is not a cure; it’s not even close. But it’s the best technology available and it could save my life one day.
Yesterday, I signed a petition to help move the LGS system and the APP along faster. I know once a year, I hound you for money and beg you to walk with me. But this is different. This is a signature, a name, a petition. So won’t you sign it?
Do you love me?
Is my life worth your signature?
If it is, please click the PROMISE button below.
Sincerely and from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Editor’s Note: This post was drafted in advance and scheduled to post today. In a twist of irony, the night before, I woke up around 1:30 a.m. with a blood sugar of 33 mg/dL. That is dangerously low, as I go into insulin shock in the 20s. My CGM was beeping when I woke up, and it had been beeping for some time according to my trend of blood sugars. I slept for more than an hour below the range of 50 mg/dL. I don’t know what about this particular alarm woke me up, but it did. As with instinct, I suspended my pump and unlocked my back door. I do this for middle-of-the-night lows in case something happens to me, someone can get inside. I grabbed a Capri Sun and drank it in one gulp, followed by peanut butter, crackers and milk. I tweeted my low so someone would know I was low. Someone tweeted back as they usually do. (Thanks Dana). It makes me feel safer knowing someone knows I’m low. Sometimes, I will call my mother, but I try not to wake her or worry her in the middle of the night. My blood sugar came back up and I am fine today, just with a slight low hangover — or hang-low-ver. So you see friends, this is not an exaggeration, but it is a reality. So please, sign this petition. (Updated 10/06/11 at 9 a.m.)
this is a great post to point people to who might not have first-hand experience with diabetes. thanks.
and thanks for the tip about leaving the door open during a low!