Do not try this at home.

Yesterday morning, I had a severe low causing me to be a few minutes late for work.* Fortunately, I didn’t have any meetings scheduled and my boss is super awesome and understanding. While I was getting ready (before the low), I felt Jerry (my pump) buzz and realized I had less than 20 units of insulin left. He had probably buzzed during the night, but I didn’t hear or feel him. I made a mental note to grab the appropriate supplies so I could do a site change at work when necessary. I continued fixing my hair instead of collecting the supplies. About five minutes before I needed to walk out the door, I felt shaky and light-headed. I dismissed it at first because I run high after waking up and usually chase a 150 most of the morning. There was no way I could be low, I thought. I pulled my lunch out of the fridge, scooped up my cell phone and compact from the counter and threw it in my purse. Then I walked into my bedroom to grab my meter and CGM from my nightstand, where it had been all morning while getting ready.

I pushed the “OK” button on the off-chance it had picked up a transmission from the bathroom. No such luck. Instead, I got about 45 minutes of blankness. By now, the five minutes had passed and I needed to walk out the door. As I quickly pulled out my meter to test, I muttered something to the effect of “stupid diabetes” under my breath. Then I saw a lovely 47 pop up on my meter screen. “Well, crap” I said out loud. I grabbed my kit and CGM and threw them into my purse with an attitude and grabbed my cell phone. I texted my boss and went toward the kitchen in search of glucose tablets. I ate four and waited. I’m not a waiter. I over-correct and pay for it later. So I grabbed a Juicy Juice box, slurped it down and tried to wait some more. The longer I waited, the later I was going to be for work. I checked about 12 minutes later (I mean, 12 is sort of like 15, right?) 51. “C’mon diabetes” I muttered. I needed to leave, like now.

I grabbed a piece of bread and spread a scoop of peanut butter across it and devoured it (’cause the faster you eat, the faster your blood sugar will rise, right?) I waited about 10 minutes and checked again. 53. “Are you kidding me right now diabetes? I should be 120 with two arrows up by this point.” I grabbed a banana and scarfed it faster than I had the peanut butter-covered bread. I waited about 5 or 6 minutes this time before checking again. 71. “Finally,” I sighed. I grabbed my keys, my lunch and my purse and headed for the car.

By the time I made it to work, everything began to kick in. My CGM read 147 with a single arrow up. I grabbed my meter to program the correction when I was instantly reminded of the low insulin amount on board. “Today is not my diabetes day, that’s for sure,” I said. I programmed the dose leaving me about 3 units left in my pump. I was either going to have to improvise or skip lunch. I decided to improvise. Just as I was walking out of my office to meet my co-workers for lunch, Jerry started buzzing. I ducked into the bathroom and “improvised.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Do NOT try this at home. It was an extreme situation or this would have not happened. Please use this as a bad example, not a positive one.

I pulled out my pump and unscrewed the cap. I pulled out the reservoir and disconnected it from the tubing. Then I pulled back the plunger to about 30 or 40. I reconnected it to the tubing. I knew from priming, there were give-or-take 10 units in the tubing. I hit rewind and did a full pump reset and then reconnected my pump. All of that means I rigged my pump to continue to give me the insulin that remained in the tubing even though there was none left in the reservoir.

For lunch, I ate a piece of grilled chicken and a side salad with no-carb dressing. Bland? Yes. Requiring a lot of insulin? No. I dosed and returned to my desk. I managed to remain fairly level throughout the afternoon, but around 4:30 p.m., I began to slowly rise so I disconnected my pump. I figured I was no longer getting my hourly basal rate, and I certainly didn’t want to be pumping air into my leg. By the time I made it home, I was 225. My after-work plans were cancelled because I knew I had to put in a new site and I’d probably be combating highs the next couple of hours. Which I did. Not horrible highs, but I remained in the low 200s until around 7:30 p.m.

The lesson here? Pay attention to your diabetes. At all times.

But if you have diabetes you know that’s an impossible task. There are times where I forget about it. When I go to the bathroom, I forget my CGM. When I get out of the shower, I forget to reconnect my pump. When I wake up, I forget to carry my CGM to the bathroom with me. It happens because I am human. But had I paid a little closer attention yesterday, my entire day would have been different.

For starters, I would have avoided the low and not been late for work. Then, I would not have had to bolus for my over-correction of said low. Had that not happened, I wouldn’t have run out of insulin before lunch. Had that not happened, I would’ve been able to eat the lunch I brought instead of eating the Atkins Diet for lunch. And I wouldn’t have needed to cancel my dinner plans because of my stupidity. Do I feel guilty for all of this? Of course I do. I mean, what good is technology if you don’t use it (re: CGM on the nightstand and not in the bathroom). But I am human, and I make mistakes. Feeling guilty about my day yesterday is one of them. I cannot and should not feel guilty. Stuff happens, including low blood sugars. and people forget things, like keys and umbrellas and insulin. I’m lucky to work at a place where my employer is calm and understanding. Had a real emergency occurred, I could have left to return home for my insulin. Luckily, I improvised. And more than that, I got lucky in doing so. (I repeat: Do not try this at home).

*I do not drive if my blood sugar is below 65 mg/dL of have severe low symptoms. It’s a personal choice, but I think it’s an important one.