In the DOC, we often talk about real-people sick. Getting sick for anyone is pretty awful, but diabetes can heighten any illness bringing a whole host of additional issues. Wednesday night, I tweeted before bed about how excited I was for Thursday. I had plans to hike Mt. Le Conte in the Smoky Mountains — a trail I’ve wanted to hike for years, but never had anyone to hike it with me. While visiting home, I decided I would hike it by myself. Why not? I mean, if i can plan a trip to France alone, I can certainly hike 11 miles by myself. The weather forecast was perfect and a park ranger said the trail would be crowded Thursday so I shouldn’t have any trouble.
But around 3 a.m. Thursday, my plans changed. I woke up with a weird feeling in my stomach, and I walked to the bathroom where I immediately got sick. I hoped it was a fluke, but about 10 minutes later, I realized it wasn’t. A stomach bug has been making its way through my family, with my niece and sister-in-law only getting sick once and my brother for about half a day. For the next 12 hours, my parents brought me juice, water, saltines and tried to make me as comfortable as possible. I couldn’t even keep water down. I don’t know that I’ve been that sick in all my life. I’ll spare you the details, but it was pretty bad.
I lowered my basal rate and managed to keep my blood sugar below 200 most of the time I was sick. This not being our first rodeo, mom and dad were concerned with my getting dehydrated. I had a low-grade fever and trace ketones. My dad called my endocrinologist as soon as the office opened. Unfortunately, it took them till 1 p.m. to call me back. They called in a Zofran prescription and said if I still couldn’t keep anything down, head to the ER for an IV… exactly what we were hoping to avoid.
By 3 p.m., I was walking around again. I didn’t have any strength, and my mom followed me around the house with a bottle of Lysol and Purell, but I was back among the living. I think it was quite possibly the worst 12 hours of my life. I’m not sure what I would’ve done had I been at my apartment alone. I couldn’t walk, could barely move and had to have a trash can next to me at all times. My parents were fantastic and even walked and fed my dogs.
So while I’m terribly sad about missing my hike, I have to think God was protecting me from something. I probably won’t make my Nashville weekend trip, which sucks. I had great plans with old friends and was even hopeful to meet a new friend. I guess my plans will have to wait for another weekend. 🙁 But if we’re looking at silver linings here, I have a great 12-hour diet that guarantees about 10 pounds lost. 😉
Gah! I am so glad you are okay. Being sick like that is super scary. Something similar happened to me a few years ago, except I was alone in my apartment and ended up fainting (only time in my life I’ve ever done that), and landing on a side table in my living room. It hurt just a little bit. 🙂
I am really glad you were at home. And the fact that your parents (I’m guess it was your dad) took care of those dogs… that is really impressive!
Sorry to hear about your real-person sick encounter. Was just there myself, and resisted and thankfully avoided the ER after a day of not being able to keep anything down. That type of thing is absolutely no fun. Glad you parents were there to help. Hopefully, you get to make that hike before long, though.
Dang Vic! That sucks – I’m sorry. Being sick is the worst.
You totally rocked your blood sugars though! You go girl! 🙂