Post D - Diabetes Can Be Rough. Thanks to the Sheriff's Police and BKFD.

Katie Says -   

I originally started writing this blog thinking that I didn't really want anything personal to creep in. I planned on it being only about political issues and figured Rob and I could leave our lives at the door. I have since realized that is impossible and something happened last week that I have felt the need to share.

Rob is a Type 1 diabetic. This means his pancreas does not work. It will never work (unless there is a miracle of modern science). He is dependent on insulin that he injects to keep him alive. He has to take a shot in the morning and one after each meal. Occasionally he takes too much insulin, or doesn't eat as much as thought he would, or metabolizes his food too quickly because of over exertion and he will get a low blood sugar. This can be incredibly dangerous.

Most of the time I can catch it early enough to avoid any serious consequences. He eats a cookie or drinks a Gatorade and he is fine. On rare occasions he won't listen to me or I won't notice until it is too late and we end up having to call the ambulance. It doesn't happen very often and hadn't happened in about three years.

Last Thursday was one of those ambulance occasions. It was a perfect storm. He recently started seeing a new doctor who increased his insulin and his needle had malfunctioned at lunch. We were driving home from work and he started to get low. I asked him repeatedly to pull over, but he was not in his right mind and he felt fine so he didn't listen. Thankfully we got to the stop light at 126 and 71 and I was able to get the car in park and convince him to slide over so I could drive.

That was when the seizures started. That is a common symptom when Rob's blood sugar gets dangerously low. I had already called 911 at that point and was just waiting for them to respond.

So here I was, parked on the side of the road, watching my husband have seizures, and there was absolutely nothing I could do. We had nothing with sugar in the car and honestly at that point he wouldn't have been able to swallow anyway. Normally we have something, but this time the stars aligned and we hadn't made it to the store and we were up a creek.

Thankfully our emergency medical staff is wonderful. They took control and saved my husband's life. They were also friendly and sympathetic and kept us laughing and calm. It was as positive an experience as possible.

Diabetes is such a terrible condition. People think that because it is managed with insulin it is cured. That is not the case. The best managed diabetics will still have long term complications. They can lose limbs, develop circulatory and heart diseases, lose their eyesight and develop many more conditions. I hope that some of you would consider donating to the cause or even joining our walk team.

Donations: https://secure3.convio.net/jdrf3/site/Donation2?idb=1556062067&df_id=1500&FR_ID=1409&PROXY_ID=14664&1500.donation=form1&PROXY_TYPE=22

Join the team: http://www2.jdrf.org/site/TR?team_id=14664&pg=team&fr_id=1409

Rob Says -   

I just want to say thanks to the , and the personnel who responded to the 911 call. The remarkable thing about having the diabetic seizure I had is that my mind stayed sharp. I was completely aware of what was happening, but my faculties for controlling any muscle in my body were completely compromised. Any subtle movement I might try to make, like rotating my wrist, became an amplified lurch of everything else.   

Within a minute of Katie getting off the phone with 911, they were calling back to verify our location and seconds later, a Kendall County Sheriff's squad care was on site. Of course he was drinking a zero-sugar beverage and didn't have anything with him. But he talked to me and Katie and assured us we'd be okay, that help was coming, no big deal.  

The BKFD fire engine was next on the scene, and they had the most awful tasting glucose gel for me to take down, but that burst of sugar only needed a minute or 2 to begin to restore me to control of my own movements. When the ambulance arrived, I was able to walk myself over and get in. A huge improvement from just minutes earlier.   

The medics ran an IV, checked my sugar levels a few times, and about 30 minutes after Katie dialed 911, we were back in the car on our way home. Katie drove.   

The responders were all great. Real pros. The most reassuring thing in the world in that situation was the calm and matter-of-fact manner of these guys and gals. Katie is obviously my hero, because she's always tuned in to my diabetes, and has an incredible sense of when things are beginning to get out of whack. But the BKFD and sheriff's police swooped in like it was nothing, and I went home and had dinner.   

I only remember the names Eric, and Sullivan. But that was 2 people, not Eric Sullivan. In any case my thanks to those two, the girl, the guy, the other girl, and the other two or three guys standing by advising and talking us through it. You guys may forget this ordeal, but I'll always remember.   

Diabetes is pronounced "die-uh-beet-ease," and Wilford Brimley says it incorrectly. There are 3 kinds of diabetes. Type 1, which Rob has, means zero pancreatic function, and injections of insulin are the only way sugars from digestion can reach organ tissues. Type 2 diabetes is far more common, but the pancreas is alive, and mis-functioning, usually producing too little insulin. This is the "diet and exercise" diabetes, though oral medications, inhalers, and regular testing of bloodsugars are usually just as critical to managing the condition as it is with Type 1.   

The third type is one which many of our women readers may be familiar with. Gestational diabetes afflicts women during pregnancy, and is punctuated by elevated blood sugars. This is non-life-threatening, though an expectant mother may experience the nausea, fatigue, and nearly unquenchable thirst all diabetics experience with elevated blood-sugars.   

It's a living nightmare.