You know you're married to a diabetic when

General
1

So I was reading Emily's forum and all the response and I showed it to my wife.  She had some of her own, but from her perspective.  So here is her list.  Remember: she is not diabetic and she begs that nobody takes offense to any of it; it's all in good fun.

You know you’re married to a type 1 diabetic when…

 

-          When your food arrives in a restaurant, you automatically sit back and wait to begin while your spouse takes their insulin.

-          You have become an extremely light sleeper.

-          When cooking meals, you let your spouse know the food is almost ready by announcing “Time to shoot up.”

-          You carry your husband’s glucagon  kit and glucose gel in your purse.

-          Your car has glucose tabs in the glove compartment and you are always checking to make sure the container is full.

-          You have at some point tested your spouse’s blood sugar while they were sleeping, low or drunk.

-          You can tell your spouse is crashing before they even know just by the slightest change in their complexion.

-          You have your spouse’s primary doctor, endocrinologist, gastroenterologist and other assorted specialists on speed dial.

-          The beep of the sensor can wake you from a dead sleep and have you on your feet in less than 3 seconds.

-          Your cat has been caught playing with a test strip they found in the garbage.

-          There is an entire section of the bathroom sink and medicine cabinet reserved for diabetic supplies that you know not to touch.

-          You have stared down a complete stranger who was looking oddly at your spouse while they injected in public.

-          You ask your spouse “are you low” during arguments, while working out, after sex and every time they look dizzy or tired.

-          You know you have lost any argument once the “I think I’m low” card is played on you.

-          You feel guilty if you want a sweet or carby snack when your spouse is high and cannot join you. You usually wind up forgoing it.

-          When you get up to go to the bathroom at night, you quietly check your spouse’s sensor.

-          You have woken your spouse in the middle of the night because they were sweating or looked pale.

-          You have frequently wished you could have the disease instead of them.

-          You know the horror of being in a situation far from people, without any bolus and your spouse says “I don’t feel right.”

-          Alcohol pads are a common grocery list item and you don’t get why they have to be a certain brand.

-          You blame yourself for every rise in A1C.

-          If your spouse is thirsty or goes to the bathroom more than you think they should, you nag them to test immediately.

-          You have made your spouse test your blood sugar, only to get the dirty look when the test shows 85 every time.

-          You have emergency M&Ms by the bed for when your spouse wakes up low.

-          After years of marriage, you still feel bad every time you see your spouse inject themselves.

-          You are oddly protective of your spouse’s feet.

 

2

you admire their strenght in dealing with d and never letting it hold them back !

3

Hmm ... my husband is pretty helpful and knowledgeable about D, but he doesn't seem as concerned as your wife. Maybe it's a male/female thing? I'll be sure to show him your post during our next argument to make him feel guilty. "You never check on me in the night or notice if I'm pale!" No, I'm kidding. I'm sure he's more concerned than he tells me. He cancelled a major work event in Pakistan while I was 1 month pregnant b/c he was afraid of the unpredictable lows I was having and didn't want to leave me alone. I thought that was sweet. (: He does wait for me to inject before eating too. BUT, he is NOT a fan of the CGM beeping and waking him up in the night, a major reason I never use it anymore, neither of us were getting sleep with all the various alarms. 

4

It definately alot of work on both ends! Great Post!

5

You know, I just had a conversation this morning with my significant other. He said one of his worst fears was coming home from work and finding me in DKA or in a reaction. I had a terrible time for a bit where I was forced by COBRA (they upped my copay and deductible to $1000, and I was on my own) to go back to N and R from an insulin pump.

I went into seizures about every other day. It was awful. My significant other easily saved my life around ten times over the years. I sometimes feel terrible about the stress I have put him through with being T1, and this morning was like that. It's wonderful to be loved by someone and to be cared about, but it is not wonderful to feel as though that someone is feeling pain because of you.

I guess it can't be helped sometimes. I liked the list, though. I think I would add a few lol...but really my SO should be the one to add to this list. He's definitely an expert.

We have code questions, where it is a sensitive way of asking me when I am low to check my blood sugar...he says, "When's the last time you checked?" I then respond, "So what you are saying is that I look deranged right now, huh?" He laughs, and then I check. And I hate to admit it, but I do give him a look when my bg is just fine. I growl, too.

At least he knows me well enough to laugh.

6

Crochet Nut:
My husband and I finally came to an understanding that if he thought something was wrong and he wanted me to check by BG, he'd just say "check your blood sugar."  And I'd have to comply.  9.5 times out of 10 he was always right...that I was too low and acting kooky.  Most times I'd swear that he was insane (while it was happening), but he always proved me wrong, so I finally gave in.

And luckily, now I have a CGM so he can just go look at it himself....he never even has to ask me what it is anymore.  It's perfect. 

7

Wow...a CGM...I had an early version on my wrist for a while...He'd keep looking at it (lol...). That's definitely a selling point on CGM. I could just show my significant other my CGM. Some day...  :-)

There's a running joke in our house...it goes like this:

What does a type 1 diabetic say that let's you know he or she is low?

Answer: I'M NOT LOW!

lol...I remember one time I thought I was a cat during an insulin reaction...and the sad thing is that my walking around on all fours and meowing was NOT the thing that made my SO finally conclude that I might need some assistance. He thought I had read something about a new way to communicate with cats and was experimenting...

It was when I fished the toy mice out of the drawer in the kitchen...only THEN did he decide that I might not be in the right state of mind. No...I'm not eccentric....not at all.

Ah, well.

 

8

[quote user="Casey Creutz"]

-          You can tell your spouse is crashing before they even know just by the slightest change in their complexion.

 

[/quote]

This is interesting. My husband can touch me and tell if my sugar is high or low before I know, but not in between. He might touch my arm and say "you feel electric" and I will check my sugar and sure enough it is low. Same with highs as well.

 

9

You are very fortunate to have someone that is so aware and so involved in your care.  I read this list to my significant other and he didn't get it at all.  After being with him for 5 years he has no idea even what an A1C is let alone notice the difference in my complexion.  He's a deep sleeper so my alarm would never wake him up.  I suppose that's why I have a dog. 

10

Wow Jaco1199:  That's alarming, to say the least.  Speaking as someone who's had both (a supportive and non-supportive partner), the former is definitely the way to go.  It's nice to have someone that you can talk about T1 issues with, or to celebrate great A1Cs, without getting a blank stare in return.

11

I agree having a spouse/partner that is informed and supportive about T1 is very helpful. I often pass out without any warning from low blood sugars and I don't how I would have survived this long without him. My husband and I have been together since high school, I never dated anyone else seriously, so I have been very fortunate never to have experienced a non supportive partner.

12

Thanks Casey for this list.  I will show this to my wife when she comes home from work today.

Tomorrow is our 32nd anniversary and 31 of those years she has been helping me live with this disease.  A good title for this list is "Everything You Wanted to Know about a Juvenile(!) but Were Afraid to Ask."

Rich

13

Kristen-

That's funny because that's exactly what I get - a blank stare - should I say anything regarding my diabetes.  I never really thought anything of it maybe because my father is T1, my brother-in-law is T1 and I have a good friend that is T1.  Although they aren't there if something would happen in the middle of the night, etc...  But for general support - they're there for me.  Also, it's been a long time since I have had such a severe low that I couldn't get myself out of so he's never had to help me.  I also have no diabetic complications so really he doesn't have a clue of even the potential damage that diabetes can do.  

But I do agree that the ideal situation would be to have a partner that can be supportive. 

jaco

14

That's funny - I remember when I was very young my father thought he was a monkey or gorilla.  My mom had to call all the troops over (family members) to help because his strength doubles when he's low. All the men, my uncles, grandfather, etc.  couldn't get him under control enough to give him a shot of glucagon.  So my frustrated grandmother just went into the frig and threw a keylime pie in his face.  He literally started to eat it like a monkey.  He made a major mess but you got to do what you got to do. 

I don't think you're eccentric. I think your SO is eccentric to even think this would be normal behavior.  

15

whoa...you guys think you're other animals when you get low?? sorry not trying to be offensive...but is that....normal??

16

[quote user="Batts"]

whoa...you guys think you're other animals when you get low?? sorry not trying to be offensive...but is that....normal??

[/quote]

This has never happened to me, however the other morning I woke up around 40 and thought I was a computer!

My wife is kindof in the middle.  She knows how to determine and bail me out when low or when I need to eat or when I should have a snack etc.  However she doesn't know the ins and outs that well.  Part of this is probably my fault for not talking about it.  She definitely does not get that it's not just a mathematical thing where the same dose and roughly same amount of food per day will equal good results.  When I have a few lows in successive days or something she thinks I'm doing something wrong.  But you know, she's always right, so I usually don't argue the point.  As someone else on here, I think it was Gina, said, you have to pick your battles!

 

17

[quote user="DDrumminMan"]

[quote user="Batts"]

whoa...you guys think you're other animals when you get low?? sorry not trying to be offensive...but is that....normal??

[/quote]

This has never happened to me, however the other morning I woke up around 40 and thought I was a computer!

My wife is kindof in the middle.  She knows how to determine and bail me out when low or when I need to eat or when I should have a snack etc.  However she doesn't know the ins and outs that well.  Part of this is probably my fault for not talking about it.  She definitely does not get that it's not just a mathematical thing where the same dose and roughly same amount of food per day will equal good results.  When I have a few lows in successive days or something she thinks I'm doing something wrong.  But you know, she's always right, so I usually don't argue the point.  As someone else on here, I think it was Gina, said, you have to pick your battles!

 

[/quote]

i dont think i've ever thought i was something else when low..i've gotten myself confused and thought i was somewhere else like woke up in the middle of the night and thought i was at work because i had been dreaming about work..but that's the closest!

 

18

[quote user="Batts"]

[quote user="DDrumminMan"]

[quote user="Batts"]

whoa...you guys think you're other animals when you get low?? sorry not trying to be offensive...but is that....normal??

[/quote]

This has never happened to me, however the other morning I woke up around 40 and thought I was a computer!

My wife is kindof in the middle.  She knows how to determine and bail me out when low or when I need to eat or when I should have a snack etc.  However she doesn't know the ins and outs that well.  Part of this is probably my fault for not talking about it.  She definitely does not get that it's not just a mathematical thing where the same dose and roughly same amount of food per day will equal good results.  When I have a few lows in successive days or something she thinks I'm doing something wrong.  But you know, she's always right, so I usually don't argue the point.  As someone else on here, I think it was Gina, said, you have to pick your battles!

 

[/quote]

i dont think i've ever thought i was something else when low..i've gotten myself confused and thought i was somewhere else like woke up in the middle of the night and thought i was at work because i had been dreaming about work..but that's the closest!

 

[/quote]

I have thought I was objects, and other beings when low as well. I have also not remembered where I was, and I have insisted that I had to be somewhere.

 

19

I thought my mother was a big blue dragon when I had a huge insulin reaction when I was around seven years old. I saw flames coming out of her mouth. In terms of my SO, well, he's not exactly normal, but then again, he could never tolerate my presence if he was. I'm not going to even attempt to explain the whole cat phenomenon except to say that I have observed that my dog was raised by the litter of cats (all spayed and neutered now) and thinks she is a cat, complete with similar stalking/pouncing maneuvers and paw usage. She still romps very gently with them although she is now fifty four pounds. She lets them chase her tail. They chase her. She chases them. When she barks, the litter mates do, too...although it's more like a chirp.

And it is not out of the range of normal behavior for me to be silly...on occasion, in home headquarters. I will not go further. Let's just say that one of my wilder dreams is to some day have my own cartoon show where I can finally, and with abandon, utilize the collection of strange cartoon voices and impressions that I have, er, cultivated over the years.

Not all insulin reactions are like this for me, but I have thought I was a cat, yes. And I have hallucinated. I hope no one comes on here and tells me that this is yet another foreboding sign of T1 diabetic doom. I've had horrible low/seizure dreams as well. I'm sure I'm not the only one. My SO is like the others mentioned...he can tell by looking at me in the eyes...as can the cats.

Happy Vegan et al, here's to all the SO's and wildlife, the cats and dogs, the human family...mothers and fathers and grandparents, etc. who have saved our lives, or sustained hopes, time and time again. I think they have to have a little touch of craziness in them to be able to read the lows and spikes...that's my theory. Here's to the wonderful capacity, not always realized, but when it is...of compassion. And I am not apologizing for a long post. No one is forced to read.

 

20

Oh, and DDrumminMan, there's a simple solution to that situation...

CTRL + ALT + DEL   [I sincerely hope that I have not offended you. I offer this ridiculous solution in the spirit of laughing in the face of insulin reactions everywhere...be they ever so strange and frightening.]

I will now say MEOW. That makes us even, I hope. I do wonder where these realities come from. I know my low dreams of melting roller coasters with oblivion beyond were happening at some point during seizures where I was being pulled out by glucagon and not responding quickly. I think it was symbolic.