Thanks David, The kids are doing great, thank God. Both girls went through an adjustment period, of course and see professionals, still. So far I feel, we have made progress. Joe has since then gotten on the pump but still suffers from w/ the hypoglycemic anawareness. He is currently on the list for a pancreas transplant (he had kidney transplant in 2005) - he has low blood sugar reactions so often, they have put him on disability for the last 2 months. It's never a dull moment....
Have you looked at something like the Guardian Real-time monitoring system? I wonder if that would be helpful for him?
Despite the helpfullness of the CGMs, I still have had a few lows sneak up on me. IAll I can say is, things happen, and how grateful I am for the help from others. As for the Guardian system, it does work well, when all is right... but the alarms are never quite loud enough. Today's world is full of noises and distractions which often interfere with a low alarm.
I work fulll time at an aiprot, and there are times I cannot hear the patron in front of me thanks to the intercoms int he airport. My 2nd job is in a fast food place. Yup alarms there , too. It gets pretty confusing, but at least with the CGMs, I have a better chance of catching those sneaky lows.
Miss Maggie
Joe previously used the CGM but it would slip right off halfway through the day. Since he has been put on disability due to his lows at work (he does Elevator Construction) we have gotten the Dexcom seven ... he was trained on it yesterday and right at the two hour mark to calibrate- it slipped off. We are determined to make it stick so we will try again tomorrow morning. Wish us luck!!
Veronica, that is the scariest incident involving a hypo I have ever heard. It seems almost a miracle that Joe and the girls were not hurt any more that they were. What is Joe doing now to try keeping this from happening again? I sure hope he gets the pancreas transplant. He should not have any more hypos after he recovers from that surgery.
There are some diabetics who have regained their ability to feel their hypos. It involves purposely running higher blood sugar for a period of time. Then when tighter control is used and lower blood sugar occurs, the hypos can be felt again. Has he tried this? He could ask his endocrinologist about it.
David, I used to have hallucinations during my worst hypos. It was so long ago I cannot remember what they were now, but your experiences sound very much like hallucinations. Other people I have met online have had hallucinations too. I hope you will have better control in the near future and fewer of these experiences.
After reading all these posts there is one thing that keeps running through my mind. I don't want anyone to take any offence at what I am going to say, but I feel it needs to be said.
So many hypos and their aftermaths could be prevented if testing is done at appropriate times, and something like glucose tablets is used. i NEVER go anywhere without my glucometer and my glucose tablets. I test 20-30 minutes before driving and eat something if needed. I want my BG to be in the hgh 90's or greater before driving. While I am out shopping, at a movie, etc I test every hour. When I am about to drive again, I test just like I did before leaving my house. When I am in bed my glucometer and glucose is on a table by my bed. I can reach out and test and eat even without getting out of bed. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of care.
You might ask why I wasn't careful before driving and having my auto accident in 1957. There was no blood testing back then. I'm not sure, but there may not have been any convenient urine testing that year either. I may still have been using the test tubes and testing my urine that way. I had to depend totally on the way I felt when I was not at home. I was so tired that evening and did not know it was the beginning stages of a hypo before getting in my car. I suppose I should have eaten something, just in case. If I could go back in time I would certainly do that now.
Reading through this thread made me remember a low that I hadn't thought about it years!
At the end of 6th grade, one of my classmates held an end-of-the-school-year party at her house, and she had a pool. I don't remember much from the party, except for a couple of things. One, I remember trading friendship bracelets (anyone remember those?), and I do remember having a low at the party before I had even gotten in the pool. I was sitting on the side of the pool and drinking juice... and one of the "mean boys" (they teased and harrassed me constantly) grabbed my towel and threw it in the pool. Obviously, in the state of mind I was in, the only logical thing to do was to immediately jump in and retrieve it - because of course, the sooner I retrieved it, the less wet it would get. So, I dived in and got it from the bottom of the deep end, while low. That could have ended so badly - but as it was, it just ended with a wet towel.
[quote user="Richard Vaughn"]
So many hypos and their aftermaths could be prevented if testing is done at appropriate times, and something like glucose tablets is used. i NEVER go anywhere without my glucometer and my glucose tablets.
[/quote]Richard, my husband and I were just talking about this last night because my sister-in-law (type 2) has recently had several low experiences, all of which she resolves by driving to the nearest fast food joint for a soda - which beggs the question, why the heck doesn't she carry something with her? And if she chooses not to carry something with her, and has an accident, isn't she responsible?
Since Sarah was diagnosed five months ago she's taken on a lot of new responsibilities. One of those is making sure she's always prepared. She carries a small purse now which contains her testing kit, glucagon, insulin pen and needles, and a can of apple juice. Before we leave the house we always go through and make sure her purse is complete, and I have plenty of extra juices. We also have a back-up plan (in case she uses the apple juice or it otherwise goes missing), which is a small tube of frosting which fits in the side pocket of her test kit. In addition to that, I keep a back-up test kit and an apple juice in my own purse, just in case. Maybe we're overdoing it, but I really wanted to impress upon her the importance of being prepared because I can't be with her 100% of the time and I seriously don't want a call telling me the paramedics had to revive her when it all could have been prevented with a can of juice.
Michelle, you are being a wonderful mother to Sarah. I don't think that is being overprepared at all. My wife carries an extra meter amd tube of glucose tabs in her purse whenever we are out and about. It is her security blanket. I appreciate her doing that.
After eating lunch one day, I decided to take a half hour walk down our rural road and a little along a highway and back. Since I had just eaten, I thought I would be okay without putting any glucose tabs in my pocket. I felt fine until on they way back when I was going to get off along the highway and back onto our town road. A car had pulled over and someone asked if I was okay thinking I was drunk. I said that I was diabetic and that I was fine, so they left. As I was walking I was getting stumbly and blurred vision and worried because I had no sugar on me. Probably a half an hour past where I would walk a little and stumble and fall into the ditch. There ended up being 4 different areas where I could see the weeds flattened because that is where I layed. No vehicles passed me at this time. Eventually I saw down the road that the neighbor lady had gotten home and was getting her mail. I focused on that and eventually made it to the barn where I knew I had some glucose tabs. A little later a feed salesman came and I was just trying to talk like nothing had just happened and as my vision got less blurry. I was glad to make it back to the safety of my house after that and I have never been without a supply of sugar on me since. It was something to take walks the next few days and see the weeds and to think oh my.
Another time I had driven 2 hours to my parents house and after visiting just before lunch time I was going to go to a friends house 10 min. away in town. I remember saying goodbye and that but later on couldn't remember where I had parked. I was going to get something to eat at a small town grocery store, in my hometown, before going to my friend's house. I believe I was trying to check my sugar when I must of passed out for my first and only time that that has happened. I had my 14 month old son in the backseat and because he must of been crying someone noticed that I must of been sleeping or in trouble. I woke up in the ER after an ambulance ride and then was fine. Called my friend and she watched my son after a police officer had been watching him until I got released. I was told my car was at the grocery store or else I wouldn't have known. When I got back to my car I could see my meter on the floor and also the medical lancets in the car from the EMTs. Just thankful I didn't pass out on the road and that someone was alerted by my son since it was in the summer with the car windows up.
Cheryl, I sure am glad you always have your meter and sugar with you now. That can be a life saver!!!