The devastating earthquakes in Haiti have made me think about my own disaster preparedness lately, and I have to admit, I’m coming up a little short. I’ve got back-up test strips and pumping supplies here at my work, but no actual back-up meter. Bad Lexie.
I’ve got an awesome dia-buddy one floor up who keeps a spare bottle of insulin in a private fridge here at the office (she has to use her boss’s fridge because our company fridges are fully cleaned out every last Friday of the month). It’s great to know that’s there as a back-up, but it wouldn’t be helpful if I became trapped at my desk for any length of time. My purse is never far away from my seat though, so I would hope that my normal stash of insulin and testing kit would be just a reach away in the event I was stuck in one spot for an extended period of time.
Is that enough though? Does anyone have suggestions for how to be truly prepared? Are there guidelines listed anywhere? How are people dealing with refrigeration issues at work or other places they keep back-ups? Do you want me to ask more questions? No? Ok.
Also, my medic alert bracelet just recently broke and I’ve got to find some time and money to get a good, sturdy bracelet that reflects my current information. I know I’m directly asking for it from good ole’ Murphy’s Law by not wearing one right now, but the strong ones are expensive! I went the cheap route with the last one, and well, it performed cheaply as well.
I’m not totally unprepared though – I recently took one awesome proactive step, and that was to get a glucagon kit to keep at my boyfriend’s house. I’m there enough that there’s no excuse to not have one available, and I feel better knowing it’s handy at his place. Lord knows that poor man has brought me enough glasses of juice and GU packs to have his own glucagon set (bless him).
Other than that though, I could be doing a better job of being prepared, even when it comes to the small things like keeping glucose tablets or GU everywhere, because lows pop up in unexpected and inconvenient places. My trouble is re-stashing once I use the current supply. I just need to add that to page 3,426 of the diabetes “remember to” list…..
Last Saturday I had the pleasure of seeing the documentary “The Science of Inspiration,” about people with diabetes training for the ultimate test of physical fitness: a full triathlon. For anyone that doesn’t know, 
Don’t do it Blood Sugar, don’t do it. Come on, let’s be rational here, you were at just 108mg/dL 30 minutes ago, trending downward. How did you get here? 178mg/dL? And rising?!? C’mon man, that ain’t right! All I had was 18 measly carbs, and now this? You were on your way to a low and I helped you out, and this is what I get in return? Trending upward? In the middle of kickboxing? Come on! I’m begging you here. Just calm down – this isn’t worth it! I’m already working out, I promise you, if you just stop there, I’ll work harder. I hit those sprints so fast you’ll have no choice but to level out. Just slow down and relax here. There’s no need to hit 200mg/dL – that’s the one that makes my CGM buzz and holler “HIGH.” It hurts when that happens. Makes me feel like a failure. Especially when you were fine just a few short minutes ago. What happened? How did you get this upset? I had to have a snack to make sure you didn’t get low, and now we’re here? I didn’t even turn my basal down! I just don’t understand what you want from me. I begging you, don’t do it. Don’t hit 200mg/dL.
