Sick Day Plan . . .

Having a Sick Day Plan in place is one of the D-Shoulds for me.  You know, that list of things I’ve been told ALL PEOPLE WITH DIABETES SHOULD but somehow I kind of don’t always.  You know, things like change my lancet before each finger-stick (hahahahaha), never walk around without shoes on (hmmmm), don’t treat off my CGM (right) and always always wear medical I.d.  (even just around the house?).  And always have a Sick Day Plan in place.

Errr, well.  The thing is, I get a lot of colds.  A lot.  If someone even looks at me, I swear their cold germs rush over and take root in my system.  It’s been like this ever since I can remember and I just deal.  But I hardly hardly ever get a stomach virus.  Almost never!!  But yesterday was a different story.

When Pete’s alarm went off yesterday and I couldn’t drag myself out of bed, I just figured I was tired.  I let myself sleep ( a perk of freelance / unemployment) and at 9 I finally got up and made some coffee.  But when the coffee didn’t stay down, I realized what was gong on.  And I thought about my Sick Day Plan.  Or actually,  my lack of one.

Luckily, I feel like I do know the basics through my interactions with the DOC.  I knew to check for ketones (negative, yay!), keep a  close eye on  my blood sugars (70s - 130, yay!) and stay hydrated.  By mid-morning I was able to keep down crackers and diet soda.  I didn’t bolus for the crackers until I knew they would stay.  And I had glucagon ready just in case things with my blood sugar went south.  All in all, I’d say I did okay.

But still, I think I should probably add a Sick Day Plan to the list of things to talk over at my next endo appointment.  Right?  Do you have a formal Sick Day Plan in place?  And if so, what does it include?

Push Through or Give In . . .

I believe one of the things diabetes has taught me over the years is when I should push through and when I should give in.  For example, there are some low blood sugars that I’m able to treat and just keep on with what I’m doing.  And there are some that make me give in and sit down for 10 (or 15 or 20) minutes while my blood sugar recovers and I’m able to get back to living life.  High blood sugars are similar - sometimes I can just bolus my correction and get on with things while the insulin works it’s magic.  Other times, I need to stop and check for ketones, have some water and re-check often to be sure the insulin is doing what it’s supposed to.  Judging whether I’m in a Give In or Push Through situation isn’t always easy, but usually I know which is the right thing to do.  (Even if I don’t like it and don’t want to admit it.)

The skill of knowing when to push through and when to give in is something I can (and should) carry over into my non-diabetes life as well.  In fact, today is the perfect case in point.  I woke up this morning feeling a little tired but that’s not all that unusual when you have a husband who snores and a cat who likes to sleep on one of your knees.  (She may be less than 10 pounds, but it feels like a ton when she’s resting it all on one of my knees.)  As I drank my much needed coffee the sneezing began.  And it didn’t let up.  I’m literally stopping every 20 seconds to reach for more tissues and my nose is turning a festive red.  “It’s okay” I thought “I can still push through.”.  Then my throat began hurting.  And my eyes were begging for a nap.  And some chills and aches crept in.  And I’ve decided today is not a day to push through.

I think that without diabetes, I’d probably force myself through the day.  And I’d probably do a crappy job on everything because I’m not feeling well.  Instead, I’m smart enough to realize it’s time to give in.  I’m going to close the lid on my laptop, brew a cup of tea with honey, and curl up on the couch with a blanket, my cat and Netflix.  And everything else?  I can deal with that all tomorrow.  Because in the words of my favorite heroine . . .

“After all, tomorrow is another day.”

(In fact, the heck with Netflix, today might be the perfect day to pop on my Gone with the Wind DVD again!)

Thank You, Flu Shot . . .

Given the news that this year’s flu shot has been less than effective, you might think I wrote this post title with a heavy dose of sarcasm.  That could not be farther from the truth.

I’ll let you in on a little secret.  Until this year, I never bothered to get a flu shot.  I’m not against them or anything.  I guess I just never got around to it.  And I get lots of colds but hadn’t had the flu in forever.  But this year, I happened to remember to ask about a flu shot at my September endo appointment.  Honestly, both my doctor and the nurse were shocked that I never had a flu shot.  “Never?”  “Never.”  “Never ever??”  “Yes.”  And with that,  my first flu shot was administered.  I felt cruddy the rest of the day.  My arm ached for longer than I expected.  And then reports came in that this year’s round of flu shots wouldn’t protect against newly mutated strains of the flu.  I rolled my eyes at the irony of my situation and put it out of my mind.

Until, however, Pete came home sick from work.  The next day I was also sick, and we thought we had really bad colds.  But for every symptom I had, Pete had a more severe version.  And many of his symptoms never hit me at all.  Four days later I was much better, while he still had fevers over 100 degrees and aches and pink eye (which I thankfully escaped) and was sleeping almost 20 hours a day.  It took a trip to the doctor and a round of antibiotics and eye drops to get him back to 100%.  In fact, although he’s no longer contagious and has gone back to work, I think he’s still not quite 100%.  (Just ask the snoring that keeps me up at night . . . . )

So it looks like I picked the right year to start getting a flu shot after all.  Because it’s the year that we actually came down with the flu.  And even though diabetes usually makes sickness worse for me, in this case my flu shot gave me the upper hand.  (Although as a side note, diabetes did throw a sticky low at me as we left for Pete’s doctor’s appointment.  He didn’t feel up to driving, but ended up driving both ways because it took treating three times to get me back into range.  So much for having the upper hand . . . . )