Today I went to an interest meeting for an environment club at my school! I love school clubs and activities. They provide a fun break from normal classroom activities after school! But one thing that it does not bring a break from is managing my blood sugar.
The new roller coaster: “Joey’s Blood Sugar”!!!
Today, my blood sugar was an absolute roller coaster. As I was peacefully sitting in math class, suddenly my legs felt like they fell off! I then could not concentrate on graphing and measuring angles to save my life! I was then that I got up and and walked out of the room to the nurse’s office. There I tested myself and big surprise. . . my blood sugar was at 317! I was astonished! that was the highest that I have ever been since diagnosis! Come lunchtime my blood sugar was in the mid 200’s, not too bad. Then it was spanish class (my final class) and everything was going just swell. Then suddenly I notice that one again, my legs felt like they just quit their jobs. I went to the nurse thinking “ah, just probably high blood sugar. No biggie!”. I then pricked my finger, and patiently stared at the glucometer 5. . . 4. . . 3. . . 2. . . 1. . . I was in the low
100’s! This means that my sugar is dropping. Since I was staying after school, I had to eat a snack without taking any insulin (yay!!!!!). So then once the day ended I went off to the club interest meeting.
Afterschool blood sugar
Luckily with this meeting I experienced no issues! But it’s not always that easy. Low and high blood sugar never waits. I could be high or low as you read this very sentence. The nurse’s office is closed after school as well. This means that while at after school activities, I need to completely manage myself. Of course I have the teachers and admins that are running the club, but only I know my symptoms and it is my responsibility to test, treat and manage myself. This means that I need to always keep my test kit and glucose nearby at all times. I remember one day during robotics club, I started to feel weird and I tested. I was dropping so I had to make a decision. Do I use glucose? Do I eat a snack? Do I let it play out? Do I retest? I decided to eat a small snack and that fended off the low until I got home.
Also, I would just like to share a diabetic after school experience. One day when I was testing my blood sugar afterschool, another kid saw my test kid and asked me “what’s that”. I told him that it was my glucometer and I saw a big look of confusion on his face. I then told him “I need to use it to test my blood sugar, I’m a Type One Diabetic”. He then got a shocked look on his face and started saying “oh my god! I’m so sorry! I was just curious! I didn’t me-” and I stopped him right there. I said “don’t be sorry! It’s good to ask questions!”. Please do not be sorry or scared of asking questions to a diabetic. It’s good to get educated and be curious! The thing that is not good though is just making assumptions about the disease. I would much rather someone asking me if I can eat sugar or not than someone just assuming that I cannot eat sugar. It actually upsets me a little bit when people just make assumptions. Read my two posts below to learn more about high and low sugar levels! And stay curious!
IMPORTANT
Happy Valentines Day 🙂
The Average Joe 
Thanks for the info. It offers a perspective that most of us don’t think about. Always remember how awesome you are!👍
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Joey, I have no experience with Diabetes of any type. Your blog is giving me a better understanding of this condition. Interestingly, my husband, Tim, went to the hospital on Feb. 2 with a severe blood clot in his leg and femoral artery bypass. While at UMC being treated for this, he contracted pneumonia, which he is now being treated for with antibiotics. Part of the treatment for the pneumonia was a steriod, to help with the inflamation in his lungs. What we did not know, is that the steroid raises his blood sugar and they are doing the finger stick several times a day to check it. A couple of times while I was visiting Tim this week, the nurses had to give him an insulin injection. To be honest, I don’t know if his blood sugar was too high or too low, but was surprised that steroids could cause this reaction. I continue to admire you and your willingness to share your experiences, helping to educate those of us that have no first hand knowledge of T1D.
PS – Roses are Red, Violets are Blue…. Over my nose, I’d always pick YOU! haha… Happy Valentine’s Day!
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Thanks for sharing your story Nancy. And thanks for your encouraging words. We hope all is well with your hubby!
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Another informative, well written blog. Great job. Keep bringing awareness to this disease. People need to know about it. People need to talk about it.
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Yes! I agree!! Keep advocating for yourself and all the others living with this disease. Let’s keep the conversations about T1D going!👍
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