I mentioned that READY is my word of the year
. Only 11 days in, and I proved myself unworthy of the word. I was caught un-ready in a major and serious way.
Today I flew from Utah to New York City. Here was my timetable:
6am Leave hotel
7am Eat breakfast at airport
8:30am Flight departs Salt Lake City
3pm Flight lands in New York City
4pm Get to car after getting luggage and catching shuttle. Start to drive home with heavy traffic in bad weather. Think about stopping for food, but change my mind due to bad weather, heavy traffic, and being unfamiliar with the area.
5:20 pm Tell Mom I am nearly home from the airport (big mistake!)
5:24 pm Get stuck 30 cars behind a really bad accident (jack-knifed tractor-trailer -- no fatalities) that closed a major NY highway while less than 20 miles from home. Be grateful that I have a half tank of gas and that the temperatures are very mild, unlike the last ten days.
6pm Realize that I haven't eaten in 9 hours and that I don't have so much as a TicTac in the car. Remember that I have a history of hypoglycemia and feel dumb, dumb, dumb.
7pm Start shaking and ask other stranded motorists if they have anything with sugar in their car. They don't.
7:15pm Write this note for the dashboard of my car in case I pass out.
7:30pm Consider calling 9-1-1 for medical assistance. Realize that I'm having trouble talking.
7:35pm Suddenly, the road is clear and I drive home.
8:00pm My husband meets me in the driveway. I make it upstairs and eat the offered Clementines:
After 15 minutes, I was able to speak clearly and the shaking stopped. Within an hour I was back to 100%.
That's when I realized that I was an idiot for continuing to drive home. Low blood sugar makes me stupid, apparently.
"I, Debby Brown, hereby promise to never drive in that condition again!"
To prove my contrition, I added something new to the glove box in my car:
Now, I'm READY!
Today I flew from Utah to New York City. Here was my timetable:
6am Leave hotel
7am Eat breakfast at airport
8:30am Flight departs Salt Lake City
3pm Flight lands in New York City
4pm Get to car after getting luggage and catching shuttle. Start to drive home with heavy traffic in bad weather. Think about stopping for food, but change my mind due to bad weather, heavy traffic, and being unfamiliar with the area.
5:20 pm Tell Mom I am nearly home from the airport (big mistake!)
5:24 pm Get stuck 30 cars behind a really bad accident (jack-knifed tractor-trailer -- no fatalities) that closed a major NY highway while less than 20 miles from home. Be grateful that I have a half tank of gas and that the temperatures are very mild, unlike the last ten days.
6pm Realize that I haven't eaten in 9 hours and that I don't have so much as a TicTac in the car. Remember that I have a history of hypoglycemia and feel dumb, dumb, dumb.
7pm Start shaking and ask other stranded motorists if they have anything with sugar in their car. They don't.
7:15pm Write this note for the dashboard of my car in case I pass out.
7:30pm Consider calling 9-1-1 for medical assistance. Realize that I'm having trouble talking.
7:35pm Suddenly, the road is clear and I drive home.
8:00pm My husband meets me in the driveway. I make it upstairs and eat the offered Clementines:
After 15 minutes, I was able to speak clearly and the shaking stopped. Within an hour I was back to 100%.
That's when I realized that I was an idiot for continuing to drive home. Low blood sugar makes me stupid, apparently.
"I, Debby Brown, hereby promise to never drive in that condition again!"
To prove my contrition, I added something new to the glove box in my car:
Now, I'm READY!
6 comments:
Wow....so glad you made it home safe.
Debbie....I too suffer from liw BS and Cliff won't get into your system fast enough. Carry shots of GU instead. They are perfect as your body instantly ingests the carbs whereas the protein in the Cliff bar slows down the absobtion. You can find them at most sporting or running stores. I learned the hard way and never leave home without them in my bag or on my person.
Debbie....I too suffer from liw BS and Cliff won't get into your system fast enough. Carry shots of GU instead. They are perfect as your body instantly ingests the carbs whereas the protein in the Cliff bar slows down the absobtion. You can find them at most sporting or running stores. I learned the hard way and never leave home without them in my bag or on my person.
I am an insulin dependent diabetic, so LBS is something that I know all too well. I carry pixie stix EVERYWHERE ! I am out and about with my son alot, and he knows that the pixie stix are for emergency use and to just tear open about 4 of them at once and por them slowly into my mouth, under my tongue if possible, since they disolve almost instantly. Also if he is not with me, and I should pass out around strangers ( yes I have medical alert stuff on everything too ) people are going to be more likely to know that pixie sticks = sugar, but they may not know what that tube of gel looking stuff ( glucose gel ) is in my purse !
We can all know better looking back, I'm so glad you made it home safely.
My daughter suffers from hypoglycemia so always carries a glucose drink and sweets in her car/handbag. Bless her beautiful heart she wore a full skirt wedding dress on her wedding day. I saw her left hand start to signal didn't realise what was wrong, Mr B went towards her just in time to catch her as she sank down gracefully into her wedding skirt. Glucose on hand she was able to continue within 10 mins. The very inconsiderate vicar wouldn't allow her to go through the ceremony sat on a chair so the continued service was conducted with Mr B supporting her one side and her lovely hubby supporting her right side. The tinker had not eaten the breakfast I'd given her so was very low on sugar. At the reception having eaten she was able to enjoy the rest of her wedding.
Peg x
Debby,
Hypoglycemia is so scary-I've had it hit me at the worst times. Good advice to have something with you at all times. If you eat the Cliff bar when you first feel hungry instead of waiting for the shakes, it will do the job.
Glad hubs was able to help when you got home, and you didn't have to scavenge for yourself.
Post a Comment