let's get to the point.
once a month i wake up to a dead corpse twitching next to me.
literally.
brandon's had type 1 diabetes since he was 18 years old.
sucks to be him. this post may be a turn off to some because i'm admitting that at times, it sucks to be me too.
as much fun as it is to coax my spouse out of a seizure by rubbing syrup on his gums and begging him to drink the last half of my beloved blood orange italian soda- it's getting harder and harder emotionally to deal with.
i guess after last nights extravaganza, i'm seeking support- someone in the same super fun position.
so, if you're into guys that like to play dead- regardless of how much tedious effort they put into to managing this lovely disease- leave a comment.
we can talk all about our late night adventures in the sweet smelling, sweat inducing, low blood sugar, super stressfull suckfest.
(btw- i'm 82% sure that brandon will be 47 % unoffended by this post)
25 comments:
My godmother has Type 1 and I have heard MANY stories of how my godfather had to wake her from the dead because her sugar was so low in the middle of the night. Fortunately, my spouse does not do this to me. But, since I know what you are going through, I thought I would post a shout out.
thanks kelly.
there's one.
it's hard to imagine others going through this too. hopefully, i'll find someone to talk to.
ps- the bigger pictures look GREAT!
I can't help with that, but I just wanted to say that you and your family are absolutely GORGEOUS!
thanks jalene.
and you're no eyesore yourself.
sheesh. you've seriously got the world in your hand.
love it.
I have absolutely no idea what that's like, but it has to be difficult for both of you.
I know this isn't helpful, but you two are hot. Just saying.
My dad has type 1, since he was 11, so growing up we had to witness his no sugar-comas, and acting like he was drunk, etc..sometimes funny, sometimes not. Upside was that mom and dad always had candy in their headboard, in the car, stashed in the cupboard, etc. Obviously you are in a more serious position than I was, but I've seen my Mom go through it, and can at least somewhat understand what you are going through.. :)
thanks sara. and yes, being as hot as we are actually does make diabetes easier to deal with. easier than being ugly. that's for sure.
calley- i'm actually interested in some of your feedback as my boys role in this situation is a major concern to me. did you ever have to help him? did your mom ever leave town and have you kids home alone with him? that's what's hard for me to think about right now.
Yes, we were alone with him more than once, it was always-make sure he gets his insulin after you eat, if he starts to feel funny, or say funny things get him a tootsie roll, etc. They were completely honest with us as soon as we could understand, i've never really reflected on it until now, because it's always been such a normal part of my life, but thinking about it, I think I handled it pretty well. Luckily we never had any super life threatening situations, just "dad needs sugar now" exactly what you were saying about rubbing syrup on Brandon's gums..obviously I've come out of it knowing a lot about diabetes, and obviously i'm at risk of getting it, and especially now that I can get gestational diabetes-but I think if you just work with the boys as they grow up, give them more details as they understand, they should be fine. Know where he keeps his insulin, just in case (obviously when they are older) know what kinds of things to give him when he needs sugar, and hope for the best. Like I said, it hasn't really had a negative effect on me at all, it just gave me a chance to be closer to my daddy, and know that I got to help take care of him :)
awesome. thanks calley.
you just gave me a new perspective.
i really appreciate your feedback.
My husband is 29 and was diagnosed with Type 1 just over a year and a half ago. We haven't had any midnight moments like that yet, but have had lots of barely getting downstairs in time to get some orange juice before momentarily passing out. And crap - that's scary. And it's going to be a part of our lives FOREVER. But then I think, "But living now, with insulin and pumps and glucose meters, we GET to deal with it all of our lives. Despite the sometimes nuisance of it all, it's amazing how relatively normal life can be. I'm sorry if this isn't any help, but it's SO encouraging to me to hear you sometimes be frustrated too. Not something I can really express to the hubs. Oh - and we call it our friend, "the 'betes". Humor helps too ;)
Glad I could help a little, I always feel weird commenting on others' blogs...especially when I stalk their URL's from facebook :D
thanks sarah.
wow. there are others out there.
the whole "living with this forever" thing is what makes me crazy. no matter how well it's taken care of one day, the next is always a wild card.
we've been together for 12 years now. after all this time i realize that i'm the only one dealing with the scary stuff because he's so out of it during those times.
he doesn't realize what a crapper it is. which is why i'm glad to know you now. good luck in your betes world.
I know how....meticulous brandon can be with things, and i can only imagine he is the same with caring for his diabetes. So I had no idea that this was such an often occurrence. Heather that blowwwwws!
I never even thought of how leaving him alone would be scary. He's kinda like a nursing baby...only without the chafing (you can't ever leave too long). I think you have a great attitude about it...it's from years of keeping it in that those harmless postal workers are set off into a machine gun rampage. Always wishing you guys well...hang in there Lewis.
*and speaking of sugar....FYI you looked amazing and skinny at IKEA and of course i was holding a full tray of cinnamon rolls. And not even the good kind. Plus my kids were whining and crashing into people with those damn carts...so basically that is my excuse for not telling you then, and instead here (inappropriately, in a post about serious health concerns).
;)
thanks teamboo for actually make me laugh. it's been a looong week and i'm exhausted from all the non-laughiness.
you-btw-are a liar.
you're skinny, appearing to look clean and not gaining as much weight as i'd wish upon a hot chick holding a half dozen cinnamon rolls. skank.
as always, running into you and your squad left me star struck. thanks for the love.
I watched a show about a kid who would always get low blood sugar while sleeping. They got him a dog that was trained to smell when the blood sugar was getting low and he'd wake the boy up so he could get something to eat, before something went wrong. Maybe you need to get another dog.
I was also going to offer to sleep with your husband so you could have a little worry free rest but then I realized that that sounds TOTALLY wrong and so I take it back ;)
steph- sometimes the things that seem so wrong are really so, so right. see ya tonight around 10pm. bring your pillow and your own bottle of syrup.
I'm 26 and have been a Type I for 19 years. It is a hard life and I thank God everyday for my wonderful husband for having the patience and kindness to deal with me. It's okay to feel bad for yourself or breakdown. This situation sucks 50% of the time.
My advice is to set an alarm for midnight (or 11, 12, 2 in my case for a while) to avoid the corpse-like wake-ups. Does he have an insulin pump? Best investment I ever made. We've got glucose tabs, glucagon, juice and candy all over the house, to avoid stumbles down the stairs. Hang in there, this is the stuff that makes life interesting ; )
FYI - I don't remember who's blog I found you thru, but my SILs have blogs, so I'm sure a long line of linking. I'm also familiar with you from your radio days.
Meredith
My ex-husband is a Type 1 too. He managed his blood sugar pretty well, so I never had to deal with super-lows throughout our 5 year marriage, but... Our 6 year old was just diagnosed with Type 1 about a year ago. Right now we're dealing with super highs (350-450 range) and I haven't had to deal with anything too low (68 has been the lowest, thank God). I can't offer any advice, since I'm sure you guys are all doing the best you can, but I can offer support. I know it sucks. It's frustrating, it's hard, and sometimes I cry. I cry for my baby that he has to deal with this, I cry for myself that I can't manage him well enough... I just cry, and that's hard. But, like a previous commenter mentioned I am thankful that he's alive. I'm grateful for the medical breakthroughs that allow us to even deal with this and make it a little easier. But, honestly, there's no denying how much this blows.
I hope this helps just knowing that there are others out there. Hang in there. You're doing a great job as a wife/supporter.
I saw some really sketchy men making a sign in my neighborhood that said "Got Diabetes? We help you." I didn't take down the number on the sign because I assumed it was some kind of drug reference im not even cool enough to know about, but if you are interested in the possible help (for Brandon) or Drugs (for you as a stress reliever) let me know and I will be sure to get you the number.
meredith- he's on the pump, we're candied up and he's really in great shape. i think the main crap factor this year has been stress. stress is boiling his sugar at an unpredictable rate. i think he's also starting to react differently to his insulin because maybe his body is breaking down a little bit after all these years. either way, thanks for the feedback. a reminder from my watch alarm every night may be the next step we need to take. (ps- old morning ritual fans are so fun to come across. it's been a while and i really miss those days!)
diandra- the only scenario that would suck worse than this is having a baby with diabetes. my goodness, how do you do it? i have drawn strength from your story and i really appreciate your emotional honesty.
sugar momma- i'm thinking meth is the answer to every physical challenge. diabetes, insomnia, hang nails...
you sellin'- we buyin'.
az lew- i think i saw that same meth sign in our neighborhood.
bad joke.
i'm always 20 houses away:)
Is that a fauxhawk on Ade? Not to break the mood, or anything
I haven't had much experience with Diabetes, thank goodness. It sounds pretty darn sucky though, and I am sorry that you have to go through some pretty scary situations. Anyway the reason I am commenting is because when my brother and I were teenagers my dad had his first three, yes I wrote three strokes. There were some things that we had to watch out for, especially if my mom was not home. However we learned to deal with it and do what needed to be done. He was mostly normal at that point still, but there we had to watch for signs of another stroke and what not. Fortunately for your boys who will have to watch their parents deal with this their whole lives it will become second nature to them to react correctly if the time comes when they need to help. Also it will give them a better perspective on differences in families and they will be more empathetic to those around them. Now my dad has had his 4th stroke and is bed ridden. My mom, luckily for him, unluckily for her stays at home and takes care of him all day long. We have to force her practically to get out and let us stay with him. At first it was a little scary not knowing what to do if something happened and he needed medical help, but again we have all gotten used to it and will be ready. That is how your boys will feel.
Sorry you and your husband have to deal with such a craptacular thing, but at least your boys will learn compassion, coolness under stress, and preparedness from having to watch their parents. I hope this helps you feel better about your children having to deal with this.
Also I think you are gorgeous! Reuben told me just the other day not to look at the desert pictures of you and your brother for too long or I might leave him. ha ha.
Feel free to check out our blog. We don't have the ottoman that Reuben is making finished yet so there are no pictures of that (yet). My mom is helping him with the sewing and she is a pretty busy lady. Someday my beloved ottoman will be finished. megancraghead,blogspot.com
I've been a Type 1 diabetic since I was 12 years old. It can be a lot to handle sometimes. I've only had a few instances where weird things have happened when my blood sugar was low. All of them were scary though.
The first time happened about 5 years ago. I was going camping with a friend of mine, and I had asked my mom to call me to wake me up in the morning, because my alarm clock had a mind of its own, and only went off when it felt like it. Anyway, she called me at 7AM, like I had asked her to. I remember waking up and picking up the phone, but nothing after that. Apparently I was speaking nonsense. I told her there was writing on the water, and the apples were being delivered. I have no idea what either of those mean, and neither did she, so she got scared. Apparently I hung up on her, but again, I have no memory of this conversation at all. So she called my aunt who lived about 2 minutes away, and told her to go check on me. The next thing I remember is standing in my kitchen making breakfast and my aunt walking in. I asked her how she got in our house, because the front door was locked and she didn't have a key. She said I went to the front door and let her in. I have no memory of doing that either. So she called my mom back, and then called the paramedics, because they had no idea what was going on.
Both of my parents raced home from work, and got there a few minutes after the paramedics. I, of course, had no idea what was going on. I didn't know why all of these people were at my house, or why the paramedics were asking me a bunch of questions. They tested my blood sugar and found it was low, but not extremely low. I've had it be much lower and been fine. They didn't see the need to take me to the hospital, which was great, because I was going camping. My dad called my friend and told him the camping trip might have to be cancelled. I told him no, as we'd been planning this trip for months. So, my parents agreed to let me go, but my friend had to watch over me, like he was my babysitter. It was crazy. I hated it, but after that, nothing else happened that weekend.
I had a whole lot more to say, but it said my comment was too long, so I'm having to leave a second comment.
The second time something weird happened was during a job interview. It came on suddenly, I think it was the primary reason I didn't get the job. I started talking really loud, and really fast, and rambling on and on. I didn't realize it was happening until the end of the interview, and I thought "$%&@! I'm not going to get the job. I just made an a$$ out of myself." But I couldn't help it. So I immediately went and got something to eat.
The third time it happened was actually at The Edge 103.9's Super Bowl party a couple years ago at Flicka's. Again, I was talking really loud, and really fast. I was making a fool of myself. It was as if I was drunk. Chuck and Fields and all my friends were looking at me like, "What's wrong with Bryant?" Something else that hadn't happened before happened that night though. Not only was I talking fast and loud, but my entire face went numb. I couldn't feel a thing from the neck up. That was really scary. I knew that was happening, and I even told my friends, "I can't feel my face." They got freaked out, because they had never seen me like this before. I immediately got something to drink and ordered food, and about an hour later, I was fine. It was scary as hell though.
Anyway, I've rambled on and on. I guess my point is, I know not only what you're going through, but what your husband is going through. Though I've never had to be woken up from a twitching coma-like state at night. The one great thing your husband has going for you is that you're there to help him. If no one was there, I don't even want to imagine what could happen. And that's the only thing that scares me about living alone; that if something happens to me, and I get get to food, or to my phone, no one is there to help me, and no one would ever know something was wrong. One of my biggest fears is not being able to get to a phone to call for help, and having something really bad happen. I know it sounds really bad to say, but I have so few visitors to my apartment, that if something happened to me, I could be dead for weeks before anyone even noticed. That's scary.
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