Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The bag

We have a small backpack that contains supplies that we need to manage Adele's Diabetes (her test meter, juice, crackers, Glucagon). This bag which follows Adele wherever she goes contains a Medicalert card that says "This bag contains life-sustaining material and should be returned to it's owner if found".


This past weekend I met Michele and Adele at the mall. They had not quite finished their shopping so we needed to go to one last store before leaving. As we were walking through the mall, Adele saw stuffed animals that she wanted to go see so Michele kept going and we would meet her at Sears once we were done. When we got to Sears, Adele and I could not find Michele. As we were waiting, Adele tells me that she feels low. I take a look at her and notice that she is very pale (sign that she is low, maybe even really low). Now, at that very moment I started to PANIC! We did not have her supplies backpack (Michele had it) and I had nothing to eat whatsoever. Even if I had a credit card (no cash) there may not be enough time to find something to eat and buy close by. She needed sugar NOW! As I was trying to calm myself and figure out how to get her some juice asap, I noticed Michele. Phew, close call!!!

I'm still not sure how low (or even if she was low), but I do know that she had never before felt a low in public like that. She had drank her juice by the time we found a comfortable spot to check her blood sugar (she was 7.4 at that time). Luckily we won this round of the Type 1 game... And the lesson learned was to ALWAYS have "the bag" with Adele. This also made me realize how true the message is on the Medicalert card inside the bag - "life-sustaining" really does mean life-sustaining!

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