Thankfully, the upbeat days are many and the drag days are not so many.
On a family day out I was reminded that even on good days, type 1 diabetes can be an uninvited & unwanted guest. Our family (me, hubby + 2 children) were on holiday and visited the Zoo. We got as far as the entrance and ticket desk and already I feel it. Yes, the first hypo (lack of glucose in the blood and therefore lack of fuel for my body) of the day.
We were standing in line, there was nowhere to sit. I decided that I would just hold on til we got inside the entrance to check and treat. It was only a suspicion and I could have been just tired. While standing in line, aware of my suspected hypo, and entertaining children, I was thinking about getting inside the entrance and finding a spot to sit, test and treat.
Thankfully, we weren't that long in the line and we needed the bathrooms immediately. Sure enough, diabetes was making it's impact on our day. But, I contained it successfully. It was a mild hypo that I could treat quickly and continue with our day, I had tested while my people were in the bathroom, so the rest of the family didn't have to take a 10-minute break before we started our Zoo adventure and were unaware of it's existence.
As we continued with our day, my blood sugars were on the low-side (not hypo) at lunch which made me a bit grizzly but everyone was as hungry as I was and it was taking FORever to find a bench or picnic table (Dublin Zoo!!!!). My blood sugars continued to behave with some intermittent glucose tablet top ups, just to be sure.
However, I realised how easily my diabetes could've been more than just annoying during our day out. It could have hijacked it. And everyday that treat looms over my head. I'm so grateful that my mental disposition is one where I find it easy to focus on positives, have determination, be defiant and down right stubborn that I will live well with type 1 diabetes.