No one is exempt from having a Diabetic emergency. No one is so "good" at Diabetes that they should not have an emergency plan in place.
Do you have a glucagon emergency kit in your home and everyone knows where it is and how to use it?
I know this will not save everyone especially if you are alone but I cannot tell you how many people tell me they dont have any or know what it is. Do you have someone you can call when you have low blood sugar if you are alone?
A few years ago I didnt own any glucagon kits. Then I got married and had kids. I have one on my husbands bedside table, one in my purse at all times and one in kitchen cabinet.
Please keep in mind glucagon may not work if you have drank too much alcohol or have been through a lot of lows lately.
Glucagon is not sugar, it is a hormone that forces your liver to convert its stored glycogen into glucose which then brings your blood sugar up. So we should all have glucose gel on hand as well, but a person having a seizure shouldnt have any liquid put in their mouth for risk of choking. Ive been told that if you can get a glucose tablet in their cheek its better than nothing if glucagon does not work.
After injecting someone try to get them on their side as it makes some people vomit. You dont want them to then choke on vomit.
This is why the general public should have a better understanding of type 1 Diabetes. Not many other diseases are quite as instantly life threatening as type 1 Diabetes.
People without Diabetes do not lose this ability to bring up their own blood sugar, we however are so lucky that some of us with type 1 Diabetes lose this ability according to this article. I think most Type 1's lose this ability except for sometimes in extreme lows our body will release our own stored glycogen, unless like I stated it has been depleted after repeated low blood sugars.
https://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/diabetes-resources/definitions/glucagon/
My friend Mandy is currently fighting for her life after having an extreme low and being found unresponsive and not breathing. Her loving husband of course did everything he could to get her breathing.
She is what I would call a champion Diabetic, she has phenominal control of her diabetes while following Dr. Bernstein and his low carb approach, which I also follow, just a little less strict. She has her A1C to that of a nondiabetic. No one ever in a million years expected this to happen to her. She is a neonatal neurologist and has saved many many children and babies. She helps countless people in Diabetic support groups and has even helped guide several parents when their kids began having epileptic seizures. All of this help and guidance out of the kindness of her heart without asking for any sort of payment.
I started talking to Mandy several years ago after I married my husband. I was having a ton of problems with my insulin pump and my Husbands step Aunt suggested I talk to her niece Mandy. So I did and she helped me so much, a complete stranger for the most part at that time. We became "facebook friends" and are both in many diabetic support groups together. We have also met up at a couple family gatherings.
She has a Husband, Daughter and Son who all love her and need her to come back. She has 3 Sisters, a Mom, Dad and many Aunts, Uncles, Nieces and Nephews. She has done so many great things, there is no way her time here is over. Diabetes cannot take her away. It just cannot.
Fight Mandy Fight!! We are all praying so hard for you, our prayers have got to be deafening there are so many of us! When you are healed and feeling good we are going to have the biggest damn party for you!
Please join me in praying for her to be healed fully.
You can get updates here:
https://www.facebook.com/pray4mandy/
Me and Mandy at her Aunts Wedding reception. I was pregnant with our second daughter in this picture.
Do you have a glucagon kit, glucose gel and glucose tablets on hand?
Please leave me your comments, it helps keep me motivated!
Do you have a glucagon emergency kit in your home and everyone knows where it is and how to use it?
I know this will not save everyone especially if you are alone but I cannot tell you how many people tell me they dont have any or know what it is. Do you have someone you can call when you have low blood sugar if you are alone?
A few years ago I didnt own any glucagon kits. Then I got married and had kids. I have one on my husbands bedside table, one in my purse at all times and one in kitchen cabinet.
Please keep in mind glucagon may not work if you have drank too much alcohol or have been through a lot of lows lately.
Glucagon is not sugar, it is a hormone that forces your liver to convert its stored glycogen into glucose which then brings your blood sugar up. So we should all have glucose gel on hand as well, but a person having a seizure shouldnt have any liquid put in their mouth for risk of choking. Ive been told that if you can get a glucose tablet in their cheek its better than nothing if glucagon does not work.
After injecting someone try to get them on their side as it makes some people vomit. You dont want them to then choke on vomit.
This is why the general public should have a better understanding of type 1 Diabetes. Not many other diseases are quite as instantly life threatening as type 1 Diabetes.
People without Diabetes do not lose this ability to bring up their own blood sugar, we however are so lucky that some of us with type 1 Diabetes lose this ability according to this article. I think most Type 1's lose this ability except for sometimes in extreme lows our body will release our own stored glycogen, unless like I stated it has been depleted after repeated low blood sugars.
https://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/diabetes-resources/definitions/glucagon/
My friend Mandy is currently fighting for her life after having an extreme low and being found unresponsive and not breathing. Her loving husband of course did everything he could to get her breathing.
She is what I would call a champion Diabetic, she has phenominal control of her diabetes while following Dr. Bernstein and his low carb approach, which I also follow, just a little less strict. She has her A1C to that of a nondiabetic. No one ever in a million years expected this to happen to her. She is a neonatal neurologist and has saved many many children and babies. She helps countless people in Diabetic support groups and has even helped guide several parents when their kids began having epileptic seizures. All of this help and guidance out of the kindness of her heart without asking for any sort of payment.
I started talking to Mandy several years ago after I married my husband. I was having a ton of problems with my insulin pump and my Husbands step Aunt suggested I talk to her niece Mandy. So I did and she helped me so much, a complete stranger for the most part at that time. We became "facebook friends" and are both in many diabetic support groups together. We have also met up at a couple family gatherings.
She has a Husband, Daughter and Son who all love her and need her to come back. She has 3 Sisters, a Mom, Dad and many Aunts, Uncles, Nieces and Nephews. She has done so many great things, there is no way her time here is over. Diabetes cannot take her away. It just cannot.
Fight Mandy Fight!! We are all praying so hard for you, our prayers have got to be deafening there are so many of us! When you are healed and feeling good we are going to have the biggest damn party for you!
Please join me in praying for her to be healed fully.
You can get updates here:
https://www.facebook.com/pray4mandy/
Do you have a glucagon kit, glucose gel and glucose tablets on hand?
Please leave me your comments, it helps keep me motivated!
I certainly have been praying much for Mandy. I put her on our church prayer list. I have high hopes.
ReplyDeleteAs for an emergency kit? Not so much. But I do have Sheryl and I suspect she will make sure i have one after the doctor's office called last week and asked for a copy. Darn doctors
Rick, thank you for praying for Mandy and adding her to your church prayer list.
DeletePlease please get yourself a glucagon kit, we all should have one at home near our beds, since that is when we are most likely to not catch a low blood sugar.
God bless you, I wish you recover quickly.
ReplyDeleteWell said and point taken, Megan. This week certainly taught my husband and me that we need to get our diabetes emergency fire drill in place and rehearsed. I have never needed to use glucagon in the 31 years of living with type 1, but this Tuesday reminded me I am not exempt. The glucagon kit that languished in my fridge had expired in 2010, and will be used to teach my little girls what to do should the need arise.
ReplyDeleteAmazingly, my mother told me that my T1 brother who did endure acute hypoglycemia, coma, and anoxic brain injury does not have glucagon, nor has any doctor ever asked about it. AMAZING!
Thanks for being a Type 1 Diabetic Warrior and for rousing the troops to get their battle plans ready! I am thinking of and praying for Mandy constantly since I learned of her situation, and I know that a multitude of us continue to storm heaven with our requests for her healing and strength for her family.
Stay strong when you can and know your emotions help you stay strong as well. So when there are tears or anger or complete sadness and confusion let them flow. Hugs to you and to Mandy and her family!! I will be praying for strength and healing.
ReplyDeleteInformative post, I am also in the same list, type 1. so I really liked your post thanks for sharing with us.
ReplyDelete