Some have it and some don't...
Spousal support, is very important, to many folks with diabetes. It is often discouraging, when they do not have
this much needed diabetes tool, and it can be especially difficult for newly diagnosed folks.
It brings to mind, the very first hypo that came to me, once meters were available for testing. My hands were
shaking so hard, that I couldn't pour some juice. My ex was close by, but didn't offer to help - at first. I tested
and was at 39. He poured the juice, I don't remember how much, it's been too many years to remember. I don't
think that we had glucose tabs back then either.
Of course, in 1984, when I was diagnosed, the un-needed weight loss of 40 lbs in less than a month, and the
'pee strips' being blacker than the Ace of Spades -was the dead give away. The vial of urine strips had a color
chart, to which we held the urine strip up to it, for comparison - I think then the wait time was 30 seconds, just as
it still is today. Urine aka pee strips are still available, but are becoming harder to find. Where I lived at the time,
in 1987 thereabouts, was when meters became available for fingerpokes. Think the lancets look huge now? You
should have seen the ones back then!
Throughout the years, different husbands same deal - no spousal support. Did it still bother me? Not as much. It
was like asking the husband, to repair something, on the 'honey do list'. I would ask three times, then if it wasn't
done, they lost their chance at repairing whatever it may have been, and I did it myself. I am a hardheaded
stubborn scorpio, independent as h-e-l-l, and still am.
Fast forward to the mid '90's. My husband is a wonderful man - even though tempermental, and very firm on
comittment, and his heart is all mine and mine alone. There have been times, when I felt that my diabetes may be
bothering him, and gave him the option to walk away. Nada, no way, he didn't walk. His keeping his word on
everything to everyone, was one of the things that won me over. Besides that, he did the old fashioned
courting, something I had always wanted, but he didn't know that then. Matter of fact, it was six weeks before
he ever even kissed me. How cool was that! 
Although I would like for him to be a little more supportive, it doesn't bother me, that he isn't. Sometimes he'll
measure my food for me, tell me the carb gram count; but he obviously keeps it in the back of his head that I do
need to eat. Every so often, he'll ask me if I've eaten and how long ago? I can go for hours without food, as
long as my Lantus is at the right amount for me. Basal testing really works. He mostly can't tell when I'm hypo,
but then - neither can I. That's why I have a Continuous Glucose Monitor. My alarm just went off, and whoa! 65
with double down arrows. Real Pepsi and a glucose tab were taken just in case. Fingerpokey shows 173 on the
meter. Why the difference in numbers? Lag time on the CGM. It is also the 1/2 hour mark from a snack and a
Novolog injection. Numbers fly up and down, during the first hour or so, after using a rapid acting insulin. The
glucose tab, real soda pop, and my snack, all kicked in together. Ah, seven (7) minutes later, up to 86. Another
seven minutes, it's reading 96, and the fingerpokey is 210. Fun night ahead! Not!
At any rate,back to my sweetheart recognizing when I'm hypo. The very first time he recognized me being hypo,
was actually quite comical. I had tested not even five minuted prior to going into his studio, and was at 340 or
so. When I get into his studio, at that time, just 20 feet away from where I tested, who knows how low I was. It
was quick and it was hard. I was really giddy, very unusal for me. It took him a couple of minutes to figure it out.
I think he said then, that my eyes told him something was wrong, along with me being giddy. All at once, he
says, "Open up!" and shoved some spice drops in my mouth and said "Chew them!" It's now another seven
minutes later, cgm is at 76, fingerpokey is 235. Four minutes later, the cgm alarm screams out yet again...now 64,
fingerpokey 245. Oh yeah head, pound the ache all the way. Seven minutes later (cgm reads every 5
minutes)...61 with one down arrow, and fingerpokey is 246. The time frame is 1-1/4 hours after my snack. This
particualr snack does not take me this high afterwards.
However, that was just about the only time that he really recognized I was very hypo. I can be in the 20's and
lower, and still function - not all the way, but I can. That is one scarey aspect of having hypos. Having been
diabetic for as long as I have, along with all the other autoimmune issues, diabetic autonomic neuropathy,
reared its ugly head about 8 years ago - that's how long I've been hypo unaware; and since 2008, diabetic
orthostatic hypotension is not any picnic either. It's been 11 minutes now, and cgm shows a 118 with an up
arrow. Fingerpokey is at 250. Ah ha, this new sensor is right on the ball, and will catch up to that 250,
which could be higher or lower, given the + - 20% allowable factor. And he wonders why I stay worn out. A
week or so ago, five hypos in one overnight, according to my cgm reports.
While I am on both sides of having spousal support, my husband knows a near crisis situation, and takes
complete control - until I can safely do so. That includes dragging me off to the ER, when I'm so sick that I can't
leave the bed. That time got me an ER admit, to the dialysis floor, for an adrenal vs a kidney situation.
My husband may not give the everyday kind of moral support all of the time, but he is right there, when I need
him the most. For me, that is the best kind of moral support, that a spouse can give to me.
Well, thankfully, the damn alarm went off again at 0203 ...59 double arrows down...fingerpokey 218. More
glucose tabs and more real soda pop. More real headache. Back up to 95 on cgm at 0214, and fingerpokey is at
213, at 0214.
I usually don't treat when the cgm is lower than the fingerpokes. There are times however, when the cgm is right
on the mark to being faster than the fingerpokes. The folks that make these cgms, know that. It also has it in the
manual. I've known it, since having gotten to become quite intimate with my first cgm, and it holds true with the
current cgm. My train of thought is this, if it weren't true, there would not be any predictive alerts. I've also seen
the predictive alerts plus number, and just a few minutes later, see it on the screen where it has turned around
and goes right back up. I believe that there are two kinds of hypos...1.) Bg hypos, and, 2.) Interstital fluid hypos.
A quickie funny haha before ending, having been in hypoglycemic coma(s) during the night, I remind my
sweetie every so often, to rouse me if he gets up during the night. He said, "I do check, to see if you are
breathing." "Honey," says I, "Umm, I can still breathe when in a coma. Just make sure that I can respond
verbally to you!". Bless his heart, he still doesn't fully get the whole concept of Type 1 diabetes. KWIM?
© Trisha Leary, September 24, 2011 at 037 central time
