Short Bits: Sugar Tales

Woke up to Eggy alarming at 3 am. Rustled a bottle of tabs from underneath my bed from a recent trip to CVS. Thoroughly chewed 3 and fell asleep with the fourth one just chilling on my tongue. Unwittingly fell asleep. I woke up 10 minutes later with a horribly painful burning sensation in my sinuses. I stayed awake for another 30 minutes. New method to remember to test after 15 minutes? I don't recommend trying this at home.

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Splurged and bought some of the crazy cool (and somewhat trendy but who I am I to judge?) designer Glucolift Glucose Tabs on Amazon. I was surprised at how much more chewing was required for consumption. I never thought I'd miss the chalky dissolve-on-contact texture of ubiquitous pharmacy brand tabs. However, they definitely do taste more delicious. More like a treat to use these for treating a low which is not necessarily a good thing. I kind of like gross things to treat lows to persuade me to avoid them but maybe I'm a little masochistic like that.

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One Filled Twizzler is too much sugar to treat a low, but half of one is just right. That's why I had a bag of stale stuffed Twizzlers on my night stand for about 2 weeks. They're cheaper than juice boxes...

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I've gotten worse about carrying sugar sources around, which has led to more creative ways of treating lows (aka the random sweet things hiding in my cubicle). I popped 1/4th of a small box of candy hearts in my mouth at work. When eating those endearing little organ shaped sugar cubes, know that they are not as soft as they should be. They're more like marbles. Sarcastic hardened hearts. Especially if you try to talk and chew them at the sane time...I did. Twice. Remember to consume these one at a time.

Please Sir (or Madam)

So many stories to share so little time. Instead of sharing any one of the many wacky diabetes (and non-diabetes) related misadventures I've encountered recently, I wanted to mention an important initiative of the Diabetes Online Community (and therefore something important to me!):

The idea is simple. Spare just one rose from the dozen you were planning on buying for Valentine's Day. Take whatever you would have spent (a dime, a dollar, a dozen dollars) on that one rose and donate it to the International Diabetes Foundation's Life for a Child Program.

Spare a little for a cause that can turn a dollar into so much more.

You hear similar slogans often and wonder how does just one dollar change someone's life. A bottle of juice at my local gas station or grocery store costs more than just one dollar. A single test strip for the a very popular brand of glucose meters (including the one I use) cost more than just one dollar. This isn't a story about what we can't do.

What just one dollar can do is expanded when you think of places not so fortunate as where I live. And when you pool all those dollars from all the fortunate people. I'm asking for insulin, glucose monitoring supplies, and doctors appointments for someone like me. Someone who wasn't fortunate enough to live in a place with access to medical care and supplies. Someone who is dying (faster than the rest of us) because they can't get access to the same resources that I take for granted on a daily basis. Being a diabetic is expensive in America. Being a diabetic is a death sentence across the globe.

Let's help stop that! Let's give a little to do a lot. Let's give someone a shot (literally and figuratively)!

 http://bit.ly/SpareRoseSaveChild

"This Valentine’s Day, we can both show our affection for loved ones at home and give a little help to those we have some much in common with around the world. It is a simple, caring, but life-changing message." - Kerri Sparling, Kelly Close, Jeff Hitchcock, Bennet Dunlap, Adam Brown, & Manny Hernandez

To read what everyone else is saying about "Spare a Rose, Save a Child", check out http://diabetesadvocates.org/c/spare-a-rose-save-a-child/ or #sparearose!