My not so great Black Friday

This weekend I spent some time with my best friend in VA Beach, doing fun girl stuff and catching up. It really hasn't been the two of us since college, so we went shopping and made plans to go out with her coworkers on Friday night and I was soooo excited. We got ready together, listened to music, and had a snack, just like our college days. Before we left, my blood sugar was higher than I would like, but I bolused for my turkey sandwich and out the door I went.

At the bar, I had 2 drinks over the course of a few hours which normally isn't a problem. I checked my blood sugar and saw that I was 340 mg/dl and bolused a bit, think that with the 2 rum and diet cokes, I would come down and didn't want to crash. We headed to another place and after dancing a bit, I started to feel very strange. My friend Kristen said that I got very white and started complaining that my head hurt. Unfortunately, I started to get very sick and ended up throwing up several times. Kristen, who lived with me for several years, and works in the medical supply business knew that with the diabetes, this was a sign that we needed to get some help. I think I remember when we first moved in together saying "If I start throwing up, just get me a doctor." I was so weak at this point, her coworkers carried me to the car and to the ER we went. Moderate ketones, 494 mg/dl, and overall funk. The nurses at the ER were nice and I was able to answer their questions, but I was surprised that they never asked about my pump sites nor do I remember them checking them. I seriously felt like a dump trunk ran me over and slept while they re hydrated me. When I was discharged- around 300 no less- I got home changed out my pump cartridge and tubing. When I went to bolus, I got a "blockage detected" at the pump site.

I just keep thinking that normally, I'm pretty much a champ at taking care of this disease, but when I least expected something to happen and wasn't prepared or paying attention, something really bad does. In the matter of about 2 hours, I got myself into a really awful situation because I was just living my life. Dancing with my friends, meeting new people, and then all of a sudden- BAM!

Recovering from this episode has been pretty disheartening because I can think of all the things I should have done differently. Put the CGMS on, check the site when you're high, wear your medical ID (what if you'd been alone traveling like you have to for work?), carry an extra pen for correction (and ditch the clutch- carry a hobo bag everywhere).

Diabetes is strange, because as soon as you think you've got it mastered, it slaps you across the face and laughs at you.