I Don't Have Time For This

09/12/08 Living Well

When most people think of diabetes complications, they may focus on serious ailments like blindness, amputation, retinopathy, and neuropathy. However, the more pressing complication of diabetes is how it manages to get in the way every day.

Regardless of how tightly a person controls his or her blood sugar, he or she is bound to suffer hypo- and hyperglycemic episodes. These lows and highs in blood glucose have an uncanny knack for spoiling activities that people without diabetes may take for granted.

Work
I teach high school English, which means I need to be clear, focused and in charge for every 82-minute-class I teach. That is easily undercut by either a low or high sugar level. If I do go low, I can't read to the students because I slur my words. I have difficulty giving directions because of my fuzzy thinking. In fact, I can only have the students work quietly while I sit and recover. High readings affect me differently; I become sluggish and irritable. I have no patience and no enthusiasm for anything besides correcting my high blood sugar. That simply does not bode well for an enriching classroom experience.

Play
I workout regularly and have only one space in my day allotted for exercise. I must make certain that my sugar level is appropriate for engaging in strenuous activity. If my blood sugar is low at the time I am slated to workout I have two options:, skip the workout, or treat the low and hope I will have time to workout later. A high blood sugar reading can also throw a wrench in the plans. Yes, exercise will work off the excess sugar, but it is not recommended that people with diabetes exercise when blood glucose readings are above 250 mg/dl. Instead, I'm supposed to treat and wait. If I go ahead with the workout, I feel sluggish and am unable to exercise to my fullest capacity.

I have two daughters, who are constantly on the move. Chasing them is my other realm of play. It is absolutely infuriating to want to ride bikes with my eldest or to chase around my wobbly toddler, but be unable to because my sugar level is low.

Overall
If I am careful, diabetes may not lead to life-altering complications like blindness or amputation, but it certainly can take away much of the spontaneity in life. Tight control is necessary for anyone who cares to avoid the everyday diabetic intrusions, as well as reduce the risk of more serious ailments.

Eric Devine, 30, has lived with type 1 diabetes since he was 12. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and two daughters where he works as a high school English teacher. Devine is an avid writer and is currently seeking publication of two Young Adult novel manuscripts.