Major Kudos to all you D's who work fulltime or go to school!
I don't do either anymore. I retired about a month before my Diabetes diagnosis. Currently I teach part-time on line which is pretty low stress and on my own time schedule. I've often thought what it would be like managing type 1 diabetes before I retired when I had one fulltime job and taught at night!
Yesterday I got a tiny idea. I have had an interview scheduled for some more part-time teaching and Monday afternoon I got late notification that I was to do a teaching demonstration as part of the interview.(which was today, Wednesday). I was doing a couple other things Monday and as I had nothing planned for Tuesday I figured that would be my day to plan the presentation. So yesterday morning I woke up and I was at 170. I corrected and my bg went up, so I did a pen shot for correction and breakfast and then changed my set. The new set didn't feel right from the start but I ate breakfast and then an hour later was 221 and two hours later 242! I changed my set again and then corrected again. All this testing, correcting and set changing was taking time plus I felt pretty lethargic from being so high so I figured I'd worry about the presentation after I got my blood sugar under control. I was finally coming down but still 187 at lunchtime so I added a correction into my lunch bolus (eating only 17 carbs), being careful of course, to keep track of IOB. AT LAST two hours after lunch I was down to 95 and felt much better. I messed around a bit doing a couple things and then finally sat down to work. I started planning the topic for the presentation and organizing my ideas and was starting to get into it, as it's work I enjoy. Then I noticed that I was re-reading the same paragraph and the ideas were no longer flowing into each other in a logical way. Uh, oh! I know what that means, and I also recognized the tingly tongue. I took my blood sugar, and yep, I'd overdone it and was down to 57. There was no use in trying to work so I decided to just have dinner a bit earlier than planned. After dinner I was able to get back to work and complete the presentation although by then I was too tired to enjoy it and it wasn't my best work.
Then it hit me what the day would have been like if I had work committments all day long and had to be "on" not only for myself but for others! Yikes! Not to mention pushing buttons on my meter/remote during meetings or excusing myself, munching glucose tabs as I struggled with my train of thought teaching...ouch! I'm very grateful to be "mostly retired" and a bit hesitant to accept more classes if offered (though I really want the work). But most of all I thought of You....all the yous who deal with the same crazy D I do, AND work fulltime, go to school, and also have families to care for and be present to.. So I just thought I'd tell you all how in awe of you I am. Happy Living with D Day ...every day. Buy yourself a small gift or at least stop to think how well you are doing...even if you didn't think you are!
Zoe
Yesterday I got a tiny idea. I have had an interview scheduled for some more part-time teaching and Monday afternoon I got late notification that I was to do a teaching demonstration as part of the interview.(which was today, Wednesday). I was doing a couple other things Monday and as I had nothing planned for Tuesday I figured that would be my day to plan the presentation. So yesterday morning I woke up and I was at 170. I corrected and my bg went up, so I did a pen shot for correction and breakfast and then changed my set. The new set didn't feel right from the start but I ate breakfast and then an hour later was 221 and two hours later 242! I changed my set again and then corrected again. All this testing, correcting and set changing was taking time plus I felt pretty lethargic from being so high so I figured I'd worry about the presentation after I got my blood sugar under control. I was finally coming down but still 187 at lunchtime so I added a correction into my lunch bolus (eating only 17 carbs), being careful of course, to keep track of IOB. AT LAST two hours after lunch I was down to 95 and felt much better. I messed around a bit doing a couple things and then finally sat down to work. I started planning the topic for the presentation and organizing my ideas and was starting to get into it, as it's work I enjoy. Then I noticed that I was re-reading the same paragraph and the ideas were no longer flowing into each other in a logical way. Uh, oh! I know what that means, and I also recognized the tingly tongue. I took my blood sugar, and yep, I'd overdone it and was down to 57. There was no use in trying to work so I decided to just have dinner a bit earlier than planned. After dinner I was able to get back to work and complete the presentation although by then I was too tired to enjoy it and it wasn't my best work.
Then it hit me what the day would have been like if I had work committments all day long and had to be "on" not only for myself but for others! Yikes! Not to mention pushing buttons on my meter/remote during meetings or excusing myself, munching glucose tabs as I struggled with my train of thought teaching...ouch! I'm very grateful to be "mostly retired" and a bit hesitant to accept more classes if offered (though I really want the work). But most of all I thought of You....all the yous who deal with the same crazy D I do, AND work fulltime, go to school, and also have families to care for and be present to.. So I just thought I'd tell you all how in awe of you I am. Happy Living with D Day ...every day. Buy yourself a small gift or at least stop to think how well you are doing...even if you didn't think you are!
Zoe
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by caprifoglio on -
Lol! Yeah, keeling over would definitely be a buzz-kill.
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Permalink Reply by onesaint on -
Nah, that just means everyone else at the party is going to write on you with permanent marker. =^O
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Permalink Reply by Aimee on -
It is definitely most difficult for the newly diagnosed. You have to give yourself some adjustment time. I'm sure this varies for everyone, but many need several years to adjust. It will take longer if you have a lot of other stress in your life. Hang in there. It really will get easier.
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Permalink Reply by caprifoglio on
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Thanks -- it is good to know that it may take a while to get used to this. I had gestational diabetes in the past but you know I only endured that for about 6 months each time (both my kids were born at 8 months), so dealing with the fluctuations I've been experiencing lately has been like "what the hell?"
Good news though, I discovered the granting of an accommodation yesterday (thank you ADA). Why no one at work mentioned this to me when I was first diagnosed, nor as I have been struggling this last year, I do not know but wow, this will help my stress levels a LOT.
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Permalink Reply by Aimee on
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Those at your work may not be aware of the accomodations. I am glad you were able to get the information through the ADA. Not sure if you are aware of FMLA... but you have protections there as well. Certain states take the FMLA even further, so you may have extra protections depending on what state you are in.
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Permalink Reply by caprifoglio on
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Yes, FMLA is also available, but ADA is a permanent adjustment whereas FMLA is temporary. Since I don't know where T1 is ultimately going to take me, I'd rather go the full length and absolutely make my health the top priority with the ADA accommodation. I want to be in good health as long as I can so I can at least be around for my children as long as possible.
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Permalink Reply by onesaint on
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Im curious to know what you teach Zoe.
Ive been a T1D for just about 26 years now. Ive always been pretty active making D take a second seat to life. Nowadays is no different, although, the things Im doing are a bit different. Work full time, school in the evenings (for the past 13 years off and on), 2 kids, wife, etc. Not to mention the D. My days average 19-20 hours long. Whats funny is paying a good amount of attention to D is second nature now. I guess my recent tighter control has brought with it more easiness and freedom from constraint. Even though, I may pay slightly more attention to whats going on with the D.
I find it very astute and commendable of you to take the time to post a thread like this. Kudos to you too, for the ability to reflect on others stress.
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Permalink Reply by Zoe on -
I teach Psychology, onesaint.
I always figure if you admire somebody for something, you should say so!
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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on -
Zoe,
I understand.. I work 30 hours a week, I have 2 children, a dog, a house and all the responsibilities that come with that.
I was in a marketing meeting last week when all of a sudden I didn't feel good. I started sweating and I just couldn't think straight. I wanted to get out of the meeting, but the room was small and people were blocking the exit. I was just praying the meeting was ending. It did in 10 minutes and I practically ran to my desk and tested my blood sugar. It was 47.
I don't like being alone outside of the house with the children because of this. Like going to a water park with them by myself. I am ok going on errands with them and being home with them. But going away for the weekend with them makes me nervous.
Kudos to all the Type 1s and all they do every day!!!
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Permalink Reply by Natalie ._c- on -
I ALWAYS have glucose tabs in my purse. It's not hard to slip one in your mouth, or two or three -- you should be ready to treat a low whenever and wherever it happens! No one in the business meeting would even have noticed if you did that. Better safe than sorry!
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Permalink Reply by Laddie on -
I go one step further than Natalie. I always have glucose tabs in my pocket and in my purse. I don't feel safe without having them on my person. And yes, as Natalie said, you can always eat them discretely.
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