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Permalink Reply by Jen on July 17, 2012 at 8:21pm

Yesterday I had a string of lows that would not come up and lasted all morning, and for those I just gobbled Skittles. Then I went high in the afternoon ... I had clients to see, though, so I didn't think about it as much (except that I HATE being low right before seeing a client!). When I am travelling around and/or meeting with clients it's really engaging for me so I'm not as aware of my BG.

Today was super quiet in general. I was using it as a catch-up day and was super productive. But mostly I was just doing phone calls and e-mails at my desk, and even my colleague was off sick today so I had no one around. I think you are right that it makes you more aware of the BG swings. In the end I had nothing much to do and was suspecting my site was bad, had been in the 20s (350-450) for several hours and was feeling icky, and had flex hours so (thankfully!) don't have to give any reason for leaving early, so I decided to go.

At my old job we had a similar thing where we had to provide a doctor's note if we were sick for a certain length of time. I don't take much sick time (usually only a day or two every few months) so never had to get one, but I know others were did who found it really annoying to have to go get their doctor to write a note saying they had the flu, or whatever.

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Permalink Reply by Tim on July 17, 2012 at 8:48pm

The thing about the agreement over doctor's notes, is it doesn't say that I have to bring them in if I miss work. It says I have to bring them in for any illness that exceeds three days.

Unfortunately I have very very strict work hours. No flexibility at all. They can call me in in the middle of the night (I'm leaving tonight in about 20 minutes, just after midnight!) but I still have to be at my desk 8:30 to 5:00 every day.

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Permalink Reply by nel on July 17, 2012 at 8:24pm

Being retired since 1999 may not help a response...I do have a tube of glucose pills at the local SPCA , where I volunteer and be known to forget to add these to my SPCA bag ...most helpful :) I would keep back ups at work , if I were not retired ! My BG meter pack has : needle , tape in case I need to move my Sure-T site ...due to hot weather I leave insulin at home ...but I am only about 10- 15 minutes away when around town .
Jen , when I see an over 15 ish as you did at lunch I give a needle shot ( my MM pump suggest to do this when over 13 ??) and I don't take in carbs till in the norm . A second reading like that and I change the site . It becomes confusing when numbers like that and one has given a needle shot ( does the site need changing or not ??) ...I am getting better at changing sites sooner ...and what do I know ...most of my A1C's are around hi 6's low 7 's :) ( and no complications )

PS I don't recall staying home from volunteering but YES I have stopped going for a walk !

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Permalink Reply by MyBustedPancreas on July 18, 2012 at 9:27am

As much as I hate to admit it, yes, I have stayed home or left work early because of diabetes. I try to make it as uncommon of an occurrence as possible, but it happens, and I usually only do it when I know I could be a danger to myself or others.

For example, a few times, my BGs have been really low or high in the morning, so much so that I knew driving was not a safe idea. On those days, I just teleworked or called out sick.

If I am at work, I can almost always deal with lows just fine. For me, lows don't usually cause any long-term issues (once I eat something, I'm ok). Highs, however, are a different story. If I'm high for any prolonged period of time, I feel horrible and can be very cranky. Twice in the last year I have left work early because I was really high and not coming down fast. In both cases I had a massive headache, ketones, and a general feeling that I could accomplish nothing. So I went home.

I am very fortunate to have a flexible job that doesn't necessitate any sort of schedule. We have flex schedules, teleworking, and no one watching over us. I regularly telework 1-2 days per week already. I am very fortunate in this sense.

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Permalink Reply by Zoe on July 18, 2012 at 10:11am

My kind of schedule! (and good for Diabetes care too!)

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Permalink Reply by Chris Miller on July 18, 2012 at 10:02am

I've never left work due to high blood sugars. But lows that have exhausted me, I have gone home. Sometimes it's hard to rebound from a bad low. It wrecks my whole day.

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Permalink Reply by Cosumne Jan on July 18, 2012 at 8:25pm

I never missed work because of blood sugar, but I missed a couple of days because of very low blood pressure. In my case that's diabetes-related because of autonomic neuropathy. I would have been fine once I got to work because I would be sitting down, but I didn't want to take a chance driving. Thought I could just have more coffee and maybe it would come up and I could go in late, but that didn't happen. I was below 65/40 all day.

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Permalink Reply by Aimee on July 19, 2012 at 3:29pm

I have only left work early once for myself for when I had low blood sugar. It was only a handful of minutes early, but after my blood sugar was back up I was still feeling very spacey and unproductive. I figure I was saving my work from paying for a Zombie!

My daughter has been in school for three years now (just finished her 2nd grade year) and a month doesn't go by where I do not have to leave work because of her diabetes (sometimes it is more like every week or two). If she has very low blood sugar they will ask me to pick her up. If she has prolonged high blood sugar I have to change her site as the school will not do site changes. Or, sometimes she just doesn't feel good and they ask me to pick her up due to that. This, of course, does not even cover leaving work for her doctors appointments. I am an hourly employee so I almost never have any vacation or sick time because I use it when I have to leave work for diabetes. My main concern is the amount of schooling she misses out on because of diabetes (just testing at the nurses office three times each day takes her out of the classroom for a significant amount of time). I try to supplement her learning at home to help with this. I love her school and am of course willing to do anything I need to in order to keep her healthy but sometimes I really feel like my life is dictated by diabetes. Thanks for letting me rant! On the very positive side, I am so very glad to have an understanding and flexible employer!!

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