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Permalink Reply by Sam Iam on May 16, 2012 at 12:20am

A few years ago, I was really down and out. A lot of stuff was going wrong for me. I managed to land a part-time job that I was actually interested in. On my first day, my boss asked me to run a package to the post office on my way to lunch. I was already very low before leaving the building. I'd slept on a bus the previous night, and a lot was running through my head. I had no money in my pocket. I went to the bank to try to get money for lunch, but couldn't remember my PIN# for the ATM. It was a hot day. I kept getting more sweaty, frustrated, and confused. I wandered around aimlessly for a while, trying to find the Post Office. I decided to take a taxi back to the office and ask my boss for a pay advance. I got in some random car that was stopped at a red light. The driver was yelling, but I fell asleep.

I woke up in a different neighborhood. Cops pulled me out of the car and started yelling at me. I showed them a diabetic ID card from my wallet. I tried to walk away, but they followed me. One of the cops was a woman. I tried to sweet talk her into letting me go. She wasn't amused. More cops came, and tried to take the package from me. Eventually, they wrestled me down and cuffed me. I blacked out completely. When I came to, I was in an ambulance. Hands still cuffed behind my back. An EMT was squeezing 2 tubes of glucose gel into my mouth. My head cleared. They took me to the hospital. I felt thankful, glad to be alive but a little worried about if I still had a job to go back to. They made me see a doctor, who took my blood pressure, and a finger stick. My BG was still very low, so I had to eat a hospital meal.

When I got back to the office, everyone was really understanding. The cops had brought the package back and explained what happend. I worked for an hour or so, and left with everyone else.

I got a bill for around $1700. I had to go back to the hospital to talk to some sort of financial counselor. I explained that I couldn't pay the bill, because I was only making S300 / week. They said they could only lower it if I made under $500 / month. My share of the rent was about that. She suggested that if I ever find myself in a similar situation, I ask them to take me to a county hospital, because they're cheaper. I did, but that's another story. I'm sure the bill went to collections, but by that point, I wasn't even answering my phone. I can't remember if I paid it off eventually or not. It was long enough ago that it probably doesn't matter. I'm not positive it this is really my absolute worst diabetic story, but it's up there, and the one that always seems to come to mind.

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Permalink Reply by Brunetta on May 16, 2012 at 5:36am

Yeah, Sam, that IS a terrifying story. So glad you are not in that type of financial shape now. Check your credit report if you wanto find out what happened to the bill..Maybe the hospital wrote it off and did not take it to collections. If it was over 7 years ago and you have not heard from a collection agency nor the hospital, it probably was written off. Have a marvelous day!!

God Bless,
Brunetta

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Permalink Reply by Sam Iam on May 16, 2012 at 8:43am

I'm in a better place now in every way. It was over 7 years ago. Come to think of it, a collections agency called me about that bill. They got too pushy, so I hung up on them. At the time, I had a pile of hospital bills and student loans. I knew a classmate that had a nervous breakdown due to a similar money situation and decided to avoid that by not caring about my credit. I'd usually throw out my mail without opening it. I live in NY, so you really don't need a house or a car or credit here, but I'm still glad that I don't live like that anymore.

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Permalink Reply by Doris D on May 16, 2012 at 6:30am

U know there's been so many but right now I'll go with last Friday night. If u want to read my post about it. It's "a better 2 days I've had.............................." OK??

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Permalink Reply by Sam Iam on May 16, 2012 at 9:13am

The last one always feels like the worst.

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Permalink Reply by Doris D on May 16, 2012 at 9:20am

Tooo true! Always huh?? LOL!

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Permalink Reply by Jen on May 16, 2012 at 6:58am

I have a few contenders, but one of the worst would have to be this:

I was student teaching and decided to stay in the classroom over lunch to get stuff set up for the afternoon. I tested at 4.8 (86 mg/dl), injected my Humalog, and started to eat while I set up. About five minutes later I started to feel low, so I drank a juice box. Ten minutes later I felt like I was about to pass out, so decided to re-test and found I was 1.8 (32 mg/dl)! This was 15 minutes after having been 4.8 (86 mg/dl) and 10 minutes after having had a 25g juice box!

I ate my entire lunch in the span of the next ten minutes and somehow made it down the hall to the staff room where I ate some Halloween candy. I didn't tell anyone what was going on because I was student teaching and was already dealing with the fact that many people thought I couldn't teach due to my vision, I didn't want to add diabetes to that as well. After half an hour of eating I was still only up to 3.0 (54 mg/dl). Luckily, by the time the lunch period was over (an hour after injecting) I was back in range.

Two and a half hours later I finally got a chance to duck into the bathroom (those who teach kids know what I'm talking about!) and tested because I felt horrible. I had shot up to 26.6 (479 mg/dl). At least that one I could correct and continue on without being worried I would pass out!

To this day I swear I somehow injected the Humalog directly into my bloodstream and had it act really rapidly. Then later on when my lunch hit an hour or so later, there was no insulin left over to deal with that and hence the high. Somehow I still managed to teach AND get a positive evaluation even with my blood sugar going crazy!

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Permalink Reply by Shayla on May 16, 2012 at 7:29am

4 years ago when I was pregnant I was actually at the hospital getting my blood drawn for something the lady asked if I was ok and I mumbled yeah so she let me go and I'm walking back to the waiting room to get my boyfriend by then I could barely stand up and I was shaking. I didn't know what was going on at the time (it was my first time being really low!)I remember the receptionist asking if I was ok or if I needed something to eat and I said no..it kinda pisses me off because you think they would have stopped me or something because I mean you could just tell something wasn't right..I was holding onto my boyfriend for dear life! Ofcourse my poor boyfriend has no clue whats going on...lol So then we got in the car and I made my boyfriend drive cuz I passed out until we got to a restaurant to eat some lunch and it was just horrible I couldn't even taste the food and I was confused so finally we made it home and I passed out on the bed again. An hour later I got a phone call saying you need to get back to the hospital right now and get induced because your blood sugar was 30 That is the lowest I have ever been and even after 4 years I still remember that episode...it was very scary not knowing what was going on at the time...now I do know and I know what to do..

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Permalink Reply by Eric on May 16, 2012 at 10:54am

I lost an extremely lucrative career with a major production company because I kept getting wounds from standing on my feet that wouldn't heal, and then last year sustained brain damage when I had a low in my sleep. Did I mention I'm stuck at home because I'm too blind too drive....ahh, the life of a 32 year T1.
Eric

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Permalink Reply by Sam Iam on May 16, 2012 at 3:16pm

I'm trying not to respond to anyone individually, because I was hoping for stories, rather than a discussion. Some of these are pretty heart-wrenching.

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on May 16, 2012 at 3:30pm

Hmmm, waking up naked in the bathroom covered in cranberry juice, driving MrsAcidRock's car over the wall of a parking garage, telling the cops I was on angel dust and going "ha ha, just kidding, it's probably low blood sugar..." after seeing their eyes light up about "angel dust", pounding my head on a concrete floor...

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on May 18, 2012 at 4:49pm

That was 3 different ones though! LOL...

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