The perk of living with diabetes came to me last week when I had a small operation on my left foot. Strange, but stay with me… I was at the hospital for most of the day and was allowed to eat and drink as normal before and after. My appointment was booked for 11am and as I expected to be in and out quite quickly I didn’t take food. Well, aside from my usual banana and cereal bar snack, but usually I would take packed lunch if I knew it would take so long. I didn’t end up leaving the hospital until 5pm. There was 7 other people under the same nurse as me, waiting just as long and didn’t appear to have brought any food either. We were in our gowns by 11:30am so no leaving the ward to go get some either.
Anyway, the nurse in charge was aware that I have type 1 diabetes so she kept asking if I was ok throughout the day and if I needed anything. I was fine and didn’t need anything, until lunch time passed and my belly was growling for food. I did a pretty intense workout earlier that morning which tends to expand my appetite. At this point I had already eaten my banana and cereal bar that I mentioned earlier and my blood sugar was at a happy 6mmols.
Around 2pm, the first 2 people on the list went down (I was 7th) and the rest of us were told that we would be fed when we got back from surgery which was going to be over the next two hours depending on the list. Two minutes later, I was called to one side and was given the option to have a cup of coffee and some toast before surgery because they didn’t want me to risk a hypo during the procedure. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t need to eat to prevent a hypo because the basal setting on my pump is pretty accurate for that time of the day, but because I was so hungry I took that toast and coffee (who wouldn’t want a coffee) and gladly ate it. Diabetes does have a perk…. I have found the perk of living with diabetes.
“I get special treament around food :)”
I didn’t realise they would give it to me in front of everyone else which was awkward. One of the other women looked furious when she saw me with the toast and coffee and said “I didn’t know you had been down to theatre already. I have to wait until I get back”. I said “I haven’t been down yet, I’m diabetic and they would prefer me to eat now for my blood sugar”. She didn’t say anything. Bless her, she must have been very hungry too. I wanted to share my toast but I don’t think that would’ve went well with the nurse in charge. She brought some biscuits for them shortly after.
This reminded me of all of those diabetes memes that refer to diabetic school kids being allowed to eat in class and their mates aren’t allowed. I never experienced that because I wasn’t diagnosed until after I finished school. When I got to uni everyone was allowed to eat in class anyway.
In case you’re wondering, I was allowed to keep my pump on during the op. I had to attach it to the hospital knickers lol. They would only ever really take it away if you were unable to control it yourself. My foot is ok. It’s a little painful at times and has stiches in at the moment. I was told I can’t dance for 2 weeks which is very sad, but in order to stay sane and to keep reaching my goals I have planned a few upper body / abs workouts that will not harm my foot in the slightest.
Do you have a something you regard as a perk of living with diabetes?
Rowena x
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