Control does not mean perfection

Soon after my severe Hypo while working for my dad I realised I needed to find something else. My older brother had gone into hospitality as a chef and it was thought that hospitality management college would be a good way forward. I didn't think about the long hours and the abnormal work times but I had to do something. As with the last few years of high school I would now try to hide my T1D from anyone that it didn't really matter to. To those I had to tell I would tell the bare minimum. Basically I would tell employers that I was a diabetic and that every now and again they may see me test my blood and give myself an injection. On most occasions they would say thanks for letting them know and let them know if there was anything else they needed to know. As I wanted to fly under the radar with what could happen I would say no and get on with things.

Going back to the abnormal hours it was very interesting working the hours that I was supposed to be eating and even working te hours I should be sleeping. It took around 6 months to get used to it. Constantly battling the hypo's and highs trying to work out the right ways to do things. A mix of making sure I ate before and after work and if need be a glucose boost in the middle of work. The highs and lows were there but if anyone ever says to me that with proper control you shouldn't ever have BSL fluctuations then they are the joke.... And trust me I have known a lot of doctors who believe that control means pure stability. A part of being T1D with good control is all about having highs and lows and learning from them. I am happy to be proven wrong however it is my belief that it is impossible to have good control with out them. No day is the same, even if it was it would be a very boring life, and seeing as everything you eat and do has an effect then all you can do is calculate the best you can and in a lot of ways have faith that things and luck is with you. Sometimes you just stuff up or miss calculate which means your BSL will rise or fall and the best thing to do from there is understand where the error was and take mental note so that next time you can adjust again, oh and give your self a correction to bring things back into line.

It was around 1.5 years after I finished high school when I decided that it was time to make a move and move out of home. This was a scary time. Even though I had been managing my diabetes from day 1 at least my family was aware of what could happen and what needed to be done if it did. One particular day proved to me how important it was to allow trust elsewhere. I was living with my girlfriend and as we lived close to the city and work our main mode of transport were rollerblades (I know very daggy now but it was very cool then). It was a day off and the temperature was in the low to mid 30's and we had been out all morning blading and had retuned home. I felt fine but I was really hungry, my girlfriend had tried to ask me something (can't remember what) but I gave some comment that didn't really make her happy and she said I was being difficult and she stormed off to have a shower. All I can remember from there is searching in the fridge for tho thing to eat but not getting anywhere. Not long after I past out for a little bit of this recollection it is from what I have been told. My girlfriend came out of the shower to fing me out cold on the kitchen floor. She had no idea what to do as all I had told her was to give me sugar. She didn't know how to test me nor did she know how to use the Glucagon that was in the fridge. One thing she did know was to call an ambulance (the first of only 2 ever needs to call one). After the call was made she re-attempted to wake me up. It must have worked as she said that I sat bolt upright and grabbed both of her knees with my full strength and said help me. This must of only lasted a few seconds and thank god cause she said I nearly broke her knees and she had the bruises to prove it. From there for some reason my memory returns however my body was out for the count. It was like being conscious in a near dead body. I could hear people and in my mind I could formulate a response however I couldn't get my eyes to open, my hands and arms to move or my mouth to speak the words. I remember the paramedics arrive and give me the pure glucose paste into my mouth. It didn't take long for it to kick in and my body started responding again. I learnt that my BSL was down in the ones and it must have been so for a little while. The paramedics waited until I was feeling better and gave me the option to either go into hospital for observation or stay at hone and take it easy... Of course I stayed home as I was not being anymore of an odd one out. From that day forward I have always tried to find at least one person in my daily life to give the details of what to do just in case something happens again. The hypo was a combination of the exercise and the hot weather which caused the drop and the hypo unawareness. Never a situation that is ideal but another situation that you put into you utility belt of possibilities just in case you need to recall for a simular situation.