I like to think that having T1 doesn’t hold me back from much. And the truth is, it really doesn’t. It makes things a bit more difficult sometimes, but there are only a few things you actually can’t do (we discussed jobs etc in a previous post but I can’t find it right at this moment).
On Monday last week though, my status as an insulin addict was put to the test. My little boy Hugo was ill and my husband had been home with him. He rang me at about 4pm to say they were off to the hospital as Hugo had suspected pneumonia. I was at work so jumped in my car as soon as I could and met the two of them there. We spent several hours in A & E, and by 9pm realised we’d not had any dinner, so my husband went out to get some. He came back with some and I went to take a bolus and realised my pump was getting quite low on insulin. By 10pm they had decided they’d admit Hugo to keep an eye on him for the night. Seeing as my husband had taken the Monday off, it was up to me to stay the night because my husband would need to go to work the next day.
Filled with worry and dread (It’s the first time our little guy’s been really ill, and I knew at this point we were going to be sharing a room with two other babies and their carers), I said goodbye to my husband and trudged through the hallways to the ward with Hugo in my arms. It crossed my mind that I probably had enough insulin to get me through til about noon the next day as long as I didn’t have anything else to eat. I had contemplated asking my husband to drive home and get me some more, but it was late, he was tired, and it would have been an extra 45km travelling for him, plus the hassle of trying to get into a hospital long since past its visiting hours.
Long story short: it was a long night with hardly any sleep. However, Hugo managed to get some fluid into him, and improved his health enough for them to discharge him the following morning. I got home with 5u left in my pump. As I unpacked all my stuff I suddenly realised I had an insulin pen with about 200u in it in my handbag 
It did make me think though… we are a little vulnerable in extreme circumstances (not necessarily the one above because I was in a hospital – surely I could have wangled some insulin from somewhere). However, in natural disasters or like the plot of the film Panic Room (in a nutshell: lady and daughter lock themselves in their panic room to get away from violent intruders; daughter has T1 and risks going into major ketoacidosis), we have the potential to have a bit more to be concerned about. Worth keeping those insulin pump cartridges topped up, and those on MDI – keep a couple of insulin pens close to hand!
PS. I cracked up when I saw this t-shirt. I went to google and typed in ‘insulin addict’, thinking I wouldn’t pull up anything decent, and this was the first image that appeared. Love it.
Posted in Insulin Pumps, Slice of Life
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Zoe wrote
We would be the fist to go in zombie apocalypse.
(and I think in Panic Room the daughter is actually low because they are looking around for things with sugar in them.)
I’m forever running low on insulin. I always leave it to the last minute to go to the doctor for repeat scripts and then she never has time when I want to see her etc. I’ve never actually run out, but I keep trying to remind myself I need to be more organised.
Sarah wrote
Oh no, poor you, Nic! And poor wee Hugo. I know that horrible feeling of dread you get when your children are sick – it leaves me literally quaking. I spent a night in Starship last year and it seemed very hard to get hold of food there – when I wasn’t freaking about the baby, I was freaking out about me going into hypo. Also whenever I get on a plane I have disaster scenarios – if there was a crash, what would happen to my blood sugars? If I was floating in the middle of the ocean, would I pass out first from hypothermia or from hypoglycemia? Anyway, I hope Hugo recovers quickly and you don’t have any repeat visits.
Roy wrote
It is good news that Hugo is okay enough to be back home, it doesn’t take much to have kids hit the bottom line and while it was a rough time for both of you, it so easy peasy to put off the doctor or A&E that one more day.
Emergency insluin I always have that in store, but never a second pen or syringe, don’t think I have thought of taking one or other over the past twenty-years, it is not hard to get careless, thanks for the reminder Nic.
Ali wrote
I was thinking along these exact lines last night when I was watching some “How to survive in an emergency” show. I always have a nice supply of extra insulin in my fridge (I always tell the Dr’s that I take a little bit more than I actually do so over time I’ve built up a surplus!) but would I be able to access that in an emergency? And I don’t carry extra pens or insulin on me.
Like Sarah I always imagine disaster scenarios when flying too. When they say “in an emergency leave all your bags and go” I always think “But I need that to survive!”.
Nic wrote
Thanks for all the kind wishes re Hugo people!
James wrote
I’ve run out of one or the other insulin a couple times, on Friday nights when I realise that the chemist who has the repeat just closed and I haven’t enough to get to Monday.
Luckily I’ve been able to get by with what I had by careful timing and usage of whatever the other insulin was that I had plenty of. I guess if I didn’t the only choice would be a trip to the after hours surgery and convince them I was diabetic and could they please write me a script. At considerable cost I imagine.
I’m also guilty of typically never having insulin actually on my person. Which is most annoying because it means that spur of the moment eating is largely out of the question. And also, if I was to get stuck somewhere, I might have trouble too.
I really should be more organised, but can’t teach an old dog new tricks
Penny wrote
Oh so true. That fear when you realise that you have only a few units of insulin yet and working out how you are going to use them. I have just used up the last of my stockpile of insulin.
By the way any diabetic parents out there that do end up in Starship and are stuck for food or insulin I work there and live close by so able to potentially help on either front. The hospital is a bit of a nightmare for food (it is slightly better for staff than it is for visitors).
Not sure how you could contact me, but you oculd always ask one of the nurses depending on the time of day.
Sophie wrote
According to my regular pharmacist, chemists are required to give you the equivalent of three days’ worth of medicine if you NEED it and can prove you use it. I sometimes forget to take spare insulin to work but the pharmacy I use is across the road and happily give me a vial and then take it off my next script whenever that comes through. Same for all other medication that I forget when I am at work.
Sandra wrote
I feel for you Nic – it seems to be when we have worry or extra stress when we freak and go – do I have enough insulin with me? already freaked about something else and hard to think straight about any backup we do have with us!!! stink.
Sorry don’t have a story I can think of right now but am sure it has happened to me more than once.
Also I think Zoe is right – I copied this from the plot summary of Panic Room -”The odds are against the claustrophobic mother and her child with low blood sugar when they are locked into the Panic Room, a room where they are “safe” from criminals.” However I think it was also one of those situations where the storywriters got confused about high/low blood sugars and what diabetics take insulin for (like a lot of people you talk to about what you do to look after yourself and they have never known anyone with type 1 diabetes before). I got the impression when watching the movie (years ago) that the daughter was having a low blood sugar but her and her mum were both in a desperate ‘panic’ searching for insulin to treat her. Unless they were looking for glucagen pen? Has anyone else seen the movie recently? Movies getting it mixed up dosn’t help educating ‘the public’ about the mechanics of it all!
James wrote
I agree with Sandra, I’m pretty sure I remember that Panic Room was pretty mixed up with it’s Type 1 portrayal and was using insulin to treat a hypo.
I do remember clearly the glucowatch though, and thinking “I WANT ONE”.
James wrote
And now I find my recollection is wrong!
“Gardner was appalled. Her husband, Carey, had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes nearly two years ago. A friend of his with the same diagnosis almost died after being given insulin by a well-meaning friend during a severe hypoglycemic episode.
“If you have seen the movie, you know Sarah is given glucagon for low blood glucose,” she exclaims. “This is outrageous!…A lot of people thought the girl was given insulin in the movie because it was never specifically stated…just that she needed a shot. If you don’t know anything about diabetes or glucagon, most people assume that it is insulin.”
Dorsey says the issue came up during test screenings.”
http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2002/11/01/3036/diabetes-in-the-movies/
Zoe wrote
It quite a while ago that I saw Panic Room but I also remember it being pretty mixed up and inaccurate, but I remember them looking for something with sugar in it because for some reason they had boxes of mouthwash in their panic room (perfectly logical right? :p ) but it had no sugar in it.
Nic wrote
Thanks for clearing that up James – yes a shot would never occur to me as being of glucagon!
Sophie that’s also really useful info, and Penny – you are so sweet. Thanks for the lovely offer to a bunch of (mostly) strangers.
Dawn wrote
I know the feeling Nic. I had two weeks at starship earlier in the year and my diabetes needs weren’t high on the agenda in the first 24 hours! We live close to the hospital so I got my husband to drive home in the middle of the night for my protophane but I figured that I was in the right place to track some down if that failed. Lucky I had those nutritional diabetic hospital meals to keep my sugars even……