Would You, Could You...

Dr. Seuss is still one of my favourite authors.  It is absolutely a joy to share the timeless tales of these stories with our sons.  When I was a little girl, my favourite story was "Green Eggs & Ham."  I am sure that my Dad knew this story off by heart because I asked him to read it over & over again. 

Most folks will remember the lines in "Green Eggs & Ham" going along the lines of "would you could you" & "with a goat, boat, fox, house, mouse, train" etc.  Here's a neat way to play the Dr. Seuss "education on fire" game.  Let's call it, "would you, could you recognize the signs & symptoms of diabetes as well as hypoglycemia?"

Diabetes is so prevalent today that it really does make the difference in having every person understand the warning signs of diabetes as well as hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).  It is health building & community building for folks with or without diabetes to fully understand the tell tale signs of these.  If your friend or family member was showing signs of the onset of diabetes, would you, could you recognize the guideposts?  Would you, could you see & help someone with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)?

Yesterday, I was reading an alarming statistic from the Canadian Diabetes website.  It stated that 1 in 3 children born after the year 2000 would develop some form of diabetes over his or her lifetime.  Yikes!  Every time you are at at get together with a group of 3 or more, please keep that in mind.  Knowing the signs of diabetes could save someone's life or at the very least you could make the difference in a loved one's life by seeking medical help in a timely manner so that hopefully their health does not decline needlessly.  You can help someone...someone you dearly love.  Add to that, immediately recognizing the symptoms of hypoglycemia could make a world of difference to someone you love one day or even a complete stranger.  There just is no down side to knowing the symptoms...the signs.

Would you, could you notice these symptoms:  a loved one is experiencing extreme, relentless thirst, frequent bathroom trips, exhaustion that is excessive & incongruent with that person's usual energy, vision changes (seeing things in a blurry fashion) and possibly a significant & uncharacteristic mood change?  Now you would & could...now you know the signs of potential type 1 diabetes.  Now you would & could schedule a doctor's appointment & would & could go with your loved one to the doctor's office to help them find out whether they have diabetes or not.

Would you, could you keep in mind these symptoms:  either a loved one or a stranger is trembling or shaking, sweating all of a sudden, complaining of a headache, dizzy, unusually hungry, feeling weak & unsteady, having numbness aound the lips or mouth or confused?  These are signs that you would & could say are hypoglycemia.  Would you, could you suggest that they sit down for 10 minutes, ask them to test their glucose, then have them take a fast acting sugar like a juice box or glucose tablets & stay with them until his or her blood sugars are over 4 on his or her glucose meter?

Let me share 2 stories of "would you, could you" of a personal nature with you.  One is an answer of no to that question & the other is a resounding yes.  About a year ago, I had arrived at the school that our sons attend at the end of the day.  It was a lovely day out & so I decided to walk over there.  I had checked my glucose prior to the walk & all looked good.  Just in case I needed it, I brought along a juice box.  Once I arrived at the school, I started to feel a wee bit unsteady.  A lady that was an acquaintance approached me & started asking me question after question about an upcoming outing that our family was planning.  She talked & talked & talked & I found that I could not put a sentence together, was getting dizzier & was geting confused.  It was an awful feeling.  The lady was aware that I have type 1 diabetes.  The lady did not notice the signs of hypoglycemia at all & then finally when I could not answer her questions anymore, she simply said, "okay, bye then" & went along & started speaking to someone else.  It was an awful feeling...isolating & frankly embarrassing at the time because I am sure that she thought that there was something "wrong with me" however she did not "get it".  She did not know the signs of low blood sugar at all.  I did manage to pull myself together enough to pull out a juice box & at that time one of my friends came along & put the straw into the juice box.  My friends know that the only time that they see me with a juice box in my hand is when I am in low blood sugar.  This friend & I sat outside for a few minutes & then we gave each other a wink & that was all that was needed.  That friend is a true battle buddy!  As an aside, a couple of weeks later, I attempted to apologize to the lady for the awkward exchange when I had been in low blood sugar however she did not want to talk about it & for a short time, she chose to avoid me.  I do not blame her nor hold any negative feelings towards that lady.  Her discomfort got the best of her & I simply look at that as a missed opportunity.  I choose not to let that experience tarnish my belief in people as a whole & it makes me even more determined to educate folks so that this experience does not happen to other folks in "the community".

Now, I did say that I have 2 stories & the second one is the gem.  You know that I love happy endings so there is no way that I would choose to end our sharing together on a negative note.  One day, I was baking away in our kitchen  & I ran out of an ingredient.  My husband offered to go to the store for me.  He is like a man on a mission when he visits any store.  The mission is to find the specific item & then get out of the store & home within Olympic speed!  He was gone a very long time.  Once he returned, he looked at me with a smile & said, "you are going to love the reason why I am later getting home than expected."  I did!  The reason that he was gone a good long while was because while he was at the grocery store, a lady there was exhibiting  the signs of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).  She was apparently quite confused & upset.  My husband approached her gently & asked her discreetly if by chance she has diabetes.  She said that she did.  He asked her to please do a glucose test.  She did & he noticed that her number was very low indeed. (low blood sugar is a reading under the number 4)   He purchased a juice box, handed it to her & asked her to drink it.  She kept telling him that she was so embarrassed.  My husband told her that she had nothing at all to be embarrassed about & then waited with her until her blood sugar came back up into safe range again.  He did not tell her that his wife had diabetes or anything else.  He simply helped her out because he "would & could".  I love that story & I tell it as often as I possibly can.  Every day heroes come in all different forms...one of those is in the form of my husband.

Would you, could you be an every day hero too?  Or if you have diabetes, isn't it great when you meet up with an every day hero!

Smiles, Saundie :)