Diabetes Blog – Happy-Medium.net

Here’s an interesting question… I thought of this over the weekend and came up with a number of possible answers:

What would you do if you had a “diabetes wild card”?

What I mean by that is, what if, for one moment in time, let’s say one day maximum, you could play a sort of wild card and be relieved of a diabetes burden?
 
 
– Would you like to eat something remarkably good and not have to bolus for it? Play the wild card.

– How about shutting your pump off, or ignoring your multiple daily injection routine for a day. Is that worth a wild card?
Note: Don’t ever do this, even though the idea of it is very appealing.

– Would you like to work out all day and not have to worry about hypoglycemia? Play the wild card.

– Would you really like to get through to that person who doesn’t understand the intricacies of diabetes, but is convinced it’s as simple as “eat less, exercise, take insulin, you’ll always be between 80 mg/dL and 120 mg/dL”? Time for the wild card.

– Would you like to refrain from having to test your blood glucose for an entire day? Wild card time!
Note: Don’t ever do this, even though the idea of it is very appealing.

– What about all of the diabetes math– (Current BG over 100 mg/dL divided by correction factor) + (Carbs gram count divided by insulin units based on specified insulin to carb ratio)? That might be worth a wild card, yes?
 
 
Me? If I had a diabetes wild card, the impulse would be to impulsively eat a glazed doughnut and one of those Entenmann’s pumpkin donuts too (is it doughnut or donut?). Or I might go to an amusement park and ride all the crazy thrill rides all day, and finish with a good swim in any number of venues. I might go to a ball game somewhere, or play a ball game somewhere, without fear of going low.

Or maybe I would use my diabetes wild card to influence the government to pass a bill allowing for Medicare to cover continuous glucose monitors. Maybe I’d use it to bring manufacturers to the table in a meaningful way to discuss and solve ways to free up my data for my own use. I would give serious consideration to passing my diabetes wild card on to someone who has no access to the drugs or supplies or insurance coverage that I do. When one of us suffers, we all suffer.

Well, like I said at the beginning, I came up with a number of answers. Now it’s your turn…

What would you do if you had a “diabetes wild card”?

If you need a little inspiration, try this: