I had been mentally preparing myself for a memorial service for the spouse of a woman I absolutely adore. The dreaded day arrives and my goal prior to attending the service included a brisk walk and meditation before jumping in the shower. Everything was going according to plan until I returned home to find I was locked out of the house! I had 1 hour and 32 minutes before picking up an honorary guest of the widow!
Think Amber! My heart started to pound and panic set in. I contacted my landlord, explained the situation and sense of urgency. She arrived and made it clear she doesn’t know if she has the keys to my home while pulling out a grocery size bag of loose keys. It was like a scene from the Price Is Right. I take a handful of keys, sprint to the front door, try every key multiple times and then sprint to the back door to do the same. I haven’t done sprints in ages so my thighs were in shock. My state of panic heightened and then it hit me – not only am I locked out, but I don’t have emergency candy or tester for that matter. What if my blood sugar is low? The wave of irrational thoughts flood my mind and I began to cry hysterically.
None of the keys worked and my landlord leaves as I contact a locksmith. I sat on the front porch doing everything in my power to convince myself it would be okay. The locksmith arrived and in minutes I’m in the house. I wrote a check, thanked him, shoved him out the door and stripped within in seconds. I took a record fast shower, drove 90 mph, picked up the honorary guest and made it to the service as the doors were closing.
This was the first time I can recall forcing my diabetes to take a back seat. I didn’t eat lunch, pack a snack or stop to test my blood sugar, even after panicking on the front porch. Getting to the service took precedence and I didn’t have a moment to think about diabetes until we arrived. During the hour+ long memorial, the diabetes thoughts crept in. Would the stress of this event effect the rest of my day? Will my blood sugar bottom out before the reception? None of those thoughts mattered because I made it in time to celebrate his life. Thank you diabetes for allowing me to make other things a priority today.
Don & Pat Capra attending my NewView (visually impaired) exhibition.
I shared this post in March, 2015 and decided to repost in celebration of Don Capra’s life. He was a leading medical researcher and spent a portion of his life researching T1D. He was kind enough to share his discoveries, articles and all things diabetes with me before “kicking the bucket“. I’m truly blessed to have known such a wonderful scientist, leader and passionate man.
Diabetes Takes A Back Seat To The Chaos – Amber’s nightmare of a day. http://t.co/2hbfa2FdHb http://t.co/r7sukr5TsG
RT @DiabetesGrind: Diabetes Takes A Back Seat To The Chaos – Amber’s nightmare of a day. http://t.co/2hbfa2FdHb http://t.co/r7sukr5TsG
Im sorry for all the chaos. Im glad you were ok and made it to the service to celebrate your friends life. While diabetes doesn’t have to stop anyone from anything it sure does have a away of stealing time.
Tina – thank you for your kind words. I believe this was the first time I was aware of my feelings about the situation.
A wonderful and generous bit of writing, thanks for making me feel more normal. I’m sorry for your loss and can relate to exactly the situation you describe. (But diabetes does stop loads of people doing loads of things: I’ll never fly a plane, drive a cab or a forklift truck, I’ll never operaste any heavy machinery, not even a camera mounted on a filming crane- I’m a filmmaker so this is a big one.
I understand saying that in a positive way, but for me, the claim that it doesn’t stop me doing stuff when I know that to be untrue, just makes me feel like more of a failure for not being good enough.
Anyway, I’m just sharing that, I’m glad though if others don’t feel the same limitations on their opportunities.
Polly – Thank you for your comment. Never in my life has someone said I made them feel normal. The utter most complement I think. Not sure if you caught this post, Does Diabetes Limit Your Career Path. It totally addresses the content of your message. I’m going to email you about a few thoughts/questions I have about your career path.