One of my friends is a diabetic. She has always been open about her condition and is not afraid to tell people she has diabetes. I had never really been exposed to diabetes until she and I became friends. The extent of my knowledge about diabetes consisted of knowing that if her blood sugar was low, she needed to drink some juice and eat something with sugar in it, and if her blood sugar was high, she needed to give herself extra insulin. I had no idea what number range was high, low, or average or anything else for that matter.
I got a phone call around 3:30 am Sunday morning from the person my friend was hanging out with Saturday night. He expressed concern because her blood sugar was really low and she wasn’t able to keep down any food or juice. I headed up to her room and, unfortunately, found he wasn’t exaggerating as I had expected. After 30 minutes or so of trying to get her to keep down various foods and liquids, we decided to take her to the hospital.
We made the right decision. The emergency room staff knew exactly what she needed. The process wasn’t exactly quick—she needed to receive two bags of IV fluids—but when we left at 9 am, she was at the proper blood sugar level and was able to keep food down.
Luckily, when I got the phone call early that morning, I was with another person who had diabetes. He offered to come with me to her room and ended up being a really big help. Neither the person my friend was with that evening nor I knew how serious her condition was or what she needed. He knew all the different things she needed to try to raise her blood sugar and reminded her to check for other conditions that are caused by being low for a long period of time. He was the one that made the final decision to take her to the hospital.
Because of this experience, I now know how important it is for me to be educated in her condition and how to help her if she has a problem. My friend and I are going to take the time to sit down and discuss the proper procedures if she has a problem with diabetes. She is going to show me everything she has to use in case of an emergency. The person with diabetes who helped out is planning to talk to his roommate about his condition as well.
It is really important that you let the people who are close to you know about any medical condition you may have and the treatments you need if it flares up. I am allergic to nuts. I have an Epi Pen in case I go into an allergic shock. My suitemate, boyfriend, and other close friends know where I keep it and how to use it if I have a problem. Another thing that everyone should consider: have an ICE (In Case of Emergency) contact in your cell phone phonebook. That way if you are out with people that don’t know you very well, they can get a hold of someone who will know how to help you. For some of us, Mom and Dad aren’t right down the street anymore. Make sure you have someone who can fill that role if needed.
