A harrowing adventure and a refreshing beverage

It all started about five when I, exhausted from a combination of meds, heat, and boredom, decided to take a nap. As I've mentioned here before, I don't know my body's patterns as well as I used to. I woke up some time later in an ambulance. They told me my sugar was 44, which, well, isn't enough, but it should have been enough to get me downstairs.

If you've never been in an ambulance, they're very shiny. I was frightened until I heard my dad's voice, and then I thought I was dreaming. After about five minutes watching out the back windows and feeling the vehicle sway and lurch, I decided that this was probably happening, and they were probably taking me to a hospital. I should recognize and acknowledge right now that I do not dream hypoglycemia.

In the ambulance, the nice EMTs gave me not one but two shots of glucagon. First off, one was enough. One is almost always enough. If you really need two shots of glucagon, you need to be in a hospital. By the time I was in the ER, my sugar was up to 161, which was fine for me to go home.

The doc, Dr. Coleman, decided he wanted me to eat something and to see another reading in 15 minutes. Fine. Have you ever tried to find food in a hospital after dinnertime? Eventually a nurse came up with grape juice and graham crackers. I felt like I was back in preschool and started wondering when I was going to get my nap mat out of my cubby hole. The nurse smiled and said that he got the snack food from pediatrics.

The grape juice gave me pause; I mean, it's just about as sweet as you can get, but I drank it anyway. The 15 minutes turned into 45 minutes, which can happen when medical folks are involved. After the next reading, I knew I was going to have to take more insulin, but they let me go home.

I was hungry by then, so I had a bowl of cereal and tried to comfort Lola. She was pretty freaked out by the whole thing.

In any case, here I'll note that Wild Berry Zinger mixed with a little cranberry juice (not cranberry juice cocktail)over ice is a nice, tart, refreshing summertime beverage. You can sweeten if you want.

before - after