Bet she had more than I did….
Memorial Day weekend was full of all kinds of amazing. I hit up a Padre game, checked out some live music, and made the rounds at some of my favorite dive bars in North County – all around a solid weekend. I also did some drinking….and I certainly didn’t think there was anything wrong with that. Little did I know I would be encountering a serious ‘betes downer when I headed out on the town Sunday night.
Sunday I headed up to Cardiff to meet up with a group of friends. We had some cocktails, grilled up a ton of meat, then headed out for an evening at some of our favorite not-so classy-but-awesome bars in town. When I drink, I check my blood sugar even more fiendishly that normal – at least every hour if not more. Alcohol that contains carbohydrates, such as beer, might make your blood sugar rise initially, but because it can inhibit your liver from releasing stored glucose, you can drop dangerously low hours later. If I am anywhere near a low at bedtime after drinking, I make sure to have a snack (thanks again for the cookies on Saturday night Natalie! You are a true Diabuddy!). Also, I tend to stay away from things like margaritas and sugary mixers since they add more variables to the equation. I stick to light beers, wine, and if I’m drinking hard liquor, I go with sugar-free mixers like soda water or Diet Sprite.
My blood sugars are not always perfect when drinking. I tend to let them rise a bit to prevent lows – maybe even up in to the 200s. I accept this non-perfection as part of my prerogative in my diabetes management. I allow for some poor numbers in exchange for quality of life.
We sidled up to the bar at what would be our last stop around 11pm. I ordered a light beer and continued laughing and talking with my crew. I kept bumping elbows with a dude next to me, and me being the friendly person I am, he and I eventually struck up a conversation. Amidst our small talk, he asked me the inevitable question of “so, what do you do for a living..”
“I work for a pharmaceutical company that makes diabetes drugs,” I told him. “I have Type 1 diabetes, so its great to work somewhere that is so connected to a big part of my life.”
“Oh cool – my friend here is a doctor, she knows a lot about that stuff” he answered. He pointed to his friend – a late thirties blond woman who looked…how can I put this nicely…uuuhmmm…trashed. Her eyes were half open, and she swayed as she plunked herself down on a bar stool. The guy introduced us and casually said
“Alexis here says she works in pharmaceuticals and said she also has diabetes, I was telling her you certainly know a lot about the subject…”
“You shouldn’t drink” the woman slurred.
“Excuse me?” I asked
“Yeah my cousin and my brother have diabetes and oh my gosh they just drink and get out of control and you really just shouldn’t drink if you have diabetes.”
“I actually have really good control, I test a lot when I drink, in fact I was just 139 a moment ago so I don’t really…..” why am I still talking I wondered to myself. I don’t have to explain this to anyone! Let alone this intoxicated train-wreck of a physician who doesn’t even know me….I trailed off in my sentence because 1.) I had ceased to care and 2.) The woman had actually PLACED HER HAND OVER MY DRINK and was saying again that I shouldn’t drink….Woman, you are now in my personal space and I need to get out of this situation before I say something really awful – like how sorry I feel for any patient that has to see such an asinine display of medical misinformation when they walk into your office, not to mention your ugly mug (but that’s neither here nor there…)
“Anyways, nice talking to you” I said to the dude “I am going to get back to my friends.” I turned my back to their crew and rejoined my friends in conversation.
I have heard a lot from people about diabetes, from the ridiculous to the unfounded to the downright absurd, but I have to say, that was the first time I had ever received an impromptu lecture from a drunk doctor about why I shouldn’t be drinking. Wowza.
I don’t need to explain to anyone who is reading this about why what that doctor said was uncalled for, rude, offensive, or obnoxious. That was certainly not my first encounter with an imbecile. It did however make me question my justifications for drinking, knowing I have disease that demands full attention 24/7.
Some people may allow their indulgences in other areas of their diabetes life – and perhaps drinking is mine. I work out hard, I eat healthy and low-carb, I test my blood sugars 10-15 times a day, I wear an insulin pump, see my doc on schedule, work on A1c targets, and I also choose to drink about twice a week. And I don’t feel bad about that. I will compromise some numbers in order to live like a normal 26 year-old. I don’t pretend to manage my diabetes perfectly while drinking, or at any other time for that matter, because I believe that my enjoyment of life sometimes means having wiggle room in my diabetes management. I have always been ok with that and my good control has been a testament to the fact that some transgressions in management don’t ruin the big picture. In fact, I think I would be a much unhappier person if I had perfect numbers but had a boring, predictable life that didn’t involve Jager Bombs (sugar-free Red Bull of course!) I also don’t appreciate being compared to anyone’s brother, cousin, grandma who had her legs amputated or that one weird girl you knew in elementary school who only ate liverwurst sandwiches. I don’t know her – and my diabetes is mine to manage, not for you to judge.
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Comments
Ha! Truth be told my friend, I REALLY wanted to write about meeting you b/c that never happens to me, but could not remember your name - I thought it was Brad (music was a little loud that night) - so glad you got the link from Natalie and so glad you dig the blog.
I use the OmniPod insulin pump, which I really like - I only started on a pump a year ago, I was very resistant to the idea for all the normal reasons - beach, didn’t want to wear something all the time, etc, but the wireless OmniPod design has been pretty awesome. I use it with Novolog, and occasionally I will go back to Lantus/Novolog injections for a weekend, just to take a break, but overall pumping has been a good experience for me.
How about you? What do you use? So nice to meet you the other night! Its great to talk with other “really cool diabetics” haha!
You forgot to mention that other really cool diabetic guy you met at the bar! haah. Natalie sent me your link, I thinks it really cool you have a blog. Which pump do you have and which insulins do you take and why?