Taking a Plunge

The shimmering blue water slowly began to emerge as I made my way up the highway, perfectly contrasted and coordinated at the same time with the bright blue sky above.

I manoeuvred into the right turn lane and made my way into the carpark, which was almost deserted on a Thursday afternoon. I grabbed my blue and white AMSL drawstring bag containing a towel, bottle of sunscreen, a dry shirt and glucose tabs.

My insulin pump was clipped to the inside of the pocket in my swim shorts, still running as per normal. My blood sugar was 9.3 before I left home. With 2 units of insulin left to act from lunch and some protein in play, I felt fairly confident to let it ride.

My comfy brown thongs with blue and red striped cotton straps came off as I buried my feet in the soft, white sand. I made my way closer to the shore line and perched my bag in the sand, setting up ship.

I disconnected my pump from the infusion site on my stomach and wrapped it up in the beach towel in my bag, not overly worried about insulin spoiling on that breezy thirty degree day. I slapped a load of sunscreen over my pale skin, recalling sore throbbing red marks of sunburn that were a painful reminder of previous non-compliant days in the sun.

The gentle wind whipped through my hair and burst onto my face. I could feel the refreshingly cold water hit my toes as I began to wade my way into the water. The salty sea spray hit my face as the waves crashed over the water and the bottom half of my body became submerged underneath it.

With the top half of my body feeling the cold of the sea spray, I took a plunge beneath the water.

As the waves pushed their way over me, crashed and then receded, with the sun shining brightly over the clear blue sky, I wasn’t thinking about diabetes. I wasn’t thinking about work. I wasn’t thinking about life.

I was drifting there, savouring the moment.

It felt good.