Wednesday Hypo

We were standing around the table in the warehouse, slicing open boxes as we do every morning at work. I was left in stitches after a hilarous moment that you had to be there to find funny. I laughed for several minutes, my sides in stitches and my eyes watering with tears of laughter. I haven’t had such a good laugh in a long time, and it felt so good.

As the laughter subsided, I focussed my attention back towards slicing open those boxes. I yawned loudly, several times, as I tried to get on with the task at hand. “Early night for you!” One of my colleagues exclaimed. I was all of a sudden devoid of energy, and couldn’t be bothered in the slightest to get on with the task at hand. I stopped and leant on the table. I so badly wanted to sit down and rest. And maybe not get up again. I told the guys around me that I was exhausted from laughing so hard, but I knew that couldn’t be further from the truth.

I had no doubt in my mind that I was hypo. I’ve had hundreds of typical hypos in my lifetime, but none are as unique as the ones that happen while I’m at work. And as I stood there, yawning, I pondered three possible options in my mind.

Option one: I was only half an hour away from my mid morning coffee and banana. My hypo can hold out for another half an hour, easily, I told myself. I bet I’m not even that low.

Option two: I could stop and have my morning tea break now, albeit earlier than usual. But then the rest of the morning will drag, I reminded myself. By then, I’ll really be yawning. 

Option three: I could duck out and grab a muesli bar from my locker. I hate eating in front of others, I thought to myself. Plus, I’ll probably spoil my appetite and won’t be able to enjoy the coffee break that I crave each morning.

I stubbornly settled on option one. I continued slicing open those boxes, lazily. I continued to yawn, over and over. My legs felt like jelly, ready to give up on me at any minute now. Every passing minute felt like an ordeal, and I could not believe that I still had the better part of half an hour to go.

I finally gave up, with my urge to satisfy that hypo overpowering my will to stay put. I ducked out of my work area, and quickly crammed a muesli bar into my mouth. Opting for that muesli bar was like having that piece of cake I’d been craving all day. All of a sudden, I was back to my normal self. I had the energy to stand up straight, rip open boxes, and get on with the job.

Shortly after, I was called upon to pull down some heavy items from up above. As I was standing there on the ladder, balancing an akwardly heavy box in my arms, I didn’t want to imagine what would have happened had I not treated that hypo.

Remember the ‘Humans of Diabetes’ blog post that I wrote for a company called AkibaH? Well, these guys are launching Glucase, a Smartphone case that is a complete Glucose Meter. There’s a nice visual of the product here, as well as an option to fund their campaign if you are interested.