MY INSULIN REACTION

by Carol Anderson

The Saturday before Christmas I was volunteering as a receptionist at a local museum. I would then go to a Christmas party. It had been a year since my kidney transplant, and my life was filled with activities, now that I was feeling well, and "getting back into the world again."

I knew the woman giving the party. She had been preparing the food for a whole week! I ate sparingly that day, "saving my appetite" for the big party. Even then I realized this was the wrong approach for an insulin-dependent diabetic to take, but I felt I could handle it. I'd done it before, and nothing had happened to me in the past.

I arrived at the party about 7 p.m. feeling a little disoriented from hypoglycemia, so I began to eat hors d'oeuvres. That wasn't enough. My condition did not improve, so I started drinking a glass of soda pop. Too late! I felt myself getting weaker and weaker--then I passed out. Luckily, I was sitting at a table, and didn't fall.

The next thing I remember is waking up, with all the guests standing around the table looking at me. The hostess, who knew I was diabetic, had tried to give me orange juice after I passed out. That had not helped, and after 20 minutes she called the rescue squad. When they arrived, they gave me intravenous glucose, and I came out of it immediately. Because I had been unconscious for half an hour, the rescue squad took me to the local hospital to make sure I was alright.

At the hospital, the emergency room physician examined me, and though I was feeling fine by then, he suggested I go to a different hospital, closer to my home, where my regular physician could examine me. I agreed. I went.

The emergency room at the hospital near my home was having a busy night. Soon after I was wheeled in, I talked to a doctor who said I could leave as soon as he finished his examination. I was not in an emergency situation, so he left me to attend more serious cases.

Lying there, I began to feel very strange. I started to shake with chills, my body felt achy, and I could not breathe properly.

When the doctor came back, he knew something was wrong. Immediately he ordered a chest x-ray and blood tests to determine the oxygen content of my blood. The results suggested I had pneumonia! The doctor's rationalization for this happening so quickly was that I probably had aspirated some food or juice when I was unconscious, leading to "aspirated pneumonia." They kept me at the hospital, and placed me on intravenous antibiotics for a week.

I spent Christmas in the hospital. I did feel well enough to go out on a pass on Christmas day for a few hours, for which I was truly grateful. I recovered more quickly than usual, according to my doctors, and was discharged two days after Christmas.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have "bounced back." I have learned, from my experience, never again to "save my appetite" until the end of the day, and then eat a lot. It just doesn't work when you are a diabetic.

We all make mistakes, but hopefully you can learn from mine and avoid the serious problems I had. Stay well.