I have many hidey-holes around my house where I have non-perishable snacks to treat a hypo.
I learnt long ago that a frantic dash to the kitchen or medicine cabinet whilst your child is skimming around 1mmol/L, screaming or jerking in a life threatening situation leaves you riddled with panic and unable to think clearly.
I am a freak when it comes to glucagon, because I have seen how it restores my son’s blood sugar levels so that he is in a safe zone, and back from the extreme depths of hypoglyaemia.
I carry one in my bag, I have one under the cushions of my sofa, and lastly, I have even resorted to sleeping with one under my pillow each and every night.
In this photo, is the injection that has saved my son’s life too many times to count. When he was 3 years of age, I found my son with no pulse and miraculously revived him with CPR. He had fallen unconscious in his sleep due to severe hypoglycaemia. It scarred me so deeply that I feel anxious and unsettled without a glucagon kit nearby.
Diabetes leaves me tortured with worry and recalling past hypo memories during the night. I have learnt to sleep so lightly, I even wake up if my son rolls over. I exist on very little sleep, but there have been so many occasions that if I had been sleeping soundly, a tragedy could have easily happened. I know it borders on ridiculous to sleep with a life-saving injection literally under my head, however, the precious seconds that tick by when you are trying to reverse a hypo are crucial for recovery. Night time hypos are often more difficult to treat as the child is still sleepy and will not cooperate with food or drink consumption. That’s why I hold Glucagon’s reversal properties close to my heart, and head for that matter.
Insulin in not a cure.
