What’s worse than having diabetes? I would have to say that having diabetes and battling laryngitis.
It couldn’t have hit me at a more inconvenient time. Granted, I managed to enjoy the Christmas holiday in relatively good health. But this year, Christmas represented not only a joyful time spent with my family but also the beginning of a crazy work schedule for me.
I spent the next several days working odd hours at the movie theater. One night I would be there from 5 to 11, and then I’d have to be awake about 8 hours later to get ready for a 9:30 to 6 o’clock shift. This inconsistent schedule combined with the constant need to talk in order to help customers did me in and I saw my immune system suffer. The Friday after Christmas found me completely mute. If I tried to speak, a pathetic squeak would utter out instead. I was miserable enough between that, congestion, and a cough. Throw diabetes into the mix and it was a complete disaster.
That whole weekend, I saw my numbers fly higher than I would have liked. It was incredibly stressful trying to manage my diabetes along with my work schedule and nursing myself back to health. My appetite was bizarre, as well: sometimes I was ravenous, other times I was completely uninterested in food. This made it nearly impossible to predict how much insulin I should give myself, and so my good blood sugar streak suffered.
This was very discouraging, considering mere weeks ago I received the exciting news that my A1c dropped nearly a whole point. So I stepped up my efforts to test frequently and bolus for any highs whether or not I was eating a snack or a meal at the same time. I was sure to have extra water with me at all times to serve the dual purpose of flushing extra sugar from my system and drowning those germs.
Thankfully, I’m feeling much better. It’s been about two weeks since the illness tackled me full force, and the only remnants now are a slight cough and residual congestion. If anything, my first major sickness in over a year reminded me how important it is to be so diligent with my diabetes at all times. And now that it’s a new year, I think this lesson is more valuable than ever. Here’s to this year being my time to make serious and positive changes to my diabetes and my overall health!
