{"id":29886,"date":"2012-08-16T09:55:25","date_gmt":"2012-08-16T13:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=28941"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:41:48","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:41:48","slug":"surgery-blood-sugar-and-travel-analogy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=29886","title":{"rendered":"Surgery, Blood Sugar and Travel Analogy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/New-Balance-T1D-42.2.jpg\" rel=\"mfp\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-28945 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/New-Balance-T1D-42.2-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>I arrived at the hospital at 8:00 a.m. yesterday with Jess, a backpack, and a stomach full of butterflies.\u00a0 The hospital has a metal detector at the entrance.\u00a0 As Jess went through it she said, \u201cThis is like going to the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I went through a check-in process (airport analogy again) and then Jess and I began to look for the surgery area.\u00a0 Somewhere along the way we took a wrong turn.\u00a0 We ended up in a staff-only section where a dozen surgeons in green scrubs were having a meeting.\u00a0 \u201cThis is not really like the airport,\u201d Jess said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">At around 9:00, after finally getting to the right place, I met with the admitting nurse. She asked me a bunch of questions about my health and checked my blood sugar. It was 124.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I was sent to the waiting room until the surgery prep. Jess and I waited together, nervously, for 45 minutes. \u00a0As lovely as my wife is, she is not the person to take with you if you\u2019re looking for someone comforting and reassuring.\u00a0 Jess noticed every hair on the floor, potential health hazards where there were none, and repeatedly asked me to check my blood sugar. She also noted that the monitors with updates about exactly where each patient was \u2013 waiting area, surgery prep, in surgery, in recovery, in a room \u2013 were a lot like flight status updates.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Finally, I received a call on my cell to come in for surgery \u2013 a return to the area Jess and I had stumbled into earlier. I gave Jess a kiss and walked in. I got a robe to change into and was given an IV. I met with the nurses and anesthesiologist. I told them I have type 1 diabetes and showed them my pump.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I had my blood sugar checked before being wheeled into the operating room. It was a little higher, but still fine \u2013 136.\u00a0 I sent that information by mental text message to Jess.\u00a0 She claims she never got it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">When I got to the operating room the surgeon was there waiting and after he said hello and asked me a few questions the whole team went to work strapping me in. One of the nurses reinforced my infusion set with tape (it really hurt to remove the tape) and hooked the pump up to some tape. Then the anesthesiologist told me to relax, injected something into my IV and put the mask on my face.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room.\u00a0 I woke up feeling a little dazed, but fine. I looked at my pump (which I call my pocket-watch on occasion) \u2013 it was 12:00 p.m. I had been out for exactly an hour. A nurse came over and asked me how I felt.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cFine\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cDo you need anything for the pain?\u201d he asked<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cNo. I\u2019m fine,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I didn\u2019t feel much pain at all and remembered that pain medication has a negative impact on blood sugar.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A few minutes later Jess was allowed in. I remember that she brought me my glucometer. I checked my blood sugar right away \u2013 140. I was impressed with my well-behaved BG and happy all the predictions of crazy numbers did not come true. (Jess claims I hallucinated.\u00a0 She did not bring me my glucometer.\u00a0 She said I was holding a tissue on my finger when she walked in.\u00a0 Apparently the first thing I said was \u201ctake a picture\u201d.\u00a0 Then I announced that my blood sugar was 140.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Michael-Aviad-First-Coffee-Post-Surgery-.jpg\" rel=\"mfp\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-28942 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Michael-Aviad-First-Coffee-Post-Surgery--223x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"223\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>From the recovery room I was taken to a regular room where I rested, watched TV and had a cup of coffee Jessica bought for me.\u00a0 Jess entertained me by continuing the air travel analogy.\u00a0 In surgery I was totally out of control, just like in an airplane.\u00a0 Your life is totally in someone else\u2019s hands.\u00a0 And in the hospital I was confined to a small space with a small TV screen in front of me (although much larger than a seat on coach).\u00a0 Jess took my order for coffee, but before she left for the caf\u00e9 downstairs she asked the nurse if I was allowed to drink at all.\u00a0 The answer was <em>not yet<\/em> and that I had to start with water, not coffee.\u00a0 Seriously?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Jess went home to the boys, and after a couple hours of watching TV and resting I decided I had had it and asked if I had to spend the night or if I could go home. The nurse told me that when the doctor was done with his surgeries for the day he\u2019d come up and decide. I tried to relax and checked my blood sugar again. It was 168. I took a little correction bolus and went back to reading.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">At around 4:00 p.m. the surgeon came in and asked how I was doing. I told him I felt fine under the circumstances and asked if I could go home. He told me it was up to me. As far as he was concerned I could go running tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhatever the pain allows,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can expect some puffiness and bruising, but anything more than that give me a call or go to your doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I called home and asked to get picked up. I told the nurse I was going and went to check myself out of the hospital. By the time my mother arrived I was outside waiting with another cup of coffee in my hand.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">By dinnertime I was starving. I hadn\u2019t eaten for 20 hours. I checked my blood sugar. It was 189. <em>That\u2019s weird,<\/em> I thought. I bolused for dinner, taking into account that I would eat a lot. Before getting into bed I checked my blood sugar again it was 298! I couldn\u2019t believe it. I was in pain and wanted to sleep but decided to watch TV and wait for my blood sugar to come down.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It didn\u2019t. An hour and a half later it was 289.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I decided to try a new infusion set, thinking maybe something happened during surgery.\u00a0 In pain, I walked to the study and put in the new set. I bloused and set an alarm to wake up an hour and a half later.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Before I fell asleep Jess gave me the present she\u2019d been saving for my birthday. She came out with a pair of New Balance 993\u2019s she had custom ordered for me. She had them stich T1D on the heel of one of the shoes and 42.2 on the other (that\u2019s kilometers for 26.2). I was a little too uncomfortable to truly appreciate it.\u00a0 But the message \u2013 of supporting me to get back on my feet and run \u2013 was a strong one.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I woke up before my alarm. The discomfort from the surgery had turned into full blown pain. I couldn\u2019t sleep. I checked my blood sugar again \u2013 244 \u2013 and bloused again. I got up to go to the bathroom. It was so painful and difficult. I started to regret the fact that I\u2019d told the doctor I didn\u2019t need a prescription for painkillers. Suddenly, while dragging myself, I thought of how Jessica after her c-sections, which are way more serious than my surgery, dealt with her pain while nursing and caring for a newborn baby. <em>Wow,<\/em> I thought to myself she is amazing, she didn\u2019t complain much \u2013 or at least I don\u2019t remember.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I dozed off for a little while and woke up around 3:00 a.m. I was so uncomfortable and in so much pain that I couldn\u2019t sleep. (I usually sleep on my side and can\u2019t now.\u00a0 Difficult to sleep, much like on an airplane.) I checked my blood sugar again it was 200. At least it was in the right direction. I bloused again. I watched a movie and then surfed the many channels with nothing to watch. At around 6:00 a.m. I dozed off again, minutes before Adam arrived to cheerfully greet me and request to watch Dora and Diego in my bed. I woke up at 8:00 a.m and my blood sugar was 168. Again, I bloused. So much for well-behaved BG I\u2019d been so proud of during the time of the surgery. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Apparently pain, not just pain mediation, negatively affects blood sugar.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I had my blood sugar checked before being wheeled into the operating room. It was a little higher, but still fine \u2013 136.  I sent that information by mental text message to Jess.  She claims she never got it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[1226],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.9 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Surgery, Blood Sugar and Travel Analogy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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