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This is a blood meter that is used to check blood sugar. It needs a disk of test strips, which makes it pretty abnormal from other typical meters. It has memory, the date and time, and a blue button that drops the strip into the garbage. Photo by Brandon Campbell.

Testing blood sugar levels a way of life for FHS student

Living with diabetes involves regular monitoring.

By BRANDON CAMPBELL
fhspress.com Staff
Posted November 16, 2015

Many people may not know what diabetes is. There are two types of this disease, Type One and Type Two. Type One is when you are born with it or, like me, runs in your family. Type Two is when you get it from eating too much sweets and sugar.

I’ve had Type One for a little over seven years, and I have to test my blood sugar every three to four hours every day. I take insulin after I eat, which makes it hard for me to eat whatever I want without any concern. Every time my blood sugar is high I have to take insulin.

My correction dose for high blood sugar is one unit of insulin for every fifty, starting from 151.
Whenever my blood sugar is low, I have to eat or drink anything that’ll have enough carbs to bring my blood sugar over 80. Anything sugary brings my sugar level up faster, such as soda, juice, glucose tablets, or candy. If I can’t swallow, then I’ll have to take a shot of glucagon, which is a shot that brings my blood sugar up.

Exercise brings my blood sugar down. So every time I leave my house, I’ll have to bring a bag of diabetic supplies, like my meter, insulin, glucose tabs, glucagon, needles, and test strips.
I have symptoms that’ll alert people I’m either low or high. When I’m low, I am usually shaky, dizzy, pale, and spaced out. When I’m high, I’m shaky, dizzy, or I feel like I am about to throw up.

Sometimes when my blood sugar is low at night, I’ll have a seizure. Usually, I’ll get up in the middle of the night and eat something, but if something startles me, I’ll seize out. That hasn’t happened in months, so it’s fine.

I have to leave fourth period every day about ten minutes early. I have to check my blood before lunch, then I pick up my food and eat. I check out to see how many carbs are in each food and add the carb amount to get a total number, then divide by my insulin ratio, which varies for each person, mine just happens to be four. So I’ll divide by four and get the number of units I have to inject myself with.

At night, I have to inject myself with lantus, which is a twenty-four hour insulin that regulates my blood sugar. It helps me at night so I won’t have to wake up every three hours to check my blood.

I wish that I wouldn’t have to check my blood sugar every time I would leave the house and it would be cool if I didn’t have to take a shot every time I eat something.

As far as I know, I’m stuck with this forever, unless in the near future medicine will be more advanced and it can cure diabetes and other diseases. But if need be, I’ll get a pancreas transplant, but that’s for a last and desperate resort. I’m pretty sure I can live with diabetes, but it’ll be hard.

FOOTHILL HIGH SCHOOL fhspress.com SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA