SUPPLIES supplies supplies supplies

To me there is nothing more frustrating about diabetes than having to remember all of the supplies and little details that you have to manage every moment of the day to make sure that you are prepared for your routine and for any emergencies. Yesterday I had packed up everything I would need to be out all day doing chores and then having dinner at Jamie's; I'd brought my laptop and some food to contribute to dinner, a book to read if I had coffee in the afternoon, a change of clothes for yoga, everything, but I didn't realize that I only had 2 test strips left in my current vial. Tired of driving, tired of planning, tired of double-checking, I thought, "two test strips will be plenty to last me until early tomorrow. But then I thought, "Will not having enough supplies make me unwilling or unable to check my blood sugar before driving or after exercising?" Ultimately I decided to be the driver to the disc golf course and swing by my house afterwards for the extra strips. When we arrived back home after playing in the woods and getting my supplies I could let all worries about diabetes go and relax into the evening.

Why such a boring topic for this blog, "Forgetting Supplies." It is not such a boring topic for the diabetic. It is the biggest worry when leaving for a trip, the biggest fear when you find yourself three miles into a hike or alone on a run..."What if I didn't bring enough honey?" "What if I didn't bring my insulin pen to this fancy restaurant that I've already ordered food at?" It is depressing and confining but it happens. The more you do any certain activity the easier covering your bases becomes. Although I worry more about forgetting something before a big trip, the times that I actually have forgotten something are always regular days, in which my oversight is annoying and inconvenient but not so urgent and dangerous. That is why when planning for new adventures, being diabetic must be at the forefront of your brain. If you keep it there while you are planning, and you double-check, then you can jump into your activity released of that worry and anxiety of not having what you need.

A really hard activity for me to figure out and plan for this summer has been running races. I ran my second 5k and first 10k and 8K this summer, and observed the diabetic factor become less and less scary and more controlled. Racing has been fun and new; I love the feeling of barrelling off in a pack of people moving their bodies for no particular reason besides the spirit of the race. I love running 5 miles before eating a big, healthy breakfast. I love to be tired in my muscles because I used them to their full extent. I'll write about the freedom of running in more detail soon.