Weddings

August 3, 2008

Hello! How is everyone doing? I spent the weekend with family and friends at a wedding celebration. As we all know, a wedding brings about certain challenges to us women with diabetes that others are likely unaware of…

The first dilemma comes about when dressing for the event. For those of us with pumps, form-fitting dresses require some creative thinking about pump placement. Of course, I have invested in a few pump pouches to strap around my legs. Most of the time I either use the pump pouch or tuck it in the middle of my bra. The next challenge is being aware of is the weather and its impact on our insulin. Unfortunately, the weather on Saturday was about 97 degrees with a heat index of about 103 degrees. HOT! I am always concerned about the potency of my insulin whenever I have to be out in weather conditions like these. We also have to be sure to drink plenty of water in extremely hot weather conditions. Then, there is the eating/insulin dosing aspect. We have to think about when to take our insulin (i.e. before the first bite – when we are unsure of the amount we are going to consume; in the middle of the meal- after we’ve gotten a taste of various foods and have a better idea of what we plan to eat; or at the end of the meal- when we know exactly what we have eaten). Also, since my pump was in a conspicuous place, I had to retreat to the closest restroom when I decided to take my insulin. Naturally, that requires a little extra planning as well. Then, there is almost always wedding cake and alcohol to consider. Most of the weddings I have attended have not taken into consideration that there may be some people with diabetes attending. Therefore, the drinks are usually prepared for people who do not have diabetes. In other words, they are often full of sugar (sweetened tea, punch, etc.), which in turn requires us to either ask for a “special” drink, suffer silently, or drink something full of sugar . The wedding this weekend actually had unsweetened tea and my favorite sweetener….so, I was pleasantly surprised! Then, there is usually dancing, which expends a certain amount of energy (and may or may not reduce our insulin requirement). In between all of the aforementioned, we have to check our blood sugar levels. After it is all over and before retiring for the evening, we have to do our final concluding blood sugar check. In my mind, this is the “how did I manage this event blood sugar.” I am not laboring on the challenges above in despair. Rather, I realized when I started thinking about this past weekend that most people have NO IDEA what women with diabetes must juggle in addition to their ‘normal’ lives. Putting it on paper not only explains our strength to others, but it also allows us to see the bigger picture of our strength!

For any woman with diabetes who has successfully made it through a wedding celebration or similar event, I salute you this week! This weekend served as a good reminder of how challenging an event can be and how STRONG women with diabetes are. Not only do we manage our families and our lives, but we also manage our diabetes. I hope each of you recognize and celebrate these small, yet large accomplishments in your everyday life.