Not Feeling Positive

I guess I have learned so many things about myself and about the world around me. I know many of my experiences have been incredibly positive and others have been incredibly difficult. I know my experience at work both times I have worked at the University have been negative. They get in this mode where getting some one who does not have a disability would be easier for the department. The interesting part is that I miss less days than all my coworkers, supervisors and managers. I find that interesting but I get not credit for missing very few days working overtime or making up all time I take to go to Dr. appointments. I always thought that having Duchess would be better accepted and most people would understand why I needed  her. I know since it has been a while since I have had a bad low at work most people I think now doubt why I need her. I really wish people would stay out of my way and leave us alone. I am just a normal person trying to live the best life I can without others trying to make things more difficult for Duchess and I.

I have given up on my work being a postie experience especially after all of the complaints about pretty much anything Duchess does even thought it has not impact on the other person. I know with my wall now the complaints have stopped for the most part but sadly my own department is the one being difficult. I know I am running into so many issues I am keeping logs and journals of incidents to keep myself safe. It really makes me sad how badly a disabled individual can be treated when all they are doing is trying to earn an income like everyone else. I am pursing some solutions to these issues but most of them are long term solutions which are not easy. I work so hard and spend so much of my year working way too many hours to be dealing with this issue now. I am hoping to put all these issue to rest for a while with some up coming actions on my part. Hoping for a resolution with cooperation on both sides would make things much easier but I know it does not always go that way.

Increasing Workplace Issues

I went to a meeting last week and I new who was attending the meeting. I had not meet my manager's new manager. She had come around on a day I was teaching a class for my department to meet everyone. I know my manager was really excited about some upcoming changes for the department. Our previous manager was not helpful and was not willing to really change anything or improve any aspects of the department. The previous one was not very good in many aspects especially the looks that manager used to give me. I would run into her in the bathroom and she would look at me with pity and resentment. She did not get why I had Duchess or seem to care but was not happy I worked in the department. I finally meet my new one and she had a very similar look when I walked in the room with my supervisor and my manger. She never said hello or even introduced herself. I know when I meet her in the meeting she seemed much more friendly than the previous but the look she gave me was not welcoming at all.

I know recently my job has been given all these deadlines constantly because I think they want me to quite because they would rather not deal with someone who is disabled. I have been through this before at UT but this time I am not quitting and accommodating their requests. Last time they broke the law and I won't stand for this to happen again. I really don't understand why they think it is so difficult to have me in the department when I show up on a snow/ice day and no one else made it. I also make up all time from Dr's appointments and I also work a great deal of over time. I also at the end of the day get the job done. I know my coworker does not even do his work but they want to get rid of me. I am just frustrated by all these changes which my manager and her manager think our wonderful but very unrealistic expectations. They now have deadlines for every aspect of my job and previously I had no real deadlines. Some I have less than a 24 hour turn around time not matter how many of them show up in one day. I know I talked with my Endocrinologist who wants me to get more disability accomidations to avoid any future seizures due to stress. I am not able to handle many of the things I used to make look easy. Now I need to be realistic that I may need help to be able to do my job properly.

Thinking about Safety

After yesterdays Icy day in Austin I have made some very important decisions for future events like these. I am responsible for Duchess's safety as well as my own. I went to work because work was not canceled but as I kept reading reports on my phone they were averaging 40 car accidents an hour and the freeways were parking lots. So my personal safety and Duchess was in jeopardy in some ways. They had tried to put down sand and products to deal with the ice on the stairs. There was still some slick spots and if something happened to Duchess and I there would be little help available. If Duchess fell on the way into work I would little options variable to get her help or to a vet for appropriate care. The roads were incredibly bad and it was incredibly cold nothing like what has been like for the northern states. People in general in Austin have not ability to handle ice or snow. I do not drive because I watch people make mistake after mistake when driving in these conditions. I know the state does not have much budget set up for these events. So any ice can become dangerous very quickly.

I have decided that next time even if work is open I will make my own personal decision about my safety regardless of what my work decides. They are not going to pay for the bill if I slip and fall on the ice or Duchess does so I feel I have the right to decide for myself if I feel safe enough to come in or not. Next time I can see ice sitting on my car and all over the road I am staying home where it warm and safe. I don't need to get stuck waiting in the cold for a bus or trying to get to work to only find out two or three hours later they have decided to close. I am making these decisions because at the end of the day the only one looking out for my own safety is me and I have to make those decisions for Duchess as well. I failed miserably in handling the ice and the snow but next time I know what I will be doing.

Not Sure What To Do

I know since I came back from college back to the working world I had to relearn my boundaries and what was too much. I never used to have such boundaries in the past I could work as much as I wanted too and not really have much issues. I did have some before I left for college but I don't think I realized how important figuring out what was too much for me to handle. When things get to be too much I normally have bad lows or seizures. I am always trying to protect myself as much as possible and reduce those scary events. I know recently my work decided that several parts of my job needs weekly deadlines or tracking on how long it takes to process the items. The new goal on several items I do audits for is now 24 hours total turn around time no matter how many documents get turned in. The other day I had 22 show up and was unable to process them all that quickly and I have concerns with my ability to process things like a machine. I have so many parts of my jobs that it can be difficult to manage it all. I am concerned that this new demand will take its toll on me.

I think at this point I need to go to the disabilities office because I work overtime frequently and accommodate my departments requests. I do feel that their expectations are unrealistic because it does not take into account all of the deadlines I have weekly with my work. I know they are continually putting time limits on items that makes things very stressful. I am not really sure what too do because I feel like they are hoping I will leave my current job with the University. I have no plans on leaving but I will need to do something because things keeps getting out of hand and they try and make my already difficult life more troublesome. I know I do got to the Dr.'s appointments frequently but I make up all my time and I at the end of the day do a great job but I know having Duchess tends to create more issues even though she is not doing anything wrong. I know having Duchess would be difficult in an office because of all the types of individuals but I never dreamed it would be full of so many obstacles to me being able to do my job.

Feeling Frustrated about Up Coming Dr. Appointment

I woke up this morning feeling okay that yes my Dr. appointment is coming up and the fact that yes my blood sugars are not where I want them. I am not a failure because they are not where I want quite the opposite because sometimes to find a solution sometimes it takes several tries to get things right. I am continually working on the issue and I am sure I will find something that will work out for me. My blood sugars are not terrible and some people would look at me like I am crazy because they would think I was doing well but I guess my expectations of me have always been quite high which is not always the best thing. I am proud that I don't give up but keep on going till an answer is found. I know the frustration level has been high and I am always working on ways to prevent overload as much as possible. I know my job is on overload most of the time so adding more to it is never good.

Going into my Dr appointment I know I need to keep working but I am not going to be mad at myself because I am doing the best I can. I know my Dr. will be understanding because the know how hard I work to keep myself in control but even after 33 years of type 1 there is defiantly times I need another set of eyes to look at things. I know it can be very easy for me to overlook things or not see a solution because I am used to trying things in a different manner. I know with Hypoglycemia Unawareness that things have never been easy most of the time to get the right pump settings and it seems like things change pretty dramatically most of the time. I know at times I wish I had more time to make the changes but most of the time I use what information I have to make these decisions. I am all prepared for my appointment I have all my refills I need written down, all questions I need to ask and my logs from my pump and Dexcom. I am physically ready at least.

Growing Frustration Over Blood Sugars

I know this past week has really been a struggle. Everything I seem to have tried to keep lows or highs at bay is not working or works against me. Such as trying to get my blood sugar up with a temp basal has been equaling a high or trying to get a high down using my pump has equaled some lows. I am trying to adjust my pump settings to reflect the recent changes but at times this kind of week drives me crazy. I feel like trying to correct something ends up being a bigger mess to deal with so now I am doing nothing and hoping that works because everything I have tried recently that worked in the past is not working right now. It could be a fluke or something is generally off but I am not having any luck this week.

I guess the past couple of weeks I have been able to solve most issues with some effort but now it does not seem to be helping. I am frustrated and going to my Endocrinologist next week is really the last thing i want to deal with as well. My work has been incredibly frustrating as well but I have not been that stressed so I don't really think that is making an impact but I am looking at everything possible to get myself back to where I was before with more stable blood sugars. I guess this is where I am at currently but I always expect so much more. I am not giving up but just maybe taking a step back to reevaluate where I am at. I know my Dr. will help but most of the time I like to be able to solve the issues myself.

The Past and Now

I have been able to sleep a little more at night but now the fast moving blood sugars are back. I am trying to see what will work to avoid them and how to keep it more level at night. It seems that I need to do more adjustments at night but hoping to not adjust too much because I will be low at night. It seems I am high or low at night but not really in between which frustrates me beyond belief because I like a more stable numbers overnight when possible. It seems that my nights have never been easy and will continue to be tough to deal with. I know I feel like I need a vacation from it all but I know that will not happen.

I am still overall feeling decent about my overall control but I know when I see higher numbers I go back to those times in my childhood where the doctors told me I was a bad diabetic because I was high. It makes you feel really ashamed that I am not in range or that I could have done some thing different. I know there is only so much you can do at times and my diabetes seems to change its mind frequently and I know some of my solutions don't always work out but it at times makes me feel like a complete failure even though I know I am not. I know it is never easy but I know I wish I had not been criticized as harshly as a kid for something that even adults struggle with controlling. I know even with being in range I will never feel completely satisfied because of these past experiences.

I know with my upcoming Endocrinologist appointment next week  I am not feeling very confident because of more highs but at least I am making it to work on time and safely. I know I will get things smoothed out soon but sometimes I know I would love to have some time away form it all but I know sadly that won't happen. I know my current Dr. is very supportive and won't criticize me for my current blood sugars but I know will want to make some changes with I am okay with.

Time to Change My Alert Again

I think Duchess are at the point again where I need to figure out a new alert because she is not liking her other options but this is nothing new because I find every couple of years she likes to have a new alert. I am trying to get her to do her alerts with a bringsel instead of whining or making noises it is much quieter if she uses the bringsel. I also find if a situation happens on the bus or at work when she alerts using the bringsel it is more clear to others as well that I am low. I like to make the process as easy for my coworkers as possible. The sooner people realize I might need help the better. I know in the past this has proven to be true for me. So I need to come up with another option she does not seem to want to lick my hand or paw me as much recently so I will have to come up with another alternative alert. I always have several alerts she can do to prevent boredom of using the same alert over and over again. I know when I first go her I never thought I would need to change up her alerts every once in a while but Duchess seems to need this change to make her work for interesting to her.

Duchess has always needed a great deal of new things to learn. She excels at learning new tasks so teaching a new alert is very simple but needs to be done over several days to cement the new alert. She does like have a new alert it seems to make her have a new enthusiasm about her job. I think that is why recently she has seemed different after returning from vacation. I think she in her own way was trying to tell me that we need to change her alerts around again. Sometimes she wants to do a new alert for a short period of time but others she will use frequently. I know at home she does use her bringsel alert or a lick sometimes paw. I know when we are out and about she will use a wide array of alerts depending upon what we are doing. So now I need to find another option that will work for except for whining. I like to have quite alerts because I do work in an office even though her whines are quite they still drive me crazy. So I am trying to figure out a new way of alerting but I am sure I will come up with some soon.

Bringsel Alert

Up and Down

I have spent the last weekend flopping around blood sugar wise. I try to get my blood sugars up with a short temp basal but end up high. I try to use a couple pieces of candies to bring up blood sugars above a hundred end up in the 180's. I have been flying up or down pretty quickly which has made this past weekend incredibly frustrating. I have been trying to not use temp basals and try other things but I have to have my CGM out to view very closely after eating to when low. The CGM has also been staying lower when I have moved up or when I am moving lower it has been off by quite a bit. The good news it that my overnights have very few lows after redoing my plan for nights. I am really aiming for an overnight blood sugar around 120-130 overnight and I have been able to do that and with very few lows.

So now I am trying to reduce some of my daytime lows but recently my daily blood sugars are varying so much I feel like I have to spend every night reviewing what is going on. I have been adjusting basals as I go but the next day I maybe experiencing the complete opposite so most of the time I feel like it is my best guess. I am hoping things will be calming down soon. I am incredibly thankful that my overnight lows or highs have calmed down and I am sleeping a great deal more. I am hoping to have a plan for the crazy day blood sugars or at least things that will work to get things back to normal soon. I know Duchess would appreciate that as well. I know she has spent a great deal of time working and thankfully she has today off as well to relax a little more before heading back to work on Tuesday.

Low Blood Sugars and Meetings

I know normally Duchess is a more calm relaxed dog most of the time. Recently she had days where she is overly hyper about a blood sugar that is moving really slowly down. I do test but I won't treat until it is lower. Recently she has been alerting sometimes and 1 1/2 early which does help. I do have an issue when she whine and whines when I am in a meeting. Especially since my blood sugar is normal at the time. I do give her a treat for an early alert but will not treat until it is closer to slightly above low. So I do sometimes treat early if necessary but when I am 120 to 125 I am not usually going to treat until I start to see it dropping. I don't doubt Duchess but there times where I have to wait.

I know Duchess does not understand me waiting which only gets her more antsy or hyped up. Which is less than ideal thankfully she will listen to cues to wait. She does like this morning make it hard because she is really restless and I keep having to put her back in a down stay. If my blood sugars are normal she normally will stay in a down stay but if she believe I am moving high or low she will break the down stay. I appreciate all her efforts but during a meeting this is really less than ideal especially since I was 109 at the time. I did eventually move down to around 82 and I treated the blood sugar at that point. I do treat lows differently than some because I am unable to feel them. So I feel comfortable treating anything in the 80's or below or slightly above. I know Duchess is doing her job but at times it can be frustrating when the blood sugar is slow moving and she is way too restless.

Not Sure What Is The Cause

What an alert should look like

I have a some what lazy dog on my hands. I know my recent two week vacation is some what to blame as well. The past couple of days Duchess will be laying on her dog cot and start whining at me that my blood sugar is off. Normally she is sleeping and does not want to get up. So I have been making her do her Bringsel alert where she brings me the fabric piece to me and sits down with it as her alert. Honestly I despise whining because honestly it drives me crazy. I know Duchess has figured that out but she also knows that when she is alerting she needs to get up and alert not stay laying down. I am not sure if she is bored or just was really comfortable but I need her to stick with the trained alerts because it also makes it easier for me to know that yes something is off. She will tell me if I ask if I am moving up or down which is helpful as well but it is difficult for her to do if she is laying down.

I know during vacation things were very lax but she still did her standard alerting style and followed through with her alerts as expected. I know we still worked on training practice and scent work. So she was not allowed to not work on things but I never thought she would go through a period of being bored or wanting to just rest. I know we have been so busy since we got back home after Christmas but I did not expect her to get some what lazy with her alerts. Thankfully she is responding to my requests to do a proper alert and hopefully she will get back to her normal routine soon and drop the whining.  I know she was trained well on how I want her to alert but at least she is not missing alerts which is wonderful.

Duchess on her Dog Cot

Workplace Struggles

I have been thinking a great deal about some things I found out at my office recently. I guess there has been complaints about my accommodations for my diabetes and for Duchess. I know for some people it may look like I get to have all these great exceptions or alternatives but what they don't seem to get is that I need these accommodations so I can properly do my job and take care of myself. I guess because I have not had a seizure at work in quite a while I guess they assume everything is fine but I still struggle with lows and still have issues with lows especially around the time I am supposed to be at work getting ready for work but thankfully I have made some headway with the lows but it seems to be a constant battle in my life. I was a little angry because I would do anything to have things like they used to be where I could feel my lows and had more normal blood sugars instead of the constant lows.

I was really shocked by the response to my accommodations and real lack of understand what it might be like to walk a mile in my shoes. I know if they experience what being a Diabetic is like they would never complain about my accommodations. I am really tired in many ways of the complaints about me or Duchess people watch Duchess and I constantly. I am not sure why but they always seem to want to know what I am doing or why I am off from work. I know my own office makes things so much more difficult for me because they convince others that I have no reason for an accommodation. I know my boss would disagree after going to the hospital after my one seizure at work. I have learned a great deal about how easily others think Diabetes can be managed and they don't understand why I can't give the perfect dose of insulin at all times. I know ignorance is bliss for a great deal but I never expected such great disregard for another person struggles. I am hoping that with continued education things will be understood but maybe not.

Proud of Duchess During Recent Experience

I was really so proud of Duchess during the whole car buying process. She was very patient. She listened to her commands and was very accepting of the whole environment. She was very poised and very professional in her demeanor. She has been very good about all the research I have been doing related to the car search. I know I have been playing with her through out the process but some days there was not as much play as she is used to. I know her job is never easy and I appreciate the fact that is very flexible in many ways. I know the whole process was stressful for her and me in many ways but thankfully it is no over and we can get back to our normal routine which will be good for both of us.

I know this experience taught me some things such as at times it is okay that my blood sugars were a little wonky because of the stress and I can only do my best with what information I had. I know for the most part my blood sugars were not too bad but they were moving around much quicker than I am used to seeing which I know is probably related to the stress and overall experience I was having. The end of the car buying experience we by quickly and let me relax knowing that I got a decent deal. All my research seemed to pay off in my mind because I was able to get what I needed with very little issues or conflicts.

I do really appreciate the moments where my blood sugars are more normal and not moving around as quickly. I know stress does affect me more than I like to admit but this overall was not too bad and I was able to handle whatever came at me. I know I was able to relax during some parts of the process and that relaxing as I could seemed to reduce the stress levels which is what I needed. I know yesterday was a very good day but the blood sugars were really wonky late last night into this morning. I can't wait for my blood sugars to get back to normal. Thankfully I am almost there.

Test Drives

I have to give Duchess a lot of credit. I have been so busy car shopping and just searching for cars. I try my best to balance things like play and activities so that she can have fun too. I know recently the balance has been a little off because I am trying to purchase a vehicle. I try to make things as fun as possible but I am not sure how you can make car shopping for a service dog fun. I have to admit the dealership I am currently dealing with has been wonderful. When I meet the salesman he told me that they had not problems with Duchess riding in the vehicle with me. The dealerships seems to understand that I have a need to have her with me which is wonderful. I was at another dealership Round Rock Honda and they would not allow me to take Duchess on the test drive. Which is illegal but I just wanted to drive the car after driving across my town just to get to the car dealership. I was really unhappy about the situation and thankfully my roommate was there and was able to keep Duchess while I did a test drive. I never really knew what to expect when I went to go test drive a vehicle for the first time with Duchess.

I have learned that some are more than willing to just put plastic sheet on the back seat and call it good. I know I really appreciate this current dealership I have been dealing with. They have done a wonderful job of accommodating my need to have Duchess with me. I know the dealership has not been high pressure and they are letting me go at my own pace. I know when I don't feel pressured that tends to make the process much easier for me. I know I most likely will end up purchasing from this dealership because they not only worked with me on the price but overall meet all my needs as far as pre-purchase inspection which I need before I purchase any vehicle. Thankfully my blood sugars have been good and seems to be cooperating so far through the car shopping experience. I am hopping to be done with the car buying process soon. It can be stressful but thankfully I am doing pretty well so far not that I found a good dealership.

Partnership

I know I love Duchess she keeps me safe and loves me unconditionally I never really thought I would say this but at times Duchess drives me crazy. She tends to go overboard at times and tends to bug me after she already alerted that it is going back up or down which is good but can drive a person mad at time. I know I love spending time with her but at times I think we all have days where it all feel like too much. I know I am blessed to have Duchess in my life to help me and I am grateful but I never thought at times I would feel like this. She does alert me consistently and does her job but at times she can get overly excited when it is a slower drop of blood sugar or a slow moving higher blood sugar. I know for her it is probably driving her mad as well.

I know it can be difficult to always have a service dog with you. I know any person can get on your nerves after a while as well. I know on Duchess bad days where she does not do things as well I know it also can be difficult for her as well. I know at times I must drive her crazy when I don't respond as quickly as she would like or do what she think I need to do. I think we both can drive each other crazy but love each other still. I have learned that it is kind of part of our partnership. Just like at times your family can drive you crazy the same thing goes for your service dog. Regardless of where we are any one day in our partnership I love her and always will. I know sometimes we all need more space or have things that tend to bother them more than other times. I know she tends to whine at times instead of getting up to alert but I won't reward her unless she does a proper alert. I try to keep things as consistent as possible for Duchess and I.

Through all the crazy times we have experienced together I would not change a thing. I just know at times we can be in different places and who knows how I may feel tomorrow but this past week has been not a easy in my perspective. I know we both are not that happy to be back from vacation but at least we our good friends who at time can drive each other crazy. Her ability to drive me crazy at times does work to her advantage because it can forces me to pay attention to her because of past experiences. I know tomorrow most likely I will feel differently but today that is where we are.

What I Am Going to Do Differently

I know stress does play a huge roll in a great deal of my lows and this year I am going to try harder to find ways to reduce stress and keep myself on track. This is no easy task because I have an extremely demanding job that requires long hours and very few days off. I found last year that when I worked a max of 6 days a week I did better than when I tried to work 7 days a week. So I decided that I again will only work a max of 6 days of week. There is two reasons I do this Duchess does not alert as well when I make her got to my job 7 days a week and I need a certain amount of downtime to be able to prepare myself for another stressful week at work. I know from my previous experiences giving your service dog who you depend upon enough time to relax really does make a huge difference in how well she is able to work for me. I also really need enough rest to keep my blood sugars more stable.

I also know that I need to stay very organized when I have very little time so I have all the things i need to be able to get my work done and still manage my Diabetes to hopefully prevent bad lows. Thankfully this past year I have been seizure free knock on wood for a year and 5 months so far. I am hoping to reduce the amount of lows that require assistance from others as well. I plan to stay organized keep up with making sure my supplies are ordered as promptly as possible and that I have them in my backpack for work in case anything happens. I have two stashes of extra supplies because you never know when you might need a back up of something.

I am also going to be a little more demanding with my work in that I will ask for time off if I really need it. Most of the seizures were during times where I really needed to rest but instead was at work all weekend. So I am going to know when to say enough is enough to give my self what I need to avoid those kind of situations. I know my work will not be thrilled but honestly when I tend to take what I need I avoid big issues at work so at the end of the day if my safety is jeopardy I am going to speak up. I know my manager well enough that I can ask for more and I think they will understand but still not be that happy.

I think taking these steps will give me an opportunity to avoid bad lows possibly and give me more peace of mind which is priceless in my book. I know having less work has helped me already for the most part so hopefully getting things a little more balanced when things really get busy might help me avoid some of the really bad moments.

Realizations About Lows

I have been thinking a great deal about my previous experience last Christmas with my family being mad at me afterwards. I think it is interesting that I ruined my friends birthday night and they did not even blink an eye at the fact I had a low on their birthday. I know my family really seems to not understand my Hypoglycemia Unawareness and I am not sure how to explain it to them. They seems to think every low can be avoided but I am really glad that I do  not share my struggles of lows with my family regularly because I have a feeling the would assume I was doing something wrong. There is always a tone of blame when dealing with my own family some lows are caused by overestimating my carbs or under estimating the affects of exercise. There is so many factors and I know the longer I have Diabetes honestly for me the harder it seems to get even with all my knowledge of my own condition increases as I try new things.

I know the less my family is around me the more they seem to forget how crazy things can be and they tend to blame me pretty harshly for any incident or bad low. I know I tend to try to keep my Diabetes under the radar these days because it keeps the judgements at bay. I know life is already crazy enough with just the Diabetes but adding on a service dog and my workplace equals way too much stress. So after last years Christmas I am deciding to avoid talking with my family about any surgeries, lows or other Diabetes related issues because they always seem to judge me or become angry about it. I do my best to handle my condition and I work at it constantly but I know they have no idea what it is really like to live with Diabetes. I know I put so much effort in and don't always get the results I want out but at least I am trying. I really wish they would understand but I know right now they seems to have forgotten about all the emergency room visits that filled up my childhood and hospital visits because of my Diabetes.

I think leaving the Diabetes out of things will bring me much less to deal with from my own family because I feel like my life has enough obstacles for now. I think eventually I will be in a place to share what is going in my condition but sadly right now is not the time. I know they have been quite strange about the fact that I could of had surgery for my Retinopathy but thankfully nothing had to be done right now. I am thankful that my friends are so supportive of whatever is happening but my family seems to be in such a different place when it comes to dealing with my lows.

Lessons Relearned Again

I learned a lesson or a great reminder in many ways over my vacation. I was their during my friends birthday so we were going to go out with some of their friends I knew for lunch. I am gluten free now for over three years. So going out can have its challenges especially since most places think a great gluten free menu is a salad and very little carbs. I know I am really sensitive with the amount of food I need to eat at times. That day was a busy day of shopping and doing fun activities. My friend knows what I like to eat being gluten free but did not mention to me that his friend is the one who was checking out the menus for lunch. The place we went only had gluten free menu which consisted of a salad and gluten free dressing options. So I did the best with what I had. I ate the salad and added chicken to add more protein on to help keep more level. I always carry a Kind bar or a gluten free granola bar for just this reason. The problem with the bar is that it is only 22 grams of carbohydrate. Which is not really enough. I knew we were going shopping after lunch and that I only had one glass of wine so I thought I would be okay until we had dinner that night.

So we went shopping and had a good lunch and then headed back to my friends house. I was doing pretty well blood sugar wise and was not really hungry at that time. I know then my friend mentioned he wanted to go to a later dinner because he was feeling rather full from the burger and fries they ate. Then my Dexcom comes up as failed sensor so I thought it should not affect anything. My previous sensor failed as well so I had already called and the sensor would be in the next day. So I was not happy about it but I would get through the small time frame. I know my friend and I were talking with their mother who had come over about some new property she had purchased. She was going into more detail and that is the last thing I remember. I remember things seemed fuzzy because they had to use a glucagon injection they tried to get me to eat or drink but I would cooperate. So they just game me the glucagon injection which makes sense. I know I should have eaten more that night but the plans changed from a 6pm dinner to around 8:30pm and I was not really in the know until almost 7pm that we would be leaving soon. I feel really silly because I should have eaten a snack to hold me over but the really odd thing I was really not hungry at all. So I think I thought I was okay.

I feel really bad because we did not make it to dinner that night but instead ended up eating pizza at my friends house. They were really understanding but I also learned I need to be very involved in the selection of restaurants in the future the salad incident is a great reminder of why I need to be very careful on relying on a salad to hold me over. I know when we are busy it can be so easy to get caught up in things and not realize the danger like I did in this situation. I know the longer I have Hypoglycemia Unawareness the more it seems to affect everything. I am next time I will pick a better choice of a restaurant for lunch but what a great reminder for me to be a bit more careful when I am on vacation. Thankfully I was able to come out of the low quickly and still managed to be social with my friend.

Shocked by My Experience

Thank you all for you your patience while I took some much needed time off to relax and enjoy my vacation.

I was on vacation in California and ran across something that still really is bothering me over a week later. I went with a friend to a restaurant that I go to locally in Austin. I have always had such a wonderful experience in Austin I assumed the same would be true for the location in California. It was on December 22 and I was doing some last minute shopping and wanted to get a gluten free pizza for a late lunch. My friend had never been to this restaurant and they have a good selection of beers and such. So I knew he would enjoy having lunch there. So we go in and we waited for a table. Then I notice that people who came in after were being seated before we were. Finally my friend approaches the hostess to find out why we had not been seated.

The hostess then states they called his name but that was not the case. So I was already annoyed at that point. Thankfully they seated us promptly. As they are walking us to our table I noticed that the area we are being seated at has a woman in a wheel chair, a guy with a cain, a woman with assistance devices. They seated all of us in a one area. I have never been seated or segregated out in a restaurant in my life until this point. I looked around the restaurant and noticed that all the disabled individuals were in this small section away from the other customers. I also noticed they did not seat anyone near my table because I had Duchess with me which is strange because I have been in very busy restaurants before and had no issues.

I pointed this out to my friend and he noticed that I was correct sure enough they were separating us out from the other customers. I was really offended and upset because I feel like I should be treated like any normal customer. I also was rather dismayed because the server we had was terrible and did not even come over to the table for over a half an hour. Then we received our order but our salads had not shown up yet. Overall it was a terrible experience. I normally have had such a great experience locally in this same restaurant I was shocked and really disappointed by my experience. I think regardless of what obstacles we face we all want to be treated the same. I know I have contacted the corporate of the restaurant to address this issue. I think they need to rethink their position on how they treat disabled people.  I am hoping that this can be resolved quickly and efficiently by the corporate office. I know I plan to update you all on the response from the office.