Thursday, January 9, 2014

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.

2 comments:

  1. You are to be congratulated for becoming so empowered as you make some important goals and guidelines for how you're going to live and work. And as always, you involve Duchess in your life decisions because she is so important to your ability to lead a healthy life. Good job!

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    1. Thank you Laddie. I have learned a great deal about how important that I think about what Duchess needs and the longer I have here the more it has proven true I need to think about how it affects her. I am happy I have made some guidelines because I feel more empowered because I have a plan of action. It won't be easy but well worth the effort.

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