Plans Changed
Friday, June 18, 2010 at 8:09AM As usual when I saw my Endo on Monday he sent me home with lab work to get done. The local lab I like to go to get packed quickly and if you don’t have an appointment it takes forever to get your blood drawn. So the first thing I did when I got to work on Monday was to make that appointment.
The lab opens at 6:00AM so there is plenty of time to stop off on my way to work and still make it in early enough to open up shop. I set an appointment for Friday (today) morning at 7:00AM.
Last night I made sure after dinner I only drank water and did not eat a thing. Fasting can be torture to a soda drinker like me but I was a good boy.
I went to bed early to make sure I did not sleep past too many alarms and would miss my appointment.
At about 2:00AM I wake up to my CGM blaring. I turned on my light and checked my pump. It was a low alarm. I sat up and as soon as I did it hit me. The room was spinning and my head felt like I had a bowling ball strapped to the top of it. Quickly I laid back down to avoid falling over and I tried my best to stop my head from spinning when I heard my wife ask if was low. I mumbled something back to her and she hopped up and grabbed me a juice box.
I am not sure how low I really was at the time but my CGM said 64 and I felt really bad. Its funny how sometimes the 60’s can feel like nothing and other times it feels like I am in the 40’s.
Anyhow, the point of this story is that I was not able to get my lab work done since now I was not fasting.
Diabetes loves to get in the way and screw up plans. I am so upset since now I have to wait until Monday to get the labs done and I am going to have to walk in and sit there.
Oh well, it is just another day in D paradise I guess.
Has this ever happened to you?
Reader Comments (12)
Oh yes. It has. And I hate it because it drives me crazy!! It's like everything has to be perfect or you can't get it done. :( Better luck next time.
This has happened more than once, and it is so frustrating. Plans change way too often in my world, and it rarely seems that they get more convienent. Of course, my doc's office has started doing some more labs in-house (like A1c) so that saves a trip there just for that test. Plus, they just in the past year or so added a new lab inside the same building where her office is, and that's HUGE because there's much fewer people who go there versus the ones who always lined up in the hospital or main hospital professional building lab. Still, not a fan of waiting.
Good luck for prep for Monday morning.
Yep, been there too man. It is very frustrating.
One of us should ask the doc sometime if treating a low with juice or glucose tabs will actually mess up the lab results? I bet we'd still be Ok...
Happened to me Sunday night (a nice 32 bg at 2am). Was planning on a Monday 7am blood draw. Ended up going Tues morning.
It might be worth asking your doctor if it's a problem...my understanding is that not fasting can only mess up your triglycerides, and if it was the middle of the night it's possible that it won't even do that. My doctor and I agreed that I could do lab work not fasting if I had to treat a low, and if the lipid panel looks crazy, I agreed to redo it ASAP. YMMV, of course.
You can make appointments for lab work??!! I am soooo jealous.
Hope Monday is better.
Oh yes, it's happened to me. I've also woken up with fasting low enough to make it unsafe for me do drive to the lab (or do anything beside EAT NOW). And I have to admit, I also tend not to get my blood drawn if I wake up high. I just don't want that bad blood glucose result to be staring back from my lab report.
It really isn't a problem. If you just have to treat a low with glucose tabs or a bit of juice…it won't affect anything other than your glucose result. I work for a lab and have T 1 and I've had to treat a low while waiting in the office for my turn! Never a problem. You just don't want to eat "food" ie a meal. FYI. JJ
I always refuse to do any fasting blood tests. All my current doctors know this, and any new doctors quickly get told. I just say, sorry, can't do that. If I need to eat I'm gonna eat! And having to worry about something like a blood test is just added stress. I always, however, check to make sure there is a) a real reason why they want the blood test to be a fasting one, and b) is there a non-fasting alternative test I can take instead? :) As far as I know, there is no reason why the standard HbA1c test needs to be fasting anyway. What was the blood test you had?
G-
I usually eat glucose tabs if I'm low. Usually when I'm fasting I lower my basal rate. Making a pwd fast should be outlawed.
I think we are all looking for that right answer, especially if the bloodwork is for the A1c. Why fast for a blood test that is suppose to be a measure of the last 3 months? My last blood work did the same thing, it was just after midnight so I didn't bother to tell the doc. A1c, Triglycerides, and Cholesterol, all A-Ok
the fasting thing is hard for me, always end up feeling the lows before I make it to the lab, so I will force myself to make the appt as early as possible and eat as late as its allowable. I haven't been very lucky with it however and most of the time i tend to play the I forgot game and a couple of times they have done the tests anyway so go figure......