Diabetes Testimony
I believe that, while in no way shape or form do I blame God formy condition, He has used it for me to step up to the plate, andtake a direction in my life. Because of it, I have chosen to studynutrition, so that someday I might help other people in the sameplace as myself.
It is hard to not notice His hand in my diabetes, when I havecome so close to losing consciousness, and have not. I really startto pray when it gets down to the wire. In eight years it has onlybeen twice that I have gone down. I believe that it was because Iignored what God was trying to tell me. Even in those incidences, Iwas only out for a few minutes, and was able to avoid going to thehospital. Being without insurance, I could not have affordedit.
They have been talking about dying in bed, quite a bit on theLeHigh Diabetes Discussion list as of late. It scares me a little.I recognize that I’m starting to lose some of the warning signs ofhypoglycemia. One thing that I have tried to do over the time thatI have been diabetic is to ask myself questions such as am I highor low. Am I sweaty because I’m low? Or is the environment justhot?, and so on and so forth. In my head I answer these questions.It’s a system that has always worked for me.
Well one night, I woke to hearing my name being called. It wasmy voice but, It did not sound like it was in my head. I wanted togo back to sleep. But every time I went to lay my head down and goto sleep, I would hear this “Mary wake up” I’d check to see if myhand was shaking and it was very light if at all. I finally grabbedthe graham crackers and put them in my mouth as the low started toreally hit. Unfortunately, I do not check my blood sugars when I’mlike that. But I’m not sure that I would be writing this today, toyou, if God had not intervened.
I’ve also been on the bus, and questioned whether I was low ornot. And you’re not supposed to eat on the bus, and I do try tofollow the rules, so I really don’t like to stick life savers in mymouth to get me back up. But in the back of my mind there is thisvoice that keeps telling me that I’m low. One time that I canremember specifically, I got off the bus, and as I was finishingoff the life saver package, was praying that God would get me home,because I was going down for the count. God is Good, because sureenough I made it. I really believe that little small voice, is Hisway of warning and keeping me healthy.
Reflection Questions
- Mary mentioned two early andnoticeable warning signs of hypoglycemia (being sweaty and ashaking hand). Explain why Mary was so grateful that God hadintervened early when her blood sugar was low, i.e., what couldhave happened to Mary if her blood sugar continued to fall and Godhad not intervened when He did? Explain the pathophysiology of alow blood sugar on body functioning when responding to thisquestion.
- Reflect on how the followingverses could give Mary comfort as she learns how to manage herdiabetes for the rest of her life:
