Trials,Tribulations, Travels, Tastings...and Occassional Transcendence

Trials,Tribulations, Travels, Tastings...and Occassional Transcendence
Sock on the Great Wall

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

How Low Can I Go?

I am hypoglycemic. I have been my whole life. Those who know me know enough to have small amounts of food on hand to shove into my mouth when my blood sugar takes a dive. Those who don't know me - well, they pretty much don't want to know me after I've hit my glycemic low. I have no control over my reactions - it just happens. I know somewhere in the recesses of my mind that I am behaving irrationally but my present self doesn't give a crap and just wants caloric intake immediately.

This morning I had a scheduled OSHA physical. For my line of work it is required that I get poked, prodded and punctured annually. So not only do I get to partake in the joys of a 'girly' annual each year, I get to have this additional defiling of my body as well. Good times. Anyway, for the blood analysis it is a requirement that one fasts for a minimum of 10 hours prior to the appointment. That's right - a 10 hour abstinence of food. To be blatantly clear, that's 10 hours of no calories going into my body. None. You see where this is going?

Arriving to the facility where my physical was to commence, I was already hungry (translation - I was f--in' starving and ready to gnaw off my own arm). To reiterate, the reason for my lack of caloric intake was to fulfil the requirements of the blood work panel. So I figured, as any smart person with a low blood sugar level would, that they would take blood first so as to allow the (victim) patient to eat a small snack to recover prior to getting the rest of the three hour exam completed. No, that would make way too much sense. Instead they decided to (torture) run a battery of other tests and examine me first. By the time I was done with the actual physical I was pail, freezing, shaking and ready to kill and/or dismember someone.

Just to paint a more vivid picture into the minds of all (2) of you who are reading this. Some of the symptoms resulting from one having a drop in their blood sugar include, but are not limited to: negativism, irritability, belligerence, combativeness, rage. All of those where bestowed upon the staff at Strong Occupational Health facility this morning. It was not pretty and I am not proud. I am certain it will take them quite some time to forget me. Perhaps by my next annual exam the events of this morning will be brushed under the rug...or perhaps they will remember me well enough to know that my blood needs to be drawn first thing upon my arrival. God help them if they forget the latter.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, I can totally empathize! I had a surgery a few years back requiring nothing after midnight. The surgery was scheduled for 9am, and got pushed back to 2 pm. By the time they got me in I was ready to kill someone. I even mentioned being hypoglycemic, but they really didn't care! Don't you love medical professionals?

flahute said...

Which is why I ignore doctor's orders and eat something anyway.

stickboy said...

You probably gave them a few good stories to tell! Just think, they will come home and say "you would not believe the day I had!". Good times! Spread that cheer!

So...do you have lead and PCB's coursing through your veins? Are you 'glowing' so much that we can't spend more than 2 hours within 30 feet of you?

flahute said...

Now the question is "how long are you going to go before posting another blog update?"