When I originally diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2009, I decided I would cure it with exercise and stellar eating habits. I went to 24 hours of training with a diabetes nutrition specialist, downloaded apps to clearly count my carb intake, and started exercising every single day and very consistently. I was right at 200 pounds, at 6' tall. I was able to lower my blood sugars at every meal, but it was not easy. I eventually had to ride my exercise bike for half an hour after every meal, and I wasn't eating much in the way of carbs. I had to ride at the exercise room at work after eating lunch. If I missed a workout, my sugars would not go down. My doctor congratulated me on my success, but said that it was likely that it would stop working eventually. After a year, I was 160 pounds and totally worn out, and the sugars weren't dropping like they used to... or they would drop but then go back up 45 minutes after exercising. The doc said I had no other option but to go on insulin. No problem... I could handle it. The shots really were no big deal. But after another year, I was taking up to 9-10 shots per day depending on my diet and what my sugars were doing. They put me on an insulin pump and it has been my constant companion ever since. It was about 12 months after my initial diagnosis that they re-designated me as Type 1. I'm still fit and exercise a bunch. I have good muscle tone and people regularly tell me that I don't look diabetic, that I'm the "perfect picture of health". But the doc said my pancreas now tests as producing no insulin at all. Evidently my immune system attacked and killed it and no one knows why. I never knew that diabetes was an autoimmune disorder before becoming diabetic.
The diabetes and nutrition center told me years ago that I was one of the best patients that they'd ever had because I was so diligent about learning and maintaining good habits... They asked me if I would be a spokesman for them to the community, but I did not accept.
Back to bowhunting...
I take special care when I go out, and rarely hunt in trees anymore. Physical exertion, when coupled with insulin from my pump, can really cause my sugar to drop fast. So I always have a couple of sugar sources with me, like Skittles and a small bottle of juice... enough to get me back to my vehicle or my camp, where I always have something more. I also carry something like a Clif bar that has sugar, other carbs, and protein, to give me a slower and longer burning sugar source than straight candy is. Sometimes in the heat of the moment, when I'm full of adrenaline, I don't feel my sugar dropping. Once that happened when I was putting up a tent while bowhunting in Alaska, 90 air miles from civilization, and I started feeling dizzy and confused... I stumbled over to my pack and found that my sugar was 35. I grabbed the closest sugar I could find and gulped it down, thinking that I could pass out and die. I accurately recorded in my journal that an hour later my sugar was 353. I've never passed out, but I was in a climbing stand once and almost did. I got way up in that tree and then realized I was suddenly dripping sweat off my forehead and totally soaked my clothes. 15 minutes after some candy, my sugars were OK, but I was all wet in my clothes on that cold winter morning. It dawned on me afterwards how difficult it would have been for someone to help me in that stand, with no way to climb up to me. So now I'll always have to take that into consideration. My 8-year old daughter loves to go hunting with me, but I have to be extra careful with her, because although she could conceivably be a help to me, she could also be in a terribly dangerous situation if I went into a diabetic coma and she couldn't help me, and she were left on her own. We always have lots of safety talk, emergency plans, and sugar on hand for her to give me if I were to get loopy. Those are some ways that diabetes has directly affected my bowhunting.
Topic: Archery and Diabetes (Read 1186 times)
