to go or not.

 

I just got back from a short business trip to the midwest. Only 2 nights away. 3 hour time difference though, which is always a challenge. Ah yes, traveling continues to pose some particular challenges for my diabetes control. It's as if I step into an airport and until I return, my blood sugars are out of whack, pure and simple. No matter what I try, to carry the right food with me, to stay on west coast time throughout the trip, to switch my pump to east coast time as soon as I land, at the end of the day, nothing ever really works. I'm always high on the plane no matter how much insulin I take, or how little I eat. Meal schedules are off once I get where I'm going so regardless of how vigilant I am about bolusing to cover the food I'm eating "off my schedule", it rarely actually works. And night time always poses a special set of problems because of time and meal changes. Raging highs at "bed time", do I correct or not? When I do, I often crash a few hours later, when I don't, I'm in the 300's and up at night dealing with the thirst or need to pee. Beyond jet lag, there's always a little diabetes fun to add to the fatigue of travel. Ah, it's such a bundle of fun.

And yet, at times, it's still worth it. My trip last week was one of the those times. It wasn't fun physically, but even so, it was a very positive experience. And more importantly, I come away from this particular trip with a new view about travel and trade off. Now when I'm faced with travel, I'm going to think about the potential, the opportunity for a positive experience that will outweigh the inevitable negative physical impact on me. No judgement here, no "woe is me", just put the proposition on a scale and see what comes up. Though it might not always be so hard on me physically, I'm going to assume it will be, just for arguments sake. That way I can really weigh the options. That way I can really enjoy the trips when I do choose to go, in spite of the toll they take in the immediate. That way I can feel good about the times I pass on travel, because at those times, the trade off just wasn't worth it. 

I win both ways. And that totally works for me!

Comments

[Kathy]

I agree totally. But I tend to pursue work that will not require travel, actually. For me it is *so* hard to manage business trips. I've had to take off sick the day after flying/driving, etc. sometimes just to recover from the highs; I wish I could say the trips were as fulfilling as yours, but sadly I usually come away wondering why I went at all.

Sorry for the downer comment (:-X Cool photo!