Low blood sugars have become moments that scare me more now than they did when I was younger, mostly because the symptoms of my lows have all but disappeared until I’m deep into the 40’s. It’s shocking to my system to have that gentle lag and foggy confusion suddenly open into the abyss of a properly symptomatic low, bringing about the sweat and shaking, confusion and disorientation.

But lately, I’ve been thinking about how lucky I am to have the ability to go low. Hear me out on this … it makes sense in the long run.

During the course of any given day, I’m able to deliver a basal rate of insulin that keeps my blood sugars under control, and I can take a bolus of insulin to cover any meals I’m eating. I have the option to correct a blood sugar of 140 mg/dL back down to 100 mg/dL with precision dosing from an insulin pump, insulin pen, or even a syringe. I can micro-manage my blood sugars throughout the day in efforts to achieve an A1C and time-in-range that gives me the best chance of good health for a long time.

It’s not a question of “will I or won’t I get insulin today?” My biggest worry is how in-range my numbers have been. Diabetes, no matter where you live, is not a pleasant disease, but in a country where my access to insulin is not a panic point, I realize how lucky I am.

And I know what I can do to help those who aren’t as lucky.

Yes, more of this Spare a Rose stuff.  But you guys. It takes just a minute to make a donation to Spare a Rose, benefiting Life for a Child. Hang on … I just did it.

I made good on my promise to donate a rose for yesterday’s Super Bowl game (during which I paid little attention to the game itself and was a bit more confused by how many babies truly are credited back to Super Bowl shaggings). A five dollar donation is one full month of life for a child with diabetes in a developing country.

Can you spare one rose today?