Blood Sugar Monitor

The following story was written by a woman whose husband has and uses a blood sugar monitor. Since learning how to use that blood sugar monitor, the writer’s husband has sought to share with others his home testing knowledge. He has generously provided others free advice on how to monitor the level of sugar in their bloodstream.  For example, four years ago the writer’s husband shared his knowledge with a friend who was doing repairs at the writer’s home. More recently, he shared his knowledge with his cousin. That shared knowledge led to the events discussed in the following story.

When a diabetic is a truck driver, then that individual can not always he at home while using a blood sugar monitor. For the diabetic truck driver, therefore, the mobility of the present-day blood sugar monitor is an outstanding benefit of that device. Yet the mobility of that monitor can offer a truck driver more than just accessibility and ease of use. It can also provide a truck driver with some control over where he or she dines during a rest stop.

During August of 2006, one diabetic truck driver made a delivery in San Diego, CA. Because San Diego was close to Los Angeles, and because the driver had family in Los Angeles County, he decided to spend a few days at his cousin’s home. He drove north for two hours, parked his truck in a parking lot that he had used once before, and he then had his cousin pick him up and take him to the cousin’s nearby residence.

While staying with his cousin, the driver made a point of using his blood sugar monitor. The monitor had actually been a gift from that same cousin. The driver’s cousin had been tested for diabetes, and the cousin had been advised to use a blood sugar monitor. The driver had learned from his cousin how to use the monitor as a control over what one should and should not eat. By the same token, the driver had learned from his cousin that one could enjoy some starch and sugar while managing to avoid real danger.

Now while that truck driver was staying in Los Angeles County, he paid his aunt a visit. She gave him some of her home-cooked Persian food. It was a dish for which the truck driver knew the ingredients. He knew that it contained a good bit of sugar. Still, he took it with him in his truck, as he drove away from Los Angeles County.

The truck driver did not like the cheap food at all of the truck stops. The driver planned to eat his aunt’s food instead. At his next stop, the driver told the rest stop manager that he was on a special diet, because he had diabetes.  In order to back-up his claim, the driver showed the manager his blood sugar monitor.

The diabetic truck driver was directed to a second, larger restaurant. There the truck driver told the waitress that he had brought a special meal with him. He them warmed-up the rice and sauce that his aunt had given him.

As the truck driver ate that food, a dish foreign to all at that restaurant, he heard the waitress say to someone else, “Say your prayers tonight. Look what that man has to eat, because he has diabetes.”  She did not know that such a dish could produce a high number on the driver’s blood sugar monitor, if he tested himself once he finished eating it.