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I used to be Lowboy. A pathetic diabetic. But as a member of Triabetes, I finished Ironman Wisconsin fall 2008. It changed my life. Am I still unstoppable? Here's the aftermath.
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I just thought it would be fun to share some of the more classic "low boy" stories with the rest of the blogging world. There are really too many to do justice here and many of them are better told in person I'm sure. But, I hope to atleast convey an idea of the wild ride it has been to be "THE BROTHER OF LOWBOY" (that sounds like a good book title for the book I'll have to write some day)
We laugh and have fun with these memories but the reality is that anyone of them could have ended horribly wrong and if weren't for the grace of God I'm not sure low boy wouldn't have won the battle years ago. I am extremely thankful that we can look back laugh, learn and rejoice for the progress Dave has made and for the stand he now takes.
Dave, I said it before "you are a warrior" and to me these are just a few of the battle stories of the battles you have fought and the very fact that you are still standing is evidence that you have won.
So here it goes...
Mom, says that as a toddler I had an uncanny gift of knowing when Dave was low, of course we called it "being shaky". I seemed to be able to sense it often before any of the adults in the room had a clue. Apparently I would say in my best toddler vocabulary "David Shaky" and soon after Dave would fall out or begin to show obvious signs or a simple blood sugar test would reveal the truth.
As the years went by Dave I and were vertually inseperatable and I became for lack of a better discription,"my brother's keeper". It was never a burden it was just part of what I did. I looked out for my big brother, like I think anyone would do.
As a kid night was the scariest time...
To my knowledge I only slept through one insulin reation the entire time and I cant explain that one, only that I remember that my Dad was in the room and I could here him taking care of Dave so I must have known that he was ok. The usual response was like a bolt of lighting shooting through my body at the first sound of a reaction. (Which I've come to find out many of the Type 1ers out there have never even had. If you fall into that category or if you are a non-diabetic and have never seen one, I'll try to explain. Imagine the worst moan scream gutteral sound combination imaginable combined with severe body spasms and a siesure more severe than any you have seen elsewhere. It sounded like Dave was waking up from the most horrific nightmare imaginable. It is still to this day the worst sound I have ever heard.) My feet would hit the ground running before I was even totally aware of what was happening. I had one thought "get help...Dave is shaky". A lot of intense stories could be told of me running for help as a small child while Dave was convulsing in his bed...one that I will never forget was on one such occasion when I was about 6 years old in the middle of the night, I hear Dave wake up during a reaction, I hit the ground running (and I was fast), out of the bed down the hall 'I was haulin', the thing that makes this particular time memerable is that the hall door was shut and in the pitch darkness I didn't notice until I heard it. By that I mean I heard my face hit the door full speed. I never saw it comming! I was only down for at the most one quarter of a second. I found the door knob and finished my run, Mom heard the collision and was already on the way...come to think of it, that was a pretty good strategy!
Another quick one and then I'll have to write more latter...
Flash forward 10 years, we are in High School and at that time Dave and I had a sweet little one room (with a loft) cabin that was on our property that we convinced Mom to let us fix up and stay it. (Talk about having it made) It had a toilet and everything. Dave and I slept in the loft which was crawl space only and had a ladder for access.
One winter morning about 6am, Dave gets up before me , which was not normal, I could hear him muttering and fumbling around downstairs, descriptors like "bull in a china shop, and Tyranasour foot" come to mind. It sounded like he was looking for something and was not have any luck. At this point I suspected nothing...then I hear a series of high pitched "whooo hooo's". (Think Taladega or a Lenard Skynard concert). I rush down the ladder just in time to see Dave dart out the door and leap of the front porch into the snow. Apparently he had been looking for his clothes, which he never found! He then makes the 100 yard run to the house bare ass the whole time interchanging "WHOOOO HOOOO'S" and "IT'S COLD!" I made chase (not bare ass) through the snow and found him passed out cold on the kitchen floor. Mom had quit a surprised look on her face as she had been making breakfast inthe kitchen! I think we had to give dave a Glucagon shot that time. And we still made it to first period on time!
Stay tuned more to come...
Apparently my secretary has trouble dictating... she has been fired due to her poor spelling and 2nd grade grammatical skills.
I'll try to clean it up next time, sorry to all you English buffs
Ah, keep em coming - this stuff is gold! I am so jealous that Dave had a chronicler...
Seriously - what an incredible set of brothers you guys are - thanks for sharing and just being a part of my life
I teach across the hall with Dave and have been running with him off and on since last Spring. I don't have an epic Lowboy story yet, but an incident this fall opened my eyes to just how Lowboy has affected Dave's families perceptions of possibilities.
This fall I came into work not particularly early, to find I was the first one on the hall. Dave is ALWAYS here seemingly at the crack of dawn getting ready for his day, prepping labs, or recently blogging away. As the other general early-bird on the hall I usually roll into the parking lot to only a few cars one of which is always Dave's. No such luck on this day. On this particular morning time continues to roll on until about 10 minutes before students are supposed to be on the hall. Dave has never, in the year I have known him, been this late. I checked in with the office to see if he was sick or had called for a sub. Our secretary hadn't heard from him.
I decide to call his house to see if everything's alright. I wake Emily up (sorry again Em). I ask her if Dave got a late start this morning.
She looks around doesn't see Dave and says she's going to check things out but to call back if he shows up or not. About two minutes later just before the bell, Dave rolls in. I tell him I have already called Emily, woke her up and probably freaked her out for no good reason and that he needs to call her asap and apologize for me and let her know he's alright.
After he calls we find out that he had taken a different car than normal and when she saw the jeep in the yard Emily immediately assumed that...
Dave in Lowboy mode, must be wandering somewhere around there house in the woods. She apparently ran outside to yell for him when her sister noticed that the other car was gone. Dave's phonecall was probably only a minute or two past that realization.
We laughed about it at the time but I also remember thinking to myself that for Em to assume what she did, that Dave must have done this kind of thing before. I know the Lowboy stories are going to start rolling soon and I can't wait. For the family members of Dave I have nothing but the utmost respect for each and every one of you for keeping Dave alive to this point for the rest of us to enjoy. Nate I can't imagine the emotional toll you have payed to this point, it must I can only assume be so incredible to have witnessed the full span of the epic that is Dave...
Zircon...
That morning that Russ (Zircon) called and freaked me out (you're forgiven by the way) was pretty bad BUT not the worst I've seen.
The WORST OF THE WORST episode that I have ever witnessed was soon after we were married. Dave and I lived in a 30 foot Winnebago (that did not run) for 7 months in a camground from April-November in 2002. We slept on a bed that we had to lower over the driver and passenger seats at night and raise in the morning when we woke up in order to use those chair to eat our breakfast and dinner.
well, the bed only came down about two feet so we were crammed in there every night to say the least. One wild morning i woke up and immediately realized that we had slept through the alarm. I attempted to wake dave up BUT he began seizing. I crawled over him and grabbed the syrup out of the fridge and laid on top of him while i poured as much as possible into his clinched shut mouth.
That was ABSOLUTELY CRAZY!
We've come a long way baby!
WINNEBAGO TO WISCONSIN!
I just want to tell the world that my husband is obsessed with this training thing. we are at the pool a couple of times a week now and I am even swimming laps (36 weeks pregnant). Dave, you better watch out, I'm not that much slower than you!!
you're using flippers
Em's,
you're so sneaky!
We also had a question...does the belly work like one of those bubble floaty things that kids wear in the pool? and if so, do you consider that another unfair advantage? Just curious...
I'M "THE MOM" HERE, AND I MUST ADMIT THAT HAVING DAVE DIANOSED
WITH DIABETES AT THE AGE OF 2 IS THE WORST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME IN MY LIFE. I CRIED FOR MONTHS, ALMOST NEVER REALLY SLEPT, THEN FINALLY GAVE IT UP TO GOD IN PRAYER, CONTINUALLY TO THIS DAY.
DAVE AND HIS BROTHER NATE ARE THE
REAL HEROS. DAVE NEVER COMPLAINED
OVER THE SHOTS, TESTING, OR LACK
OF VARIOUS FOODS HIS FRIENDS ATE.
HE MAINTAINED A RATHER NORMAL LIFE. HE TRIED EVERYTHING THE REST OF THE GUYS DID IN SPORTS, AND CHOSE THE ONES HE COULD REMAIN ALIVE DOING.. NATE SPENT HIS LIFE ALERTING THE ADULTS OF ON-COMING TROUBLE. YES, HE HAD A GOD-GIVEN
ABILITY TO FORESEE REACTIONS.
NOW, EMILY IS TAKING OVER THAT TASK
WHEN NATE IS NOT ON THE SCENE.
NOW, I'M SURE THAT THERE ARE GOING TO BE "LOWBOY" STORIES IV'E NEVER HEARD ABOUT THAT SCARE A MOM TO DEATH. BUT, IF STORIES HELP OTHERS TO TAKE MEDICAL CARE OF THEMSELVES, AND INSPIRE DAVE TO
TAKE CARE OF HIMSELF FOR THE SAKE OF HIS ADORABLE CHILDREN AND WIFE,
THIS IS A GOOD THING! LOVE YOU ALL. AND, EMILY, CAN I HAVE A SWIMMING PICTURE FOR YOUR "COUNTDOWN TO BABY" ALBUM?
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