Thursday, September 20, 2012

Mani, Pedi, Insulin Pump & Getting Lost In Translation.

Everyone once in a while I neglect to remember that "my normal," (living with diabetes,) isn't exactly everyone else's normal.

It's not that I forget I have diabetes, because I don't. But living with diabetes and all that comes with it allows for some moments of being on Diabetes Auto Pilot.
Like you, I don't think twice about saying "I'm high," in public because testing my blood sugar is a constant.
I "dial up for insulin," ( bolusing on my insulin pump) without skipping a beat in any given conversation and I'll poke my finger to test my blood sugar anytime and anywhere because those things are the norm in living a diabetes life.
Bottom line: Everyone has a different normal - funky pancreas or not.
Anyway, a few weeks back I treated myself to a much needed mani-pedi (a manicure/pedicure) at a local place that only does manis/pedis and offers to do both  on the cheap for a grand total of $25.
It's a relaxing hour and a special treat that I don't indulge in often, but when I do, I really enjoy it.
Beforehand I always let the person doing the mani/pedi know that I have diabetes before we get started and I always ask them to clean the mani pedi tools in front of me before they use them - And they're always very accommodating and very gentle.
So anyway there I was sitting in the throne like pedicure Barko Lounger, adjusting the Barko's massage settings and soaking my 'feets', when my insulin pump started to chirp a familiar tune.
I glanced down and unclipped my pump from hip and saw that my insulin reservoir was officially low with only 20 units left to go.
The woman giving me my pedicure looked up and said in broken English: Your beeper?
Me: Nope, not a beeper - it's actually my insulin pump.
And she looked at me like I had 3 heads.
Me: It's for my diabetes.
And she still looked at me like I had three heads. So I tried explaining that instead of needles, I wore an insulin pump and I showed her the tubing and pointed to where it connected to the infusion set in my abdomen and rambled on about how it worked.
But I could tell from her expression that something was getting lost in the translation.
And then she started talking Korean ( OK, I think it was Korean because the owner of the shop is Korean and they speak fluently to one another in what I assume is indeed Korean.  And FTR, I hope I'm not offending anyone because I don't mean to at all) to another technician and kept pointing to me and I recognised the words "diabetes" followed by the words "insulin pump?" said in an inflectionlike it was followed by at least there question marks.
"You need some juice," the other tech said to me with a smile and a concerned look.
Me: No, I'm OK, but thank you.
Other Tech: OK, good. But you let us know if you need some juice - we have some in the back, fruit too.
Me: OK, I will.
And then I chuckled to myself for all sorts of reasons, but mostly because even though the insulin pump meaning got lost in translation - like it or not some things are universal and good intentions are always appreciated~

3 comments:

Andrea said...

They must have seen Steel Magnolias...lol

Hope you enjoyed the treat :)

Unknown said...

LOL!!!!! This is beautiful!!!! I love the way they know diabetes somehow immediately equates to juice. At least you know your tootsies are in good hands while you sit back and enjoy that chair :)

NeurosurgeryNP said...

:). Cool story.