Post Apocalypse D-Management

We were watching the disaster-themed movie marathon on Sci Fi recently, and a crazy D-scenario came to mind: What if THAT particular apocalyptic situation played out and those of us People With Diabetes had to maneuver our own survival? Hmm.

This particular flick was a 2009 TV-movie Polar Storm, with the plot basically being that a comet collides with Earth and knocks the planet of its axis, throwing off its magnetic field and causing some crazy EMP bursts that randomly appear and short any electronic device going at the time. So, any cars or cell phones - and anyone touching those at the time of the burst - would pretty much be out of luck.

(Disclaimer: the fact that I was actually watching this movie should in no way signal my endorsement for others to watch it, or hint that my thumbs are in any way pointing upwards when describing the quality of this screen-writing... It was just a way to pass some time without having to exercise the mind. Seriously.)

Anyhow. As some of this transpired on the screen, I glanced at Suzi and wondered aloud: "So, let's say hypothetically this really happened... would my insulin pump be affected? Would I have to disconnect it?" We speculated that would probably be the case. A few minutes later, a character with a pacemaker saw that very scenario play out and leave him dead on the street. Our suspicions were confirmed, indeed.

So, if a meteor ever crashes into Earth and throws off the magnetic field, guess I'll be unhooking the insulin pump and going the syringe-and-vial route.

Or, maybe I'm already in apocalypse-prep since I recently went on another Pump Hiatus and am a few days into that Multiple Daily Injection routine again. Nothing against my pump, just pretty much the same reasons as mentioned last year when I took a needed break - mentally and emotionally - from my trusty pump. Hoping I can lower my A1C again by a whole % point just like before!

Even if I can't, at least I'll be working toward better management more diligently.

And, you know, will be ready for D-Management Post Apocalypse Style. This is not to be confused with the Zombie Apocalypse, that I'm already prepared for with my arsenal of lancets. Now, D-Mom and I need to fashion some sort of lancet-shooting device to combat the zombies... that's a work in progress and options are being explored.

Hopefully, whatever the end-of-the-world disaster may be, it holds off until I can bring my BGs down... or something like that.

Comments

Unknown said…
Good to be prepared...May I make the "costume"? I think we could use some Onion Goggles to use in battle... btw, I was glad for the "disclaimer" that you were not recommending us to watch this...and the pacemaker part got a bit of a choking on my morning coffee laugh outta me.

Have a great w/e Mike!
August 19, 2011 at 4:44 AM
Kelly Booth said…
I guess I better not toss out the old lancets if you are coming out with a device to shoot zombies with - I am just "assuming" the old style would work better for that purpose than the multiclix lancet I now use.
August 19, 2011 at 11:20 AM
Scott K. Johnson said…
Scary thought indeed! I like what Todd said on Twitter - "Scott would have to make his own Diet Coke!"

Totally sent shivers down my spine.

:-)
August 19, 2011 at 11:44 AM
The DL said…
It's funny, because I think about this a lot actually. Like how we would we actually survive?? It's really crazy and syfy movies are THE BEST hahaa ;)
August 19, 2011 at 7:03 PM
Meagan said…
Ooh, I too spend far too much time obsessing over these "end of days" scenarios. Hubby even looked into how to make insulin once (just in case)...of course he came back all sad and defeated cause "it's like impossible". I should clarify now that we are not crazy. :)

Loved this post, and the fact that you watched such a goofy movie. We tend to watch a lot of those too. :D
August 21, 2011 at 10:18 AM
Natalie said…
I have never, ever, in 12 years, thought about a pump vacation, except when I was depressed, and that was an INSULIN vacation (with predictable results).

Just curious what motivates you to do that?
August 21, 2011 at 3:10 PM
Anonymous said…
All those "how to survive the whatever apocalypse" scenarios people love to bandy about just depress me. I guess if I gave up vegetarianism and ate no carbs, I'd survive a little while. I've got some Lantus pens in the fridge . . . wait, do I get to keep electricity? If not, I think I'll go out in a blaze of carb-y glory. I'll eat fruit, chocolate, pizza, and French toast till the ketones get me.
August 21, 2011 at 5:10 PM
Natalie said…
There actually was a man in Japan, probably a chemist, who managed to make insulin for his wife out of fish pancreases during WWII. He kept her alive until the war was over, and insulin became available again, but the effort must have been gruesome because of the need to get so many fish, and the difficulties of the chemistry. I doubt there were many people who could have done this!
August 21, 2011 at 6:50 PM
John Davis said…
Well i think these days management auf zeit is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change within an organization. In this situation, a permanent role may be unnecessary or impossible to find on short notice. Additionally, there may be nobody internally who is suitable for, or available to take up, the position in question
November 17, 2011 at 8:18 AM
Katie Dettman said…
I think about this a lot. What will we do?! I was just looking up how to make insulin. :) I guess I would just have to find a community that included some really smart scientist-types, because I most certainly could not pull off insulin manufacture. Scary.
December 11, 2011 at 5:17 PM
Unknown said…
Its possible to extract insulin from animals.. They used to use pork insulin before they started making it in a lab.. I'd still probably need someone smart to extract it from pigs i wouldn't know where to begin..
November 19, 2014 at 12:50 AM
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