The results of our universal-code-word-for-hypoglycemia contest are in, and they are, well… LOW! Most people seem to agree that anything beyond those three little letters — or perhaps the word ‘GLUCOSE!’ — would just confuse the matter.
Before I get into it, let me just note what a bunch of cynics you all are! (Which is why I love you, of course)
Here’s a sampling of the type of grumpy disillusionment I’m talking about:
“Shouldn’t saying ‘I’m diabetic, I have a low blood sugar’ be enough? Isn’t that the point to come out of Doug’s experience?”
“What would happen if you weren’t thinking clearly and couldn’t remember the right word and just started mumbling random things hoping you hit the right one? They’d probably assume you were intoxicated wouldn’t they?”
“I think the effort should be focused on educating the public about the basic elements of diabetes… rather than getting an entire community of diabetics to try and remember to use a catchy word when sometimes, getting the damned straw out of the plastic wrapper on a juice box is complicated. Educating either group is a monumental undertaking, but if we aim at changing the diabetics, even with 100% success rate, we still have a general public that doesn’t understand what is going on when they see someone on the street that is, like, totally dextrosing out!”
and of course:
“Good Lord, how about ‘please help me, I have diabetes and I’m low’ and also wearing a med alert bracelet so if you can”t do that someone has a chance to help you. This code word stuff is noise, Amy”
Well, I’ll have you know that I had a personal interest in this whole caper. My husband and I were kicking around the idea of using a code word for my blood sugar lows, since under normal circumstances, I could be slumping on the stairs with my tongue hanging out like the Village Idiot, and he still wouldn’t realize I’m having a low. “LOW, Honey, LOOOWWWW!”
And we did get some truly useful suggestions from the contest here as well:
“FOOD, FOOD, FOOD!”
“UNDRUNK!”
“BRAIN FUNCTIONLESS!”
“LBS!” (for low blood sugar — don’t forget the ‘L’)
“FUDGE!” (hey, it has sugar in it)
and
“MULBERRY PIE!” (see ‘Fudge’)
SO… among the thirty-something of you who participated… drumroll please… for pure creativity, I’m awarding the three DiabetesMine.com T-shirt prizes to:
* Journeywoman, for quoting her mother-in-law (!) with the term “Hinky”
* RichW, with his SuperBowl commercials featuring comedians writhing on the floor yelling “LOW!” — or something like that
and
* Karen Spangler for “Code Orange Juice!” — that one was just so irresistibly “Get Smart”
Will the three lucky winners kindly email their mailing address and T-shirt size to me HERE? The rest of you, keep your eye out for a second chance in future contests here. And chin up, we’re trying to make the best of this stupid disease, remember? 
My almost 12 year old son yells cracker time
HAHA! congrats to the winners!
Actually, I think all it’ll take is some mainstream pop-culture movie to feature a person with diabetes yelling out the code word throughout the movie when he/she is having a low.
It’s amazing how people will remember references to movies.
“Hinky” is a term used by law enforcement for when “something doesn’t feel right” or the facts don’t add up or an individual is behaving suspiciously. I have also heard it defined as to act odd, insecure, jumpy, untrusting, and suspicious.
Chris,
To us “hinky” PWDs then!!
Woo hoo and rock on when we are low and in need of assistance!!
(not mocking you at all, just interesting the definition(s) of hinky then I think of what I am like when I am low….hmmmmm)
Albert,
Maybe the movie should be titled “Hinky” or “Getting Hinky”.
Having the word ‘Hinky’ be effectively described and used in a Pop/Rap song would probably also work.
Just think of all the rap songs that repeat the same phrase over and over again. Most of them don’t make any sense and yet people still remember them!
I used to experience hypo’s much more frequently than I do now. And I had this problem where friends would notice and ask, but I would deny it! I guess subconsciously I always wanted to be okay.
So I had to train them to translate my response. When they ask if I’m having a low and I answer yes, then I’m okay. But if I answer no, they need to help me out.
I couldn’t control it, I would regularly deny it, and I knew I couldn’t change what my brain was doing when it was low, but I could alter my response when I wasn’t low. Hope this makes sense.