A few days ago I had an incident where I'm presently consulting. I've been on a low fat diet this past week and will be continuing into the next week. I'm trying to lose some weight I know I've gained since I've been out of town and also trying to get a handle on my nutrition; my stomach isn't openly embracing many foods from restaurants I'm not familiar with it seems. I'm also diabetic; that will play into this story.

Around lunch time I was really hungry. I'd only eaten a turkey sandwich as breakfast and had taken all my medications, even though, for me, my glucose level was lower than normal. I decided to go outside to one of the lunch trucks to see if they had something I could eat that would be low fat. I don't do the trucks often because it's hot in the south, and I've much preferred getting into the car, pumping up the AC, and driving somewhere to get food so I don't have to get out of the car and can relax while eating my lunch.

On this day it wasn't as hot outside as it's been all summer, but the sun did feel pretty intense on my head. I ordered my meal, which didn't turn out as I was expecting (I mentioned I was on a low fat diet & wanted just a sandwich, and they grilled it in lots of butter anyway; sigh...) and had to wait about 10 minutes for it.

My head was burning up, to the extent that I kept putting my hand on top of my head to try to block some of the sun from it, and my eyes were in pain; definitely not a good sign. When I got my food I realized that I didn't have the energy to make it to my car, so I went back into the building and back to the area where I work to eat at a table that's in the department.

When I got up there my head still felt like it was burning up and I had a massive headache, my eyes still hurt, and my legs were wobbly. I hoped the food & the cool drink would help some; they didn't. I went back to my desk and tried to work, but I couldn't concentrate and had trouble seeing the monitor.

At that point I had a decision to make; be "the man" and keep it to myself or mention it so someone would know if something worse happened to me. Where I sit I'm fairly secluded, and if I'd passed out or was in serious distress later no one would have heard me. I decided to mention it to someone, one of the ladies in the department.

She immediately told me to sit down & called one of the nurses to come check my blood pressure. It turned out to be high, which isn't a problem I have, and the recommendation was to have me to into a conference room with the blinds closed and the AC turned up and to try to cool off. It took about 20 minutes and it worked, thank goodness, and I was fine the rest of the afternoon.

Later on, after talking to my wife, I realized that it kind of fit the same type of symptoms I've had a few other times while walking at the lake at home, only at those times I was physically stressed from walking, and this time it was just the heat. However, I hadn't eaten much and my glucose had to be low, and intense heat will take a toll on the system, and I've probably been outside at most 3 to 5 minutes at a time while down south. That and getting a haircut the previous weekend left me open to the heat.

I was taken aback by how much the people there cared about making sure I was okay. They kept checking on me throughout the afternoon, and my blood pressure was back to normal within the hour.

I must admit I'm not used to people going above and beyond like that, even though I'm not quite a stranger anymore, and I assume they've seen other people who aren't used to their temperatures or their sun (I have to admit my head has never felt the sun that intense before). I would have been miserable and non-productive if I hadn't said anything, and maybe that's what comes with age in today's world that I even had to think twice before owning up to not being physically perfect at that moment.

When people care, good things happen, always. I've always thought I've shown caring feelings towards others, but I know I have my periods where I just keep to myself and let others work things out on their own. I hope this teaches me, and now you, better lessons about caring for others. Thanks Susie! 🙂