As much as the parent of a diabetic doesn't like the blood glucose meter to greet you with a HI (meaning blood sugar ABOVE 600), you REALLY don't want to see LO.
LO means less than 20. Many diabetics have had seizures with blood sugar levels higher than that.
We got a LO on the meter yesterday. It was during a time that Emma typically goes a little low, so we were checking her. We got a LO on the meter! So, while I was checking it again, Mike got Emma some juice. My 2nd reading was 24 - so that LO was pretty accurate.
Emma's only symptom of a problem with a bit of stumbling disoirentation. She doesn't know when she's low - or if she does, she doesn't know how to explain how she is feeling.
So, after quite a few days of degrees of lows around dinner, I lowered Emma's basal rate during that time. Not that I can check it today, as she has been running high all day so its tough to tell how effective a change in treatment is.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Finally, someone in respected media agrees with us
Reputed doctors are finally saying that Halle Berry's "miracle cure" of Type 1 diabetes was probably an initial misdiagnosis of Type 1 instead of Type 2.
ABC News Report
Well, Duh
ABC News Report
Well, Duh
Monday, November 5, 2007
PSA: Yes, my child can eat sugar
I'm a pretty trusting person. I also give most people the benefit of the doubt. So, I don't get as spun up as others do when "well meaning" people make assumptions about their children because they have Type 1 Diabetes.
A common one is this: Your child has diabetes; they can't have sugar.
Well, that USED to be true. Kinda. The older regimens of diabetic care (NPH and NNR) had insulins that "peaked" at certain times. So, you had to eat at certain times to avoid a low. And you had to eat just a certain amount to avoid a high. And you avoided sugary things because, well, they just weren't well managed with the older regimens.
Take the old regimens, old ways of thinking, and combine it with a media blitz talking about childhood obesity and diabetes (that would be Type TWO), and many "well meaning" people will assume your child should not or cannot have sugar
Not true.
Now, I don't stuff Emma full of sugar. But, then again, I don't stuff my other two children full of sugar either. Emma probably gets the same amount of "Refined sugar treats" as my other two children did at this age - not much. This was our first Halloween since diagnosis and its been the same for her as the other two - a couple of pieces after trick-or-treating and then one piece a day as dessert with a meal since then. It hasn't been every day that she's had a piece of candy after lunch or dinner, but we've had it when she asked (and when she ate the rest of her regular food, which is always a requirement).
I have stayed away from the "pure sugar" candy, such as sweet tarts. They will do nothing but spike her and then drop her. We'll save those to treat lows! But, she's had chocolate and has quite enjoyed it. We just add the carbs from the candy into her meal and give her a dose of insulin to cover it all. It works best that way, as the candy has a high glycemic index and putting it with some protein and lower glycemic index foods helps to slow the absorption and avoid the peak.
So, thanks for caring - but she can have sugar. We just regulate it just like we do with our other kids, because we don't want THREE of them bouncing off the walls!
A common one is this: Your child has diabetes; they can't have sugar.
Well, that USED to be true. Kinda. The older regimens of diabetic care (NPH and NNR) had insulins that "peaked" at certain times. So, you had to eat at certain times to avoid a low. And you had to eat just a certain amount to avoid a high. And you avoided sugary things because, well, they just weren't well managed with the older regimens.
Take the old regimens, old ways of thinking, and combine it with a media blitz talking about childhood obesity and diabetes (that would be Type TWO), and many "well meaning" people will assume your child should not or cannot have sugar
Not true.
Now, I don't stuff Emma full of sugar. But, then again, I don't stuff my other two children full of sugar either. Emma probably gets the same amount of "Refined sugar treats" as my other two children did at this age - not much. This was our first Halloween since diagnosis and its been the same for her as the other two - a couple of pieces after trick-or-treating and then one piece a day as dessert with a meal since then. It hasn't been every day that she's had a piece of candy after lunch or dinner, but we've had it when she asked (and when she ate the rest of her regular food, which is always a requirement).
I have stayed away from the "pure sugar" candy, such as sweet tarts. They will do nothing but spike her and then drop her. We'll save those to treat lows! But, she's had chocolate and has quite enjoyed it. We just add the carbs from the candy into her meal and give her a dose of insulin to cover it all. It works best that way, as the candy has a high glycemic index and putting it with some protein and lower glycemic index foods helps to slow the absorption and avoid the peak.
So, thanks for caring - but she can have sugar. We just regulate it just like we do with our other kids, because we don't want THREE of them bouncing off the walls!
Friday, November 2, 2007
67 and 545!
I saw both of those numbers today - yes, I did.
We have many days where we rarely see over 200 - except at breakfast(which I'll discuss in a minute), so to see 67 and 545 in the same day was quite a feat.
Now that Emma has finally kicked her bug, she has a couple of trends that I want to address. The first was the SPIKE that she has after breakfast - she can easily hit 350 to 400 at the 2-hour or even the 3-hour mark after breakfast (she has a 5 hour IOB). So, I wanted to try what so many on the Children With Diabetes board suggest - pre-bolusing. I had discussed it with the CDE and a couple of different approaches. Today, I wanted to just be simple. Estimate her carbs and then dose her when she sits down to eat (instead of after). That will give the insulin a 20 minute head start.
So, we do that and her 2-hour reading was 250 - not bad. But, then I realized that might not be good at all. A quick IM to Mike confirmed that she had NO protein at breakfast. Without protein, she SPIKES really high and then PLUMMETS to a low because the insulin can't catch the food. I don't know WHY Mike thought we could leave out the protein, but oh well. So, today wasn't a good test of the pre-bolus. That's where the 67 came from - at lunch.
So, I gave her some juice and then her lunch, did a slight negative correction and she went down for her nap. I set her a temporary basal rate of +20% when she goes down for a nap because she always goes HIGH. Well, definitely she did that today. She woke up at 545! Turns out we were at the full 3-day mark for her site - and her sites don't last 3 days. So, I did a quick site change (if I don't have to reload the cartridge or prime new tubing, I can do it very quickly) and gave her a correction to handle the 545.
But, the 2nd trend I wanted to treat today was perpetual lows right before dinner. Its usually between 4:30pm and 6pm that she drops - just about every day - whether she has a nap or not. Mainly because that is our running around time and she is often running down the sidewalk at Tae Kwon Do, or on the soccer field. So, I decreased her basal rate at 4pm (my first change in basal on my own without asking the CDE). But, I couldn't test it because of the 545 at 4pm that had to be treated.
So, two changes tried and none able to test the result. We'll try again tomorrow.
We have many days where we rarely see over 200 - except at breakfast(which I'll discuss in a minute), so to see 67 and 545 in the same day was quite a feat.
Now that Emma has finally kicked her bug, she has a couple of trends that I want to address. The first was the SPIKE that she has after breakfast - she can easily hit 350 to 400 at the 2-hour or even the 3-hour mark after breakfast (she has a 5 hour IOB). So, I wanted to try what so many on the Children With Diabetes board suggest - pre-bolusing. I had discussed it with the CDE and a couple of different approaches. Today, I wanted to just be simple. Estimate her carbs and then dose her when she sits down to eat (instead of after). That will give the insulin a 20 minute head start.
So, we do that and her 2-hour reading was 250 - not bad. But, then I realized that might not be good at all. A quick IM to Mike confirmed that she had NO protein at breakfast. Without protein, she SPIKES really high and then PLUMMETS to a low because the insulin can't catch the food. I don't know WHY Mike thought we could leave out the protein, but oh well. So, today wasn't a good test of the pre-bolus. That's where the 67 came from - at lunch.
So, I gave her some juice and then her lunch, did a slight negative correction and she went down for her nap. I set her a temporary basal rate of +20% when she goes down for a nap because she always goes HIGH. Well, definitely she did that today. She woke up at 545! Turns out we were at the full 3-day mark for her site - and her sites don't last 3 days. So, I did a quick site change (if I don't have to reload the cartridge or prime new tubing, I can do it very quickly) and gave her a correction to handle the 545.
But, the 2nd trend I wanted to treat today was perpetual lows right before dinner. Its usually between 4:30pm and 6pm that she drops - just about every day - whether she has a nap or not. Mainly because that is our running around time and she is often running down the sidewalk at Tae Kwon Do, or on the soccer field. So, I decreased her basal rate at 4pm (my first change in basal on my own without asking the CDE). But, I couldn't test it because of the 545 at 4pm that had to be treated.
So, two changes tried and none able to test the result. We'll try again tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Quick Public Service Announcement
There are multiple types of Diabetes:
Type 1 diabetes means that your pancreas does not produce insulin. You must get insulin from another source in order to live. It will be through injections or an insulin pump.
Type 2 diabetes means that your pancrease produces insulin. Either it doesn't produce enough or your body cannot absorb it well. You "may" have to get insulin from another source. You "may" be able to control it through diet and exercise. It "may" be a result of being overweight. You "may" be able to get your insulin through a pill or an inhaled version.
There are some that are identifying a new form of diabetes - slow onset. They are calling it type 1.5. A Type 1.5 will eventually need to manage their diabetes like a Type 1.
You cannot "get over" Type 1 diabetes and become Type 2. Could you have been misdiagnosed? Perhaps, but I doubt it. Once your pancreas stops working (definition of Type 1) it doesn't miraculously start again. Because, trust me, if there was a way for that to happen, every single one of us who suffers through or with someone with diabetes would be lined up to get that treatment.
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Type 1 diabetes means that your pancreas does not produce insulin. You must get insulin from another source in order to live. It will be through injections or an insulin pump.
Type 2 diabetes means that your pancrease produces insulin. Either it doesn't produce enough or your body cannot absorb it well. You "may" have to get insulin from another source. You "may" be able to control it through diet and exercise. It "may" be a result of being overweight. You "may" be able to get your insulin through a pill or an inhaled version.
There are some that are identifying a new form of diabetes - slow onset. They are calling it type 1.5. A Type 1.5 will eventually need to manage their diabetes like a Type 1.
You cannot "get over" Type 1 diabetes and become Type 2. Could you have been misdiagnosed? Perhaps, but I doubt it. Once your pancreas stops working (definition of Type 1) it doesn't miraculously start again. Because, trust me, if there was a way for that to happen, every single one of us who suffers through or with someone with diabetes would be lined up to get that treatment.
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
I guess I'll take the good with the bad
subtitle: There is just something so wrong with this entire situation!
I had to do a site change this afternoon - it was approaching 3 days and we were running out of insulin. Believe it or not, I've been getting a little extra time out of our sites that past few times, even WITH her illness. That would be nice, because every 2 days was getting real old.
So, I got everything ready and I warned Emma that I was getting ready to poke her behind. She was laying on the couch watch her shows. I asked her if she wanted to hold my hand. She said no. So I went ahead and put in the site, counted to five and removed the inserter - and not a peep out of her! That was the first time! And we don't use any numbing creme. We just deal with the pinch for a second and its over.
But then, I'm trying to get everything "put back together", her pump back in her pouch, etc, and I was finding myself trying to get her diaper taped back up and not get her tubing all twisted up in the diaper tape. There is just something SO wrong with having to worry about pump tubing with a diaper. Something really wrong!!
I had to do a site change this afternoon - it was approaching 3 days and we were running out of insulin. Believe it or not, I've been getting a little extra time out of our sites that past few times, even WITH her illness. That would be nice, because every 2 days was getting real old.
So, I got everything ready and I warned Emma that I was getting ready to poke her behind. She was laying on the couch watch her shows. I asked her if she wanted to hold my hand. She said no. So I went ahead and put in the site, counted to five and removed the inserter - and not a peep out of her! That was the first time! And we don't use any numbing creme. We just deal with the pinch for a second and its over.
But then, I'm trying to get everything "put back together", her pump back in her pouch, etc, and I was finding myself trying to get her diaper taped back up and not get her tubing all twisted up in the diaper tape. There is just something SO wrong with having to worry about pump tubing with a diaper. Something really wrong!!
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