Saturday, May 19, 2012

A Day-In-The-Life...

Articles - Diabetes Articles
Sunday, 12 December 2010 12:51
It is 6:30am.

Joe wakes, he walks down the stairs inquiring about ice skating on our rink. Did I mention it was 6:30 am? You see, he knows a thaw is coming. We just got the rink up and running a couple of nights ago and now we are headed into two days of temperatures peaking out in the 40s and 50s.

Joe wants to take advantage of the cool morning temperatures, the frozen ... (soon to be slushy)... surface while he is able to. I admire this quality in him. I admire the way he takes his "loves", his passions to

the extreme. He lives each day to the fullest...actively...whole-heartedly ... with gusto.

To give you an example of what this Mama Pancreas deals with I will discuss a typical day-in-the-life of a weekend day with Joe, with hockey, with a backyard rink, with a yard full of snow. I should not, but I do...I do beat myself up now and again for the numbers; you know, the numbers that are difficult to control under "controlled circumstances". Joe's days are anything but "controlled" and you add in type 1 to the mix...well...I feed, I bolus, I check, I tweak, I check, I feed.

And I pray.

Here is what our "day-in-the-life" was like yesterday. And, yes, it is un-fucking-believable if you aren't familiar with managing a young child with diabetes.

On with our day...

6:30am - Joe wakes up.

  • Blood Sugar is 153.
  • Joe eats 28gram weight of Honey Nut Cheerios (22grams of carbs)
  • Program the pump to deliver insulin to cover the carbs (Ratio 1:14), no correction as he has a hockey game at 7:50am.
  • I did not decrease his basal rate pre-game. I have noticed that he has been running high when I have been doing this the past two weeks, so I am feeding his numbers to keep him up during hockey and games lately and then decreasing his basal for a couple of hours post-hockey-play to ward off post exercise induced lows.
7:40am - Joe is suited up for Hockey Game #1.

  • Blood Sugar is 302.
  • I do nothing with this number as it is a post meal spike and he is going to burn it off during the game.

8:00am - Between periods of Hockey Game #1.

  • Blood Sugar is 171. See! I knew he would burn that 302 down!
  • I feed him a Lindt Milk Chocolate Truffle (5 grams).

9:00am - After the Hockey Game.

  • Blood sugar is 209.
  • I do nothing. Sometimes he will drop like a rock after hockey and I have gotten "dinged" big time for corrections post exercise. I am always cautious in these types of situations.

9:10am - Snack of Chocolate Pudding.

  • 23 grams of carbs.
  • Joe has another hockey game in an hour and a half.
  • I bolus for 15 grams of the 23 grams.

10:20am - Joe is suited up in goalie gear for Hockey Game #2. He has never played this position before so I have NO CLUE how it will pan out, but my thought was that it may be easier on his blood sugar lability. I was a bit nervous due to the "lack of access" that I, as his pancreas, would have to him while he was out in the goal. You see normally I can check a number on the bench between line changes.

  • Blood Sugar is 265.
  • I do nothing, this is a good number considering he ate an hour ago and he is heading out to the goal...without access to his "pancreas"!

11:20am - Mid Hockey Game #2.

  • Blood Sugar is 195.
  • YAY! I do nothing.
  • Joe heads back out to man the goal!

12:00pm - Post Hockey Game #2.

  • Blood Sugar is 162
  • Lunch (PB & J and 2 cookies and milk) is 55 grams of carbohydrate.
  • I program the pump to only cover 40 grams of carbohydrate (ratio 1:30), no correction, and I decrease the basal rate by 40% for 2 hours.
  • My above decision was based on his recent activity level with the two Hockey Games and he is now planning on heading out to ice skate on our backyard rink! Do you see what I am dealing with!?

1:40pm - Comes in from ice skating..."Mom, iiIIII FFEEELLLL Ll0000ww", in the "LOW JOE" "I feel low" ascending and descending in octave voice.

  • Blood Sugar is 65.
  • Juicy Juice to the rescue (15 grams of carbs).
  • The rink is slush as the temperature is now 34 degrees, so skating is done for the day...THANK GOD.

2pm to 3pm -ish - Joe decides to take it easy playing Legos while I work out.

  • Blood sugar is 91 to 105.

4pm - Joe wants to sled...of course he does... damn it!

  • Pre-sled Blood Sugar 179, no IOB...fine...sled JOE! (with a "for fucks-sake" whispered upon exhalation in my subconsciousness).

5:30pm - Dinner...Shepards Pie.

  • Blood Sugar is 151.
  • I feed him 30 grams of carbohydrate.
  • But, I only bolus him for 20 grams of carbohydrate (ratio 1:30) in preparation for a family walk and a snow ball fight. He and Bridget had apparently been stock-piling snow balls while playing outside earlier in preparation for a battle with Mom and Dad.
7:00pm - "Settle Down Time" watching the Red Wings!!!

  • Blood Sugar is 147! Wahooo!

Blood Sugar range for yesterday (I think I was inspired by Jonah) 65 to 302...I'll take it. Blood Sugar average 168. BooYaH! I'll take it.

Back to today...It is now 8am.. Guess who is outside skating?

A day-in-the-life of parenting a "Joe" with type 1 Diabetes... no wonder I am tired!
 
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