The stagnant bitter chill of this 2 degree morning stung my eyes. The tears started spilling as the surface tension was overcome by the volume of the salty solution that was gathering along my lower lids. My nose was stinging a bit; my upper lip feeling moist... from a constant slow trickle of clear mucous from my left nostril. My finger tips were numbing, especially my thumb as it was excluded from the body of the mitten. The flesh on my face firmed and became almost putty-like in the bitter cold. My toes were already numb. I had shoveled the
driveway.
I had shoveled a path to Oscar's dog run.
I had shoveled our backyard ice rink.
The rink's surface was "bumpily" (yes, I know it isn't a fucking word) as a result of a recent storm that had precipitated snow on the not fully frozen ice surface. I was left, this morning, with the unpleasant task of "re-surfacing" our ice. After shoveling the ice, I scraped the ice "bumps" with a heavy-duty ice chipping tool. Trust me when I tell you this is quite a work-out and requires strength and endurance and tremendous will-power. Between shoveling that damn ice last year and "scraping" the ice bulges (hurting for another word for "bump", please bear with me), I lost a good 3 pounds.
Once the ice surface was as smooth as possible, I then shoveled the shavings from my scraping. Then the dreaded part had arrived. The part I had a hard time bringing myself to do. The part where I must remove my mittens AND use my bare hands to hook-up the hose to the faucet AND then turn on the water AND then flood the surface of the rink in hopes of a smooth as glass result. This morning the hose refused to tunnel the water through it's body as it must have frozen from it's last job, flooding the rink a week ago. So, I unhooked the hose...rolled it up...carried it through our home...put it in the bath tub...and ran the hot water in order to melt the ice that had dammed the hose. I tested it in the tub; the hose was then patent... I then coiled-up the hose...carried it down the stairs... through the house... and outside. Once again, I threaded it to the faucet ... and ... turned on the water and proceeded to surface the rink with my un-mittened, hose wielding hand. It was cold. The years of managing Joe's diabetes in the bitter cold rushed to mind.
I am ready. Since Joe's diagnosis, I have been determined to never let Diabetes interfere with his innate right to be an active child. As many of you know, Joe is an active boy and his activity level seems only to accelerate in the winter months. Managing type 1 in the cold can be a mechanical, a logistical, and a blood sugar nightmare.
Here are some tips that I have picked up along the way. Trust me, I learned many of them the hard way.
1) UNA-BOOB -> Glucometers only function at certain temperature ranges. I have had the glucometer not read Joe's blood sugar number due to the cold. It would give me an error message. I have found that tucking the glucometer into the inner breast pocket of my coat keeps the glucometer warm enough so that it may function.
2) HOT HANDS -> If I want to keep the glucometer in "Woodchuck" (our Diabetes care on the go bag... see right hand side-bar under "Joe's Pancreatic Pit Crew"), I house an "activated" Hot Hand hand warmer in a child's sock, and then place it in "Woodchuck" to keep the glucometer warm enough to perform.
3) PUMP-IN-PANTS -> If your child is a pumper I recommend pulling their snow pants up and over the pump. This keeps the pump warm by using body heat. I have had pumps lose their prime and stop delivery when not adhering to this tip.
4) STRIP WHEN YOU ARE READY! -> Don't pull the strip out of the cannister until you are ready to roll with the blood sugar check. I also have covered the blood receiving end of the strip with a paper towel square (I cut up paper towels for blood wiping and store them in the glucometer case) until the finger is lanced and the blood bubble is ready to be "tested". When I have not done it this way I have gotten some seriously false LOW numbers.
5) As with any activity... CHECK OFTEN. I check about every 30 minutes to an hour due to Joe's tendency to drop quickly while participating in winter to his hearts content.
6) MAKING THE LOWS GO -> Joe runs low while playing in the cold. He has had a "LO" reading on his glucometer while he is running up and careening down sled hills. He has had numbers in the 20s and 30s. I have decreased basals by as much as 80% about an hour prior to outdoor activity. I have fed free carbs prior to ice skating on our rink. I have found for us, the free carb feeding to be the easiest and best way to manage this sort of thing. I usually give Joe 3/4 cup to one full cup of milk prior to heading out to sled or to skate. This seems to hold him for about an hour... then I pelt the bugger with some Lindt truffles (5g/truffle) depending on his blood sugar readings while he is active.
Figuring these details out did not come over night. It took me M-O-N-T-H-S... and I was frustrated... and I was in that place that we all visit now and again... that "helpless" place that our psyches take us to when we are unable to get a handle on the numbers for prolonged periods of time. Know, you are not alone and in time you will determine what works for you.
Here is an awesome "reliable" source of cold weather Diabetes tips from the Children With Diabetes Website.
Do you have any cold weather tips? And p-uh-lease...don't say "Don't eat yellow snow!"A day-in-the-life of managing "D" in the extremes.
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