Diabetes and the Unexpected

The first year after Emily was diagnosed felt impossible. If you are not organized, get ready because you are about to be the most overly organized person you know. Thinking ahead is now your new normal. Gone are the days of leaving the house with your purse and keys...and the child. Must not forget the child. You will have juice boxes and smarties. Needles, pump supplies, wet wipes, alcohol pads, insulin, test strips, glucagon, bg meter....crap did I forget anything? I did say the child right?

So here we are. Two and a half years in and yes you still need to make sure you have at least the important things, but the fear of forgetting some things is gone. You throw a fruit roll up or fruit snacks in your bag. Grab the pump remote and go.
Diabetes is a sneaky sucker though. A low can happen out of nowhere.

This weekend we went on our first family trip since before Emily was diagnosed. We were at Universal Studios having a great time when the Dex started to go off. 89 double down. We were waiting in line for a ride. Crap! Okay this is when a preplanned panic has been stored in your brain for just such a moment. You think fast, what will stop this low in its tracks? Glucose tabs. Check! 69 double arrows down. The Dex is blaring. You are about to get in the Simpsons ride with your child that is plummeting down. Deep breath. Maybe two. Glucose drink! I quickly shoved the bottle in her face, DRINK!!! She down the bottle like a pro. This is where a year and a half ago I would have had the glucagon in hand and pulled her out of the line up of the ride and nearly piss my pants. I asked her several times if she was okay and proceeded onto the ride. I took a few more deep breaths and felt that the glucose drink would do its job in a matter of minutes.
As the ride went on we screamed and laughed and every minute or so I would check the Dex. 59 crooked arrow down. 51 straight across. Relief. Emily had a awesome time and her blood sugar steadily started to rise. It was at this moment that I thought about how far we had come. Diabetes is never something to underestimate. Just when you think you know what you are doing it sucker punches you in the face and you are left with the "what the hell am I doing" feeling. It doesn't have to control your lives or ruin your fun.

So don't panic. Okay that was dumb. Of course there will be many MANY panic moments to come, but it doesn't mean you can't still enjoy the ride.

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 16, 2017 at 4:59 AM

    Aww, thank goodness for technology! I am so glad to hear you were able to be proactive and not let diabetes get in the way of the fun ride!

    ReplyDelete
  2. KarenMay 16, 2017 at 6:07 AM

    What a fantastic story of just how much you have learned and how you now handle it all like a pro! Good for you!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Sleepover

A wise woman once said to me...."If your child did not have diabetes would you let them do/eat that?" Touche Moira McCarthy Stanford. Touche. Hence the request for a sleepover. The first one was a doozie. My daughter's 8th birthday. She had been asking for quite sometime and finally I gave in. I had her pick 3 of her other T1 friends. Yes I said that right. THREE other type one girls. Giving me a total of 4 to watch over. Why on earth would I take on such chaos on purpose? Well I looked at it this way. Our kids may not always be the ones picked for sleepovers. Parents don't want to take on such responsibility or kids might be scared to ask their friend over because simply kids can be dicks. I was determined to tackle this head on. All the girls had CGM's which was a blessing for me. 3 Dexcoms and 1 Libre. 2 girls had insulin pumps. 2 girls did not. I had juice and low snacks galore. I made sure I knew all their carb counts and insulin ratios. My true goal was
Read more

The Rise of the D Mom

When you're a mom you are called many things, mommy, mama, mom, mother. When your child is diagnosed with type one diabetes you are called a D mom. It makes it easy to refer to others as "D mom" too. I used to think that was weird at first, but now I wear it with pride. No mom wants to be a "D mom", but here we are. A new world of type one and new and foreign words are now a part of your daily vocabulary. What does it mean to be a D mom exactly? To be a D mom you need to be strong, determined, and packed with enough empathy to run over a mack truck. You must remain unfazed when you inject your screaming or wiggly child with a needle over and over....and over again. You cannot freak out over the site of blood and you must posses a poker face to things like your child asking why they have to be different and not like everyone else. You wear your heart on your sleeve but if you fall apart so will your child. To be a D mom you must be able to function as if you
Read more

A Quick Word about Fiasp

When the endo told us about this new amazing insulin that was going to come out over 6 months ago, we were really excited. We are told so many things about how the newest devices and insulin are going to be SOO amazing that I'll admit, I was kinda skeptical. The endo handed us a free sample a little over a month ago and I am very happy to say that I absolutely LOVE this new insulin! We have been using it in Emily's pump now for about a month. The first thing I did was dial all her settings back. WAaaay back. I was scared that just a tiny bit would have her bg plummeting. I was wrong. I know several people so far that have been using Fiasp. Some hate it some love it. Here is what we have experienced so far......(your diabetes may vary) I have always tried to pre bolus for Emily's meals. I'll admit I'm not always good at it. Mostly because when she wants to eat, the food starts going in the mouth much faster then me and my trusty Ping remote. I'm lucky if I ca
Read more