Daily gaming

Here's how we play the Type 1 game on a daily basis...

Wake up @ 6:45 and test Adele's blood sugar. On weekends I need to backoff her morning basal insulin so she won't go low. Insulin basals are programmed in her pump. If she doesn't sleep in, she may wake up with a high blood glucose reading. I will correct right away if she's high by giving her an insulin bolus via her pump. After breakfast, I need to calculate how many grams of carbs she has taken in, do a bit of math and give her insulin via her pump.

If I have recently made changes to her insulin doses, I will test her blood sugar again before dropping her off at school @ 7:50.

Whoever is on call (either me or my wife) will then talk to Adele's teacher's aid again @ 8:45 and then 9:45 before her snack. If her sugars are dropping (or already low) I will tell the teacher's aid to give her a bit to eat. If her sugars are going up (or already high) I will tell the teacher's aid to give her insulin to bring them back down.

2 more blood glucose checks are done @ 10:45 and 11:45 before her lunch. She's checked again after lunch recess and before getting on the bus. In total, we are in contact with the teacher's aid about 8 or 9 times per workday.

We use the total grams of carbs consumed to calculate the amount of insulin that we give Adele each time she eats.

I usually check Adele's blood sugar 2 or 3 times after she is sleeping between 8:30 and 11:00 to give me a better idea of where her sugar is going. I can then make micro-adjustments to try and get a good reading when Michele checks her again between 1 and 2 am.

We use a log book to track blood glucose values and insulin throughout the day. This enables us to make better decisions and enables me to go back and look for tendancies in order to make adjustments.

This log book is from last summer, so the schedule is different from what's described above, but it still gives you an idea of the work required...

Please note that this is our personal management system. Each Type 1 diabetic manages their disease differently. No one approach is better than the next. The diabetic simply needs to find what works best for him/her.