Gettin' it

Some people just don't get it. Type 1 is more than a disease, it's a lifestyle. It's not just something you think about and do some of the time, it's integrated in every second of every day of our life. I sometimes find it difficult that some people just don't get it. It's not their fault, I also didn't get it before it was forced upon me and my family. This is the whole reason behind this blog really. I wanted a tool that I could use to educate people about Type 1. I wanted to put a personal face on what it's really like to manage Type 1 Diabetes.

I often feel more understood by discussing Type 1 with a complete stranger directly affected the disease rather than talking to some of my good friends or family members who have never played the Type 1 game. Like I said, it's not their fault, they've never been forced to learn how to play.

If you're one of these people who doesn't fully understand what we go through, here are some highlights...

Adele's blood sugars can be very good then either way up or way down in a matter of minutes. You just never know. I can never ever say with 100% certainty that her sugars will be good for an extended period of time even if she doesn't eat. I make the best judgement call that I can based on past trends and knowledge that I have gained, but there are no guarantees. In order to have very good control, you need to become you're own endocrinologist. You must make minor adjustments many times throughout the day and it's just not possible to consult with your diabetes doctor each and every time. This is very stressful and I apologize if I sometimes seem stressed or preoccupied.

During the last week of Type 1 gaming, Adele's sugars have been up and down. Today was a bit better. I still need to make a few adjustments though. She's suddenly very sensitive to insulin in the morning and resistant at bedtime. This was the opposite just a few weeks ago. She went low this morning in school (3.7 at 8:45). I really don't like this since we're not there to keep an eye on her. I need to back off her morning insulin scale. Last night her sugar climbed to 16.0 right before I went to bed. She was still 13.8 at 1 am when Michele got up to check her. We gave her 0.4 units of insulin but I was uneasy all night. I feared that it was too much. I should have checked again at 3 am but I was just too tired and couldn't find the courage to get up and do the extra check. After a rather uneasy sleep, Adele's sugar turned out to be 6.3 when I checked her in the morning, so that was good. Let's see what numbers tonight will bring...