What would you do when a doctor tells you that the diagnosis is Type 1 Diabetes, a chronic disease that occurs when the immune system mistakenly destroys the body's ability to metabolize sugar leaving patients insulin-dependant for life? Presently, it can't be prevented and there is no cure. It is humanly impossible to control this sugar metabolism as well as the normal body does for a non-diabetic, but the better control that you can achieve, the less chance that long-term complications will arise. Good control "lessens" the chances of developing blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, nerve damage... but there are absolutely no guarantees. For over 200,000 people in Canada, this is what they are facing. How would react to this news? What would you do?For us, this news was given to us a little over 7 years ago, so I've had a while to think about it. As a parent of a Type 1, the single thing that I would most like Adele to achieve is to learn to LOVE her Diabetes. Once true life-long love is achieved, all else falls into place. She will take care of it, work at it, continuously try to learn about it and recognize the strength that it has given her. Type 1 robs us of alot, but like every challenge, it breeds growth and creates opportunity. There is ALWAYS a choice to be made. What would you choose? So that's the goal. Now how do I help Adele get there?
In the meantime, the Type 1 game continues. Adele's sugars have been pretty good, with some ups and downs the last few days. I'm catching the lows and highs before they happen, but I'd like to be able to do this with less extra snacks and insulin corrections. Here are some highlights:
Thursday, November 5th
7:55 am -> 9.5 (too high before breakfast)
8:55 am -> 8.0 (going down, maybe too fast?)
9:35 am -> 5.9 with one arrow down on her CGM (yup, she's dropping too fast, gave 18g carbs before recess)
10:10 am -> 6.0 (low avoided)
10:50 am -> 7.9 with one arrow up on her CGM (going up too fast, gave 0.7 units insulin)
11:45 am -> 9.7 (too high before lunch)
1:05 pm -> 6.2 with one arrow down on her CGM (dropping too fast, gave 6g carbs to avoid low)
2:20 pm -> 10.1 with one arrow up on her CGM (corrected with 0.6 units insulin before she got on the bus)
3:15 pm -> 8.7 with one arrow down on her CGM (going down before snack)
5:00 pm -> 7.4 (good before supper)
7:00 pm -> 8.8
9:50 pm -> 11.1 (gave 0.2 units insulin)
10:45 pm -> 11.2 (gave another 0.2 units insulin and went to bed)
Friday, November 6th
1:00 am -> 7.2 (reduced basal insulin to 50% for 1 hour to make sugar go up a bit)
7:00 am -> 7.7 (good sugar before breakfast)
On a final note, November 14th is world Diabetes day. Help us raise awareness by telling a friend and helping us spread the Type 1 love !!!
1 comment:
Love Diabetes? Really? I think you are going to be disappointed on that one Mike. Respect it, maybe. Learn to live with it and it's many demands, yes. But love it? That is a tough one. I hate Diabetes. I hate that it demands attention at the most inconvenient times. I hate that it sneaks up on you and ruins your plans and your sleep and your spontenaiety. I hate that I worry sick about my child 24 hours a day when I can't be with him - that every time he gets the sniffles or a headache or is just tired, I panic. I hate that I worry that he won't take care of himself when he is an adult. I worry that he won't live to be an old man. I worry that he won't wake up one morning. No Mike, I don't think it's possible to LOVE diabetes.
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