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Parents of children with Type 1 diabetes know the importance of logging blood glucose numbers. Many people outside of the world of Type 1 diabetes may not even realize what logging entails and the reasons behind logging.

While the specifics of logging blood glucose numbers is different for every person, I can explain what I do and why. I have a sheet of 8 days that is broken up into every single hour for 24 hours. The numbers go straight across the page from 12:00 am to 11:00 pm. Underneath each number is a column with 5 boxes. Each box represent the following areas: carbs, correction, bolus,  ketones and one empty box for small notes.

So every time I check my son’s sugar I write the number in the corresponding box. Then I simply place a check in any other appropriate box. If he is just eating carbs for a low, I check the carb box. If he is getting a correction for a high number, I check the correction box. If he is getting insulin to cover the carbs, I check the carb and the bolus box. And so forth and so on. For the ketone box, I only check it if ketones were checked for a reason and in that case I put a negative sign if there were no ketones, or I put the number on the ketone meter if he did indeed have ketones.

Why do I do this you may ask yourself. It certainly isn’t fun, but what part of having diabetes is fun. I choose to log my son’s numbers so that I can see the big picture of his diabetes. When I check his sugar and write the number down, while that one number may not mean much to me at the time, the big picture of numbers is what matters.

For instance, if every day before lunch my son’s number is on the higher side I will be able to see that by reviewing my logs. If I see a high number the same time every day for 2 or 3 days, I know that a change in his pump settings and insulin intake needs to be made. If I didn’t log the numbers I wouldn’t see any patterns and all the changes would be made like a shot in the dark.

It’s also for special events. My son loves to go to a bouncy place in town. Every time we go to the bouncy place I noticed that he was going low 4 hours after we were home. So the next time we went to the bouncy place I was prepared to catch the low because I had reviewed my logs from previous visits. I was able to give an uncovered carb snack to ward off the possible low. Didn’t work exactly like I had planned and my son still went low 4 hours after bouncing, but not as low as the previous times. I logged all of this, the free carbs and the glucose numbers, and I was able to be more prepared for the next time.

Logging is boring, yes, mind numbingly boring but necessary. It gives me insight to a disease which by all other accounts tries is hardest to keep me in the dark. While logging by no means puts me in control of diabetes, it does allow me the opportunity to predict a little to make some changes that helps keep my son’s glucose levels in some semblance of normal.

And that’s all I want, as much normal for my son as I can get him.

Many parents of children living with Type 1 Diabetes seek out and receive a 504 Plan for their child to ensure the child treated exactly like everyone else regardless of his diabetes.

According to the Office of Civil Rights a 504 Plan is as follows:

The Section 504 regulations require a school district to provide a “free appropriate public education” (FAPE) to each qualified student with a disability who is in the school district’s jurisdiction, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability. Under Section 504, FAPE consists of the provision of regular or special education and related aids and services designed to meet the student’s individual educational needs as adequately as the needs of non-disabled students are met.

While I am the first parent not to use the word disability and diabetes in the same sentence, I am sure of the fact that my son’s diabetes, IF not cared for properly, can impede on his ability learn. It is because of this, that I too am seeking out a 504 Plan for my son as he enters first grade.

I do not expect anything above and beyond the care that I provide in our home. Since diagnosis I have become painfully aware of how high and low blood sugars can affect my son’s ability to think clearly. Whether it is a physical symptom such as a headache or nausea from a high number to slurring his words from a low number, to the more emotional affects such as anger caused by a high number to weepy and overwhelmed that accompanies some lows I have learned to check his sugar first before making a plan of action. If his sugar is too high or too low, I know that I must make an adjustment for him, either insulin or sugar, to help him feel better and think more clearly. This is what I am asking for in my 504.

I am requesting that his sugar be tested before major tests so that he is afforded the same opportunity as every other child in that room that has a working pancreas. While testing his sugar does not make him smarter, it definitely allows him to perform his absolute best on the test if his sugar is in range at the beginning of the test.

In our home we carefully count my son’s carbs to ensure that he is getting the proper amount of insulin for the food he is eating to keep his sugar as level as possible. I am asking that this be done in school too. If his carb intake improperly matches his insulin intake he runs the risk of high sugars or low sugars which can lead to serious complications such as seizure or coma.

In our home we monitor my son’s sugar when he is playing outside or swimming. Excessive exercise can rapidly drop blood sugar, so we test to ensure that he stays in range. We treat with a small snack if we feel the number warrants it. I am asking that the school do the same. Before physical education a test can determine whether my son needs a snack to perform at his best in the class. A test and a snack, that’s all I ask.

I am not asking for much when I ask for this 504 Plan for my son. In a nutshell, or nut-free shell for my friends with allergies, I am asking that my son be cared for in the same manner at school that he is cared for at home.

Don’t all children deserve at least that when they go to school? I know my child does.

As a mom of a child with Type 1 diabetes I am always astounded when people ask about my son’s numbers or his A1C. As I am always gobsmacked, I wanted to think about this a little more to figure out why. After some thought, I realize I am shocked because both numbers and his latest A1C are very personal and unless you are on my son’s health/personal care team, they are of no use to you.

For instance, if someone is  going to watch my son for me for a few hours, then asking about the day’s numbers makes plenty of sense. If his numbers have been in range all day then they have a good chance of staying that way. If we had been treating both highs and lows that day, then the babysitter knows to be on the look out for some more interesting numbers.

But when random people on the street (or at a bar) ask me “How are his numbers?” I am rendered speechless. First I am not sure if they want to know in general how his numbers have been for the last two years, or the last two hours. Because if it’s over the whole two years, there’s not enough beer in the bar for that conversation.

I am also speechless because I really don’t have an answer. I have looked at so many thousands of numbers over the last two years that when I do a blood glucose check that particular number goes in one ear and out the other so to speak. Numbers are just that. A number. I check my son’s sugar, I take a nanosecond to decide whether he needs insulin, sugar or nothing, and I move on. Sometimes when I go to write the number in our log not 10 feet and 10 seconds away from the meter where I just tested, I have to walk back to the meter to retrieve the number. It really goes in one ear and out the other.

But the absolute main reason that I am at a loss for words when people ask me about my son’s numbers or his A1C is because it is such a personal question. My son’s numbers are just that…HIS. I don’t go around asking people their blood pressure, their cholesterol levels, their weight, their age, or how their hemorrhoids are.  I don’t because all of those things are personal.

Now if someone sits down next to me and starts talking about their blood pressure I will let them talk. I won’t cover my ears and shout, “Be quiet,” but you can be sure the next time I see them in Shop Rite I won’t ask point blank, “Hey how’s the blood pressure thing going?” Or, “Did you ever get that bottom number down to 120?” It’s personal. Not for me to ask. If they want to bring it up, sure I’ll ask how things are going. But you won’t ever find me pinning someone to the frozen food aisle while I grill them about their blood pressure or cholesterol level.

It’s not that I don’t care about other people’s health and well-being, I do. I just don’t think asking about their triglyceride number is going to do me or them any good.

And knowing my son’s numbers and A1C are not going to do you any good either.