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.