The more you go the less you know…

I find with Type 1 Diabetes that the more my son lives with this disease the more I realize how little I really know.

In the beginning, almost 4 1/2 years ago, I knew nothing, but didn’t realize how little I really knew.  I knew I’d have to learn about diabetes. I knew all the stuff that came along with a new diagnosis was going to be a huge learning curve, but, as they say ignorance is bliss, and because even in the midst of all this ‘newness’ I still felt like I had a grasp on things.

I felt that testing 4-6 times a day was adequate and that skipping the over night testing was okay to do. I felt that there was really nothing I could do about the post meal spike and as long as he was in range for the next meal than I was doing okay. I figured I could count his carbs by reading labels and giving him single serving packs of everything he ate. Yes, I was broken hearted by this diagnosis. Yes, I stayed up all night after getting home from the hospital reading anything I could on how to keep my son alive. But I still felt like I knew enough that I could do this and we would be fine. This lasted about 1 month.

In hindsight this belief of ‘we are going to be okay’ must be some cosmic way of handing this disease to us in small doses. If I had known then what I know now I would have certainly crawled up into a ball and never reemerged into society. From the get go we are given just enough information to keep our child alive when leaving the hospital. There’s no talk of what highs do to the body, what lows can do to the brain, dead in the bed syndrome…none of this. It’s all about making sure your kid can eat and stay alive. Very basic, yet very necessary, information.

It’s not until you delve a little deeper into this disgusting disease that you realize the amount of knowledge you can have is never ending. Never ending. Never. I am still learning everyday even after 4 1/2 years (get that 1/2 in).

About 1 month into my son’s diagnosis I found www.type1parents.org. My intention of seeking out an internet support group was because I felt so utterly alone that I was getting scared. Scared for my well being. I was not yet scared for my son. Yet. I had no one to talk to at 2:00am when a question popped up. I needed answers about being a parent to a child with Type 1 diabetes. Little did I know I would learn the answers to so many questions that I had no idea that I should be asking.

I learned about I:C ratio. That’s when you given insulin based on the amount of food you eat. This is different than the sliding scale that gives insulin and then you eat a set amount of carbs, the method that we were on at the time.

I learned that Lantus (the basal shot) does indeed peak, and does not work for all people for the full 24 hours. Made me start researching a pump.

I learned carb factor. How to weigh all foods without worrying about serving size.

I learned that 100 before breakfast is good, 100 3 hours later is good, BUT I still needed to see what was going on between that time. 4-6 tests a day was not going to cut it.

I learned so much it would take me days to write.

After 4 1/2 years I am appreciative of the way my knowledge has grown. Slow and steady. Bits and pieces. One chunk would have been overwhelming, scary, nauseating, and very defeating. I am grateful for how little I knew then, how much I know now, and look forward to what I will know tomorrow. The more I know the more I can do for my son, and doing for my son is what it’s all about.

 

Diabetes…the great overachiever.

Really now…what other chronic illness can say that?

Type 1 diabetes can make you have low blood sugar when you are not feeling well. If my son is about to get a stomach bug, once the bug finally hits, I can usually look back at his glucose numbers and see a bunch of lows before he actually came down with the illness.

Type 1 diabetes can make you have high blood sugar when you are not feeling well. If my son is about to get a fever and sore throat bug, once the bug finally hits, I can usually look back at his glucose numbers and see a bunch of highs before he actually came down with the illness.

Type 1 diabetes can make you have low blood sugar when you are active in sports. When my son swims all summer at the pool and beach his sugar will drop. Drop. We have to give lots of carb snacks throughout the day to keep him nice and even so he can swim the day away.

Type 1 diabetes can make you have high blood sugar when you are active in sports. When my son used to play soccer, for that very brief moment in time, his sugar used to run really high, like in the 400s, for a few hours after he actually played. Corrections would drop him like a brick because it was all adrenaline.

Stress can drop my son’s sugars really low. If he is worried about spending time away from me for too long we have to cut his basal a bit so his sugar doesn’t drop too low.

Stress can push my son’s sugars really high. If he is worried about taking a standardized test in school his sugar will skyrocket. 400s are not uncommon when a test is on the horizon. We have to tread lightly with these types of highs because as soon as the test is done, the number seems to drop.

Type 1 diabetes makes my son’s sugar drop when the weather is too warm. We have to lower basals a bit when we are about to hit a big warm spell, and make sure we have lots of glucose drinks for the longs summer days.

Type 1 diabetes makes my son’s sugar rise when the weather is cold. We have to raise the basals and give corrections throughout the day to keep his sugar in range. Unless of course he is playing in the snow. See swimming above.

Type 1 diabetes makes my son’s sugar rise when the school year starts. I have many sleepless nights whenever we go back to school because many adjustments have to be made to pump settings to keep his sugar as close to range as possible.

Type 1 diabetes makes my son’s sugar drop when we are on school breaks. I have many sleepless nights whenever we go on break because many adjustments have to be made to pump settings to keep his sugar as close to range as possible.

Yeah. See where I’m going with this? Diabetes…the great overachiever.

It does it all. No illness, sport, stressful event, standardized test, season, school year, or school break can be free of Type 1 diabetes. It is always there, showing off. Puffing out it’s chest making sure we know he is the ultimate eager beaver.

I was never a fan of the overachiever, so diabetes isn’t impressing anyone.