When my son was first diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes a few people mentioned in passing that it is the ‘thinking man’s disease.’ I wasn’t sure what they meant until I was inundated with blood glucose numbers, insulin dosage amounts, pump basal and bolus rates, insulin to carb ratios, insulin sensitivity ratios and carb amounts in foods. A diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes means a complete submersion into the world of math. Never since my high school Honors Algebra final exam was I so happy that I still understood ratios and fractions. My son’s life depends on my ability to think through all these numbers and my capacity to apply them to his diabetes care.
What I find so ironic about this disease that requires so much intellectual ability, is that when the person with Type 1 diabetes has fluctuations in their blood glucose number, either high or low, they are unable to think clearly. Unable to do the one thing that keeps them healthy…think.
My son is only 6 years old, so he doesn’t make any diabetes related decisions yet. He does however have to make plenty of decisions when it comes to school. He is currently learning how to add double digit numbers and to read. Yes, read. Something that requires tremendous concentration and memory. Most times he handles school and learning like a champ. He is a very bright boy who can articulate well and grasp new concepts quicker than most 6 year olds that I have met. That is until diabetes steps in.
When diabetes rears it’s ugly head and throws a curve ball such as a high or low glucose reading, my son is no longer the self-sufficient learner that he tends to be. When his numbers are too high or too low he cannot think clearly, he cannot make decisions properly, he cannot retain information presented to him. It is the old Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that takes over. When my son’s sugar is rising or dropping he goes into survival mode. His body gets overcome with the symptoms of the high or the low sugar and nothing other than remediation of the situation is of concern.
When my son’s glucose goes to low he gets shaky, dizzy, sees spots, gets weak in the knees and becomes very tired. Learning how to add 16 +30 is the last thing from his mind. He needs to survive the low, treat the symptoms that are making him feel so bad, and knowing that answer is 46 is not going to do anything to help the low.
Same goes for when my son’s sugar is too high. The first time I witnessed this was about 7 months after diagnosis. In the process of picking him up from preschool I asked him to get his paper off the table. All he had to do was identify his name at the top of the paper out of 10 other names on the table. A task that he had successfully completed every day since the first day of preschool. My son looked at me and said, “I can’t find my name, can you do it.”
I knew something was not right. I grabbed the paper and my son and ran to our truck to test his sugar. Lo and behold his glucose reading was about 500. Above 500!!! With a glucose reading that high my son was unable to read his own name. HIS OWN NAME. Now you tell me how he is supposed to learn to comprehend a story about Penguins or Martin Luther King Jr. when he can’t even read his own name when his blood glucose is too high.
Now having diabetes is not an excuse for not learning in school, but it sure doesn’t help the learning process when the diabetes is not playing a fair game. Type 1 diabetes doesn’t care that my son cries when he gets a math problem wrong because his body was feeling right because of a dropping number. Type 1 diabetes doesn’t care that when my son’s sugar is so high all he can think about is how his head feels like it’s splitting in two, and not that penguins can’t fly.
Type 1 diabetes doesn’t care, but I do, and I hope my son knows that.
It is like hearing my own thoughts written down Kyle is 13 diagnosed type 1 in February 2010 – we are still VERY new to the game – I am so happy I stubbled on this site…..I do not understand why people just don’t understand, can’t, don’t, won’t. Even if I try to explain, even if they hear it from a diabetes educator, even if they see it with their own eyes. I constantly hit a wall with his school when it comes to academics they refuse to recognize that it makes a difference in their learning and working. He is seen as lazy or little effort – He gets 1/2 credit for turning in assignments late because he didn’t feel good or wasn’t thinking straight to remember to turn his work in. He is now made to show them his meter when he checks and they will not take a verbal number from him. They observe him eat his snacks for correction and inject his insulin even though he does it all himself independently. They do not understand that the number is just what it is a number – It may be normal range but he still may be feeling bad if it is dropping or raising. He may still be having effects from being 167 and dropping to 57 in 10 minutes one night without any insulin – because he had went to the county fair. They have told me when they establish a trust issue and do not have to worry about legal ramification from me they can loosen up some on him – I could use some words.
Tricia, not sure why but that made me cry. That kind of day I suppose. And thanks Larry!
You could drill a hole in someone’s head and fill it with Type 1 knowledge. If they don’t live with T1 every day, they will NEVER understand where we are coming from.
Hi Leslie,
He knows.
Tricia
PS Always such a moving post.
That is very scary that he won’t remember to drink. We have been there before too. Teachers just don’t get it. Last year I was very lucky that our teacher read my blog, she understood alot. This year we are not so lucky.
This is one of the most terrifying things about diabetes. When a person’s blood sugar gets low, they will actually FIGHT YOU when you are trying to give them sugar. It seems so unfair. The one thing that they need, and their brain will not tell them to take the sugar. My son will often get to the refrigerator and then forget why he is there. He says that it makes him feel very stupid even though he knows that it is not his fault. Low blood sugar has that effect. Even if I am holding orange juice with a straw up to his mouth, he either can’t suck on the straw, or he knocks it out of my hand. Very frustrating.
and our endo told us it can take a full 24 hours (or even more) to fully recover from a low or high. So even the next day, they may not perform at their best.
Thanks Dana and Heather. I just finished sending an email to the teacher about just that. Apparently he didn’t do well on a math question and then said “Math is boring.” What she failed to realize is that minutes before in the nurse he was treated for a 64. Sure that number was up, but it takes time for the body to recover.
I was just talking to my mom about it. It’s like asking a drug addict if they want treatment. Of course they are going to say no, they are not in their right mind. Well unfortunately when our kids are low/high they are not thinking either. So unfair!!
spot on again Leslie.
And it seems that no matter how many times you explain this to the teachers, they just don’t quite get it. When I had to keep him home with levels in the 400’s, they expected him to have his homework done when he returned. “Um no, his vision is blurry and he feels like passing out or throwing up when he tries to read”. It’s like they think I’m exaggerating and making excuses for him. I fear high school when grades actually sort of matter.
Leslie, once again you have totally hit the nail on the head, I notice this with my dd often and dh has gone through some rough times lately too, even at 41 yrs old with a low bloodsugar they can’t recognize that they need something to eat. I can’t count how many times people have asked if he could have an emergency button that he could press if he were in danger. Hello….he doesn’t know anything is wrong! People often say that my loved ones could have something worse than diabetes but really…walk a day in my shoes before you say that…spend the time injecting glucagon into a grown mans behind while is is mid-seizure or explaining to a little girl that she must eat something even when she isn’t hungry.
This one struck a cord with me, thanks for posting as always great job!