Don't let diabetes stop you

In the past few days, my guys have been really busy! On Wednesday,  they acid washed a friend's pool. Seth had a little  fun in the empty pool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDHoTxDYhJY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

(Sorry, I don't know yet how to put videos directly into the blog.)

On Thursday,  Jason taught a lifeguard recertification class. That night, it took 4 low treatments (60 grams of carbs) to get him up high enough to go to bed!  He still woke up during the night with a 67 and had to treat again! I thought since he was in bed with me, I would know if he was low and needed help. Wrong!  I slept through the whole thing. Thankfully, he wasn't too low and didn't need my help. Gonna have to figure that out too.

Summer will mean changes to all their doses, I imagine. This past weekend was another lifeguard class. They keep close tabs on diabetes, checking not only before meals but extra checks as well. Lots of extra snacks to keep their numbers in range.


 


Lots and lots of activity, including being the victim  during a spinal rescue scenario.

 

 Morning blood sugars today were 66 (Seth) and 81 (Jason). The extra activity really makes a difference! Just a few more days of school, then we'll be at the pool every day. A new setting for us to learn how to KDA.

State testing

The final round of TAKS testing is this week. The last group of juniors that have to pass this test before they can graduate.  Don't worry, the tests are being replaced with other even more ridiculous tests. Sophomores started that new round of tests, the STAAR tests, last year. Unless the Texas state legislature makes some changes soon, high school students will need to pass 15 tests to graduate rather than the current 4. 

  

What does this have to do with diabetes? This is Seth's first year to have to take these tests with diabetes. In the past, he has excelled at TAKS tests, scoring at the commended level on most of them. How does diabetes change that? Hopefully, it won't. But here are the possibilities:

1. He could have high blood sugar on testing day, making him feel sluggish and have trouble focusing. He would need to stop and check his blood sugar and give himself an injection, if necessary. 
2. His blood sugar could go low at any point, making it difficult for him to focus as well. He would need to stop during the test to check his blood sugar and treat it, if needed.
3. The change of schedule for testing day could cause either of the above, since his snack/meal schedule won't be the same as a regular school day.
4. ??? The unknown. You just never know what might happen.  I know that's true in all parts of life, but particularly with type 1 diabetes.

Seth hasn't had any problems with any type of tests all year. I don't expect any this week.  But with D, you just never really know. We have to be prepared for as many possibilities as we can, no matter how likely they are. It's the only way to KDA.

Wordless Wednesday

National Day of Hope

9 minutes of sleep

The best sleep I get is from 6:51 to 7 every morning. Jason kisses me good bye every morning around 6:45, and then Seth's alarm goes off at 6:51, and he hits snooze. At that time I know both are ok and I can sleep peacefully until my alarm goes off at 7. 9 minutes of peaceful, unworried sleep every morning. I never thought I would be  thankful for 9 minutes of sleep. Of course, I get more sleep than that, but none quite like it. So if I look really tired some days, now you know why. 9 minutes is not much, but it's what gets me through some days so I can help my guys KDA.

A drawer full of cheese

Cheese has become a staple in our house the last 7 months. Virtually no carbs, it makes a perfect snack. A week or so ago, I bought cheese at Costco. Lots of cheese. It should last about a month.

A whole drawer in the fridge is dedicated to cheese, right below the drawer of insulin. 

They eat cheese plain, but they have also come up with some other ideas for low carb snacks.  One of the favorites is chipless nachos.  Sliced cheese with a jalapeno slice, baked at 400 for about 7 minutes. Yum! The inspiration came from this blog.

Cheese, meat, eggs, sugar free jello....those are about the only carb-free foods, so we keep plenty of all of those on hand.  Veggies are mostly low carb, but even some veggies with dip require an injection, depending on the veggie, the dip, and the amount.  All fruits require an injection. So I try to keep plenty of carb free snacks on hand.  Growing boys need lots of food, and shouldn't always have to take a shot to eat it.  Carb free snacks help my guys KDA every day!

Don't forget the milk??

Several people have asked me to write about how things have changed since 2 diagnoses of type 1 diabetes in our house. It's hard to think of changes all at once, so I will write about them as they come up. This one struck me yesterday: we have expired milk in the house. Never, in 22 years of marriage and almost 20 years of having children, have we ever had expired milk. We were the family that could buy milk on the day it was marked to expire and STILL never have expired milk in the fridge. Seriously.  We were a 5 to 6 gallon  per week family. Then diabetes hit. Why did that change things?  After all, type 1 diabetics can still eat whatever they want, in reason. Healthy diet is the key, and milk is healthy,  right? Yes, milk is healthy,  and they still COULD drink milk. They just don't consider it bolus worthy,  at least not in the amounts previously consumed. Also, what is the main food that goes with milk? Cereal. Cereal is incredibly difficult on blood sugar levels, and Seth (our main cereal eater) decided it's just not worth the trouble. So I am trying to retrain myself to buy ONE gallon of milk per week, rather than 5 or 6.

Sick again

The pukes hit our house again today. I went down to the nurse's office for something this morning and Seth was in there.

Me: What's wrong?
Seth: I threw up.
Me: Want me to call your brother to come get you?
Seth: Yes, please.

After I called Josh and signed Seth out in the office, I texted Jason the grocery list. We already had ramen, chicken noodle soup, sugar free popsicles, etc. Here's the rest of the sick day list:

Yep, when a type 1 is puking, you need regular and diet of everything. You never know if they'll go low or high!

The puking has stopped, but I know there are lots of extra blood sugar checks in the next day or 2, along with some ketone checks. Hopefully we can avoid the wicked lows he experienced last time he had a tummy bug. Insulin will probably have to be reduced for a few days.  Who knows for sure??? Nothing with d is normal. Nothing. But we fight on and KDA!