Monday, June 29, 2009

Diabetes? I Hate It.

Okay. I tell my kids not to use that word, "hate." It's such a definitive term. I mean it's the ultimate negative emotion you can have about something. I just think it's appropriate here. I hate diabetes.

We've been trying to stay so focused around here on C's blood sugar numbers - trying to keep her averages down so when we go in for her endo appointment next month, that tricky A1c number will be lower. And, all things considered, I feel like we've done a good job the last couple months.

Then came Saturday night. We had In-n-Out for dinner and she got bolused what we normally do for this family-favorite meal. But, by (our) bedtime at 11:oo pm, she clocked in at a whopping 327. Now, that was strange, because we can usually gage that meal pretty darn well. I corrected her number and set my alarm for 1:00 am...just to make certain she's coming down.
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BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. I fumble for the clock. I gather C's meter and head down our squeaky hallway. (Why, in 12 years, we've never fixed this? I don't know.) I test her. 387?! Ug and double ug. I check out her last sight change. That's right...it was just the day before. I check the tubing...looks fine. I check the infusion site itself. Everything appears fine. I correct her number again. Back down the squeaky hall. Back in bed. Alarm set for 2:45.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. 2:45 am. Rinse and repeat. 307! Something's definitely not right. At this point I should have really gotten ye olde syringes out and dosed her that way. But I could not even think straight. I corrected her and set my alarm once again.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. 4 in the morning. The sky was starting to lighten up already. Squeak, squeak, down the hall I went. 307?! I shook myself awake. Must change sight, I thought. I raced downstairs and prepared the new reservoir. Back upstairs with prep wipes and new infusion set. I turned C over and proceeded with our ritual. Now, I was fully awake. I was mad at myself for not changing it sooner. My little girl. She didn't even flinch. She rolled right back over and fell asleep again.

Well, I set the alarm again. This time - 5:30 am. After the beep beep beeps, I nudged Dan. "Can you please check her?"

When he returned, he told me she was at 185. Finally coming down. I took a deep breath. And then another. All I could do was lay there and think about how much I hate this disease. Was it the infusion set? Was it the burger and fries? Who knows! I could go on and write about the scary low of 50 she had about 5 hours later...but I'll save that for another time.

2 comments:

  1. :/ i try to not say the word hate either, but I think its ok to say it about Diabetes. :)

    I'm sorry that happened to you guys, why is it that we can't get it right on the first try?? the other night I got up to use the bathroom 3 times in 5 hours and not ONCE did I think that I could be high and maybe I should test my bg!! sure enough I was high! sleepy brains are not so good some times!!

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  2. You said:
    "I could go on and write about the scary low of 50 she had about 5 hours later...but I'll save that for another time."

    I have Type 2 diabetes, and my lows are always scarier than my highs. I'm trying to check my blood glucose every few hours, and I'm striving for tight control by diet alone, without any medications. It's an adventure.

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