Diabetes is a cruel joke...

I've come to accept that nothing with D is guaranteed. I've also come to learn how certain things affect Clifford's blood sugar. However, there are times when I'm just baffled and it really irritates me. Wednesday night was 'tiring' to say the least with a random low at 4am, and lack of sleep. With that being said, I was determined to get some sort of sleep last night. I was really hoping for 5 hours straight!

I pulled out all I could in my bag of tricks to make this happen, and it went a little something like this. Feed the twins good right before bed, check. Put them in warmer Pj's so they don't get cold, check. Give Clifford a good amount of a solid protein, and extra carbs to sustain a nice number, DOUBLE CHECK! I thought that would get me some sort of sleep last night. HOWEVER, D had something else in mind. Clifford was 83 at bedtime (lower but still a nice number). Instead of 50 grams of carbs, and 1 unit per insulin ratio, he had 75grams with at least 2 servings of protein (peanut butter). Peanut butter has been known in the past to help sustain a nice solid number for Clifford at night time. I could have placed money on Clifford having a decent number throughout the night. Before my bedtime (around 11pm) I decided to check Clifford and not wait until the 12am check. To my surprise he was 63!! After running and grabbing juice, crackers, and some more peanut butter, I rechecked to make sure it was correct, and he was now 50! The one good thing in this story is that he woke up and was able to drink the juice, and eat without much mess. We joked about how he got to get some good snacks the last two nights. He was asking how low he was, etc. I don't keep it from him, and let him know his #, but made sure to tell him not to worry about it to go back to sleep, and I would be rechecking him, and he'll be safe. After that brief conversation he was back to dreamland.

I waited around 20 minutes to recheck him and he was back up but still only 100! I just didn't like going to bed with him only being 100! So I gave him 2 glucose tablets to ensure he got up over. I figured he'd be a little bit high, and at that point with lows throughout the day and previous night, I could accept a little bit high during sleep. I decided to set my alarm for 1am instead of 3am to recheck to make sure we were sitting good. Well as I've said before I seem to wake right before the alarm goes off. So at 12:56 we were at 237! Again high, but I can accept that number. Like I said, D sometimes baffles me. The only reasoning I can think of the drop is the amount of activity right before bed, and it finally caught up on him.

It seems that last night D was playing a cruel joke on me and I didn't get the punchline to it. I am really hoping we don't have much of these 'Yummy late night snacks' when school starts back up, or that boy is really going to be tired.

Food.. What is it to you?

My lack of sleep is causing my thinking to be somewhat comical. Every time I turn around it's time for more food.. Breakfast, Lunch, snack, dinner, snack, etc, etc, etc...

So I got to thinking how food in our world is a bit different then food in your average world.

Food can be our friend (perfect situation where blood sugars are good, and food provides him with his nutrition and vitamins he needs to be healthy. Food can be our foe, and cause way high blood sugars if not enough insulin is given. And high blood sugars, are just a pain in the tushie. But then like last night, sometimes at 4am food can be a life saving medicine to bring up a low blood sugar.

I'm just at the point today that I'm sooo over food, no matter how yummy it can be. Besides, food is WAY overrated anyways....

3am battle, to treat or not to treat..... OH yeah an a A1c Update!

I've become so accustomed to waking up and doing night checks at 12 am and 3 am lately, that I wake up right before the alarm goes off. I figured for the most part we would be running a bit higher last night, since bedtime snack was banana cake with vanilla icing for Ethan's birthday.. However I did not foresee a battle at 3 am with myself trying to decide whether to treat or leave him ride it out. At midnight he was 173, a bit higher then I would like during the day but a number at night that I find just fine. I figured with his past trends the last few night's by 3 when his Lantus hit it's peaking point he would drop at least 20 more. Boy was I a bit off. At 3am, or 2:53 to be exact, since I woke up without the alarms assistance, he was 123!. Well that is an awesome number, but left me questioning whether I should give him some assistance in keeping up during the night, or let him ride it out. I decided on the latter. Now the question remains, how did my decision pan out??? Well I just tested him and his waking number is 96!!! BEAUTIFUL! I really hope that is the start of a great bs# day! (Yuck picture you really can't tell as it's on the webcam, Bad Bridget for not charging the camera, however there is our pretty 96!!).

Oh yes and an updated A1c, our last endo app 8/16 Clifford's A1c went from 7.3% to *drum roll please* 6.8%!!!! I am beyond estatic, as you can tell by the fact that it's over a week from said app and I'm still gushing about it.

Back to School with diabetes

What all does back to school with diabetes entail? Right now it's massive loads of paperwork, including a 504 plan, a DMMP (Diabetes Medical Management Plan), quick reference guides for teachers on hypoglycemia, and hyperglycemia, An diabetes emergency packet for the nurse, and teacher, and numerous emergency contact cards. Not to mention a call to the 504 coordinator to set up a meeting with her, a call to the school nurse to set a meeting up with her to discuss new changes in our management plan. Then there is also putting his new supplies and kits together for school. That includes one kit kept at the nurse, and a small emergency kit with items to treat hypo's for his teacher, as well as items he keeps on himself in case of a hypo. Last year we had a few issues in the beginning, but this year I'm far more prepared with our paperwork and all other items that I hope everything goes smoothly. It's a bit of work in the beginning but will pay off in the end when everyone is on board with his care.

We recently as of yesterday have a new care regime with carbohydrate counting, and correction doses, instead of the old fashioned sliding scale. This is the next step to getting on the insulin pump. We'll do this for 6 months then review and see if we are ready for the pump. It's an exciting new venture for Clifford. Back to school time is stressful, but I think everything will work out in the end.

Highs, and behavior!

I'm over the attitude and behavior problems that come along with high blood sugar numbers. Clifford has had a horrible attitude issue ever since Chad left for Annual training. In part it was manageable in the beginning. I figured he thought he could get away with things he normally wouldn't because it was just me. But then we had a day of highs yesterday and the behavior was even more annoying and out of control. I repeated to him several times "Just because your high doesn't give you a free ticket to be a butt.". I tried everything that I could think of with him, and he was in trouble quite a few times. Part of me knows he feels crappy and is acting out, but the other part of me knows I can't let him get away with it, because he's a smart kid and will use the "high" issue to his advantage at other times. He wants to be treated like a normal kid and that is what I do.

After our bg#'s came down all it took was a little phone call from Chad to let him know he needs to help out around here and being the oldest is a big responsibility because he models behavior for the others. Once he had a convo with him his attitude seemed adjusted. We've had a few 'issues' today but nothing nearly as bad as yesterday. I'm hoping this behavior keeps up for the rest of the week, because it's just the kids and I for another 6 days, and there is no way this mom is dealing with another day like yesterday.

Turning down candy?!?!?!?

What kid do you know of that turns down candy? Today while going into church the kids were offered peppermint candies, Clifford immediately said "No thank you, and pointed to his diabetic bracelet!" It's a weird sight for people when a kid turns down candy. He has learned very well over the last year and a half. At Bible school he told his teacher that he was not able to have the bread with them for a snack because he was diabetic and bread had carbs in it.

I'm not a big meanie so I let him take a piece of candy to save for another time. He decided instead to save his candy for Chad when he comes back for annual training! In addition to knowing what not to eat, he's also a sweet kid, when he wants to be.

We're BACK!!

It's been awhile since my last post. Summertime is crazy busy, Clifford get's extended visitation with his dad, (one week each summer month) and those weeks happened to be almost back to back. It seemed like they were never home! However now it's my turn to have the kids for a good stretch and I've got them for almost 3 weeks straight! We are having our summer vacation at Chad's mom's while he's away for Annual training with the military! It's been an interesting few days here in our world. Some words to describe it hectic, headaches, non-stop, but most importantly fun, entertaining, memory creating, and worth while. D on the other hand has been a thorn in my side. It started with crazy lows, which couldn't be brought up for nothing. The kid had 65 grams of carbs uncovered to treat lows, and still managed only to get up to 96!! That told me to decrease his insulin for the increased activity levels. So the next day I went ahead and decreased. It is working wonderfully! His numbers are within range. But we now know that watermelon is an evil sucker in D land on #'s. He had a slight high the other night and the only change was watermelon.

Now that high bugged me but what bugged me more was a low of 56 at 4am!!! His 12, and 2am check was fine, 102, and 154. Now that 56 came out of nowhere. Thankfully the big man himself was looking out for Clifford, because he woke on his own to let me know he felt very dizzy and sea sick! So we treated with not 1 but 2 juice boxes, and a pixie stick. Seems like a lot of carbs and sugar huh? But with my experience the other night from his dropping and not coming up much I felt it was necessary. I also expected him to be high in the morning with a treating at 4am. But nope, we were 140 at breakfast.

D is trying to be a butt on our vacation but we're not letting it spoil the fun! He's been running, playing baseball, jumping on the trampoline, and has done a bunch of swimming! The best part of Cliffy's vacation is he met a new friend who also happens to have diabetes! Clifford and Lenny took to each other right away and had a blast together. He got to see Lenny's pump and how it works. They even both gave rufus a shot at snacktime the other night. Although I personally think they gave him quite a bit too much insulin (60 units!!). All in all it's been fun. I've been kept busy which is a good thing. I however do miss my Chad, (yes MY chad) but we'll see him in 2 weeks!! So until then we're going to have fun and not let D get in our way!