Category: Diabetes

Called. Qualified.

franciscanmom2 Comments

My husband and I are the parents of a teenager with Type 1 Diabetes.

That can be hard. It’s not like diabetes lets you take a break. There is no remission. There is no cure. There is only treatment: 24/7. And the game plan can change in an instant when the insulin pump’s power button quits working or TheKid gets a touch of a stomach virus.

There is one thing, though, that makes it clear that we’re the right people for the 24/7 job of caring for our diabetic teen.

We know how to look for patterns.

Diabetes is all about patterns. When you do x, you expect y to follow. When z follows instead, you need to examine whether you really did do x, or if q happened to get in the way.

I used to test educational software. Testing software is all about patterns. It’s also about remembering what you did 2 or 3 steps ago, because you need to examine if doing that caused this to happen.

Hubs is a computer programmer. See above. Plus, he majored in meteorology in college. Patterns all over the place.

Hubs and I learned, practiced, and taught Natural Family Planning. NFP is all about observing and recording patterns of things that happen in your body.

All of this pattern-noticing is a lot more critical when it comes to diabetes. There’s not a lot of room for error. You can’t just release a new version, like you can with software. You don’t get to start fresh next month like you can if you mess up your NFP chart, and if you mis-read your chart, well, we all know how that might turn out, and it’s not a terrible thing.

Too much insulin, though, can be fatal. Quickly. Too little insulin can have long-term consequences. The balancing act is a lot more critical. But we notice enough patterns to have figured out the times of day when TheKid needs more insulin to do the same job, and when he needs less, and what to do when he eats a crazy-high-carb meal from Chick-Fil-A.

A good portion of TheKid’s care depends on our ability to notice patterns and make judgments based on those patterns–but not to be so locked in that we automatically expect y to happen when we do x. Sometimes, we get j instead, and no one can figure out why.

There are plenty of times when we feel like this is above our heads. But we get some of our confidence in helping TheKid manage diabetes from our ability to note, record and compare patterns.

If that old adage, “God doesn’t call the qualified; he qualifies the called” is true, he’s been qualifying us for nearly three decades to do the delicate work involved in parenting our youngest child. I find that comforting.

Time to Foster Some Self-Discipline

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Because I do not intend to spend this school year fighting with my eighth-grader every morning, I want to work with TheKid to get some strategies in place so that he gets up and out the door and onto the school bus.

I feel like I have been letting him do a lot of sliding in areas where I challenged the older kids to be more self-disciplined and self-starting at the same age. Part of that is because he’s the youngest, and I’m old. And tired.

And part of it is because of diabetes. He’s been extraordinarily self-disciplined when it comes to that. He’s gotten very independent with many aspects of his care. I’m proud of him for that. But there are all those other things that we’ve been doing FOR him, things that he is more than old enough and capable enough to do for himself.

It’s not good for him that we’re letting him slide. He has to learn how to do all the things, not just all the diabetes things. He has to learn how to figure out what time to wake up in the morning so that he won’t miss the bus. He has to set his alarm and make sure it’s on AM, not PM, and actually get up when the alarm goes off.

If we do all the other things for him, we’re really doing that out of pity, and pity is the last thing this kid (or any kid) needs.

So as he begins his eighth-grade year, I’m resolving to begin again too–to begin to foster some life skills that everyone needs to learn.

teens and time managementTo get myself motivated, I purchased this little book from Amazon: What’s the Deal with Teens and Time Management: A Parents’ Guide to Helping Your Teen Succeed. I’m not expecting any all-at-once miracles, but there are a few strategies I intend to start using right off the bat.

It’s a matter of setting priorities. It may even have the side effect of making everyone’s lives a little more pleasant around here.

Note: my link to this book is an Amazon affiliate link. If you purchase through this link, it’s like you’re leaving me a little virtual tip! So, thanks!

I Hope You Never Need Algebra

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Seen on Facebook: a T-shirt that says

Well, another day has passed and I didn’t use algebra once.

The person who posted it observed, “Still holds true!”

My fingers have been hovering over that comment button…that’s because there’s algebra right on my kitchen whiteboard, algebra that I use almost every day.

Diabetic algebra

 

Algebra for diabetics and the people who love them. Because sometimes a person just doesn’t want a whole serving of something, and then you have to do some math.

I can’t afford to indulge the thought that algebra is useless and that I haven’t thought about it once since I took the GREs in 1986.

It’s more useful than you think.

I’m not bitter about having to use algebra. I’m grateful that my husband has a better grasp on it than I do, because he took several semesters of calculus, so he helped work out the formula that comes in handy when The Kid wants something other than the labeled serving size of a particular food. I’m grateful that I can remember a little bit of algebra, thanks to my long-suffering Algebra 2 teacher who never gave up on me.

And I wish, very sincerely, that the people who posted that photo of a T-shirt implying that algebra is useless never have a child with diabetes. I hope they never have to use algebra like I have to use algebra.

 

 

With Diabetes, Accuracy Matters

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This morning, as I read the Philadelphia Inquirer, I noticed an article on page 1 of the Health section titled Steps to help teenagers cope with diabetes.

I have one of those, so naturally I was interested in reading every single word of that article, looking for a new takeaway that will help my teenager manage his blood sugar well.

(For the record, he does quite well already in that department, but there’s always room for improvement, and there’s always the fear that teenage rebellion will get in the way of a good A1C.)

The article featured a big photo of the very same continuous glucose monitor The Kid uses: a Dexcom, along with the caption “Dexcom’s continuous monitoring system checks sugars twice a day and can share readings automatically via the cloud with parents or providers.” The same information was present in the article.

Dexcom's continuous monitoring system checks sugars every five minutes and can share readings automatically via the cloud with parents or providers.
Dexcom’s continuous monitoring system checks sugars every five minutes and can share readings automatically via the cloud with parents or providers.

Almost. But not quite.

Dexcom’s continuous monitoring system checks sugars EVERY FIVE MINUTES. Day and night. No matter what the diabetic is doing. The “twice a day” applies to finger-sticks for blood sugar checks, which must be done twice daily to calibrate the Dexcom. So instead of doing those finger sticks before every meal or snack (and any other time the diabetic might “feel low”), it only has to be done twice a day.

This means that the Dexcom, with its 12 checks per hour, provides essential information about blood-sugar trending that diabetics can use in determining their next insulin dose. You can’t get that kind of trending information from finger sticks.

And that’s why The Kid has a Dexcom. If it was only good for twice a day, it wouldn’t be worth the trouble it takes to implant the transmitter every week. That inaccuracy might dissuade some families from looking into a very helpful piece of technology.

The Inquirer has done diabetic teens and their families a great service by publishing an article full of useful tips. I just wish it had presented accurate information about the technology that is helping The Kid as he learns to manage diabetes and becomes more independent.

Midnight Run

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(Middle-of-the-night, more precisely.)

I was actually awake until almost midnight, which never happens, but The Kid was having 4 friends sleep over and the Super Smash Brothers tournament-in-progress was pretty loud, so I sat in the living room with my Kindle book until I couldn’t see anymore.

At 4:30 AM, The Kid’s low-blood-sugar alarm went off. Hubs asked if I’d go deal with it since he’d been up until 3 with the boys.

(I didn’t ask who won the tournament, figuring that if it had been Hubs, he’d have told me.)

I stumbled grumpily down the stairs, turned on the kitchen light to grab the stuff I needed to double-check that blood sugar, and…nothing.

Figuring the light bulb had burned out (I’m still using up my not-big-enough hoard of incandescents) I tried the downstairs hall light. Nothing. Upstairs hall, nothing. Dining room, nothing.

So I went downstairs in the dark to the basket near the printers where we keep 2 flashlights and 1 battery-operated camping lantern. I went for the lantern, then grabbed the testing supplies and went to wake TheKid.

The two friends who were sleeping on the floor, and who I had to step over to get to him, were awake because they’d heard the alarm. They razzed him as he sleepily told me he’d had a fruit rollup 20 minutes ago, but I made him drink juice anyway.

After that, I asked how long the lights had been out. The kids didn’t know, but they did tell me that the basement lights worked (they’d left those on…) and so did the bathroom and The Kid’s room.

The plot thickens. The family room lights worked too, and two boys were still up, so I asked them how many cell phones they had charging in there.

“ALL of them,” one answered as he yanked chargers out of power strips.

Hmmm…

So I had to find a light switch I hadn’t yet tried, so I could turn it on and then head to the garage to fiddle with the breaker box. That did the trick, but then I was good and awake so I sat in bed reading my Kindle for 45 minutes until I realized it was 5:30 and this was Not A Good Idea.

Fitbit OneWhen I woke up two hours later and got ready to go downstairs, I lamented the fact that while I was doing all that running around in the middle of the night, I hadn’t put my Fitbit in my pocket. So I don’t even get credit for the 4:30-AM cardio.

 

Top 10 Tuesday: Measuring Up

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Top 10 TUESDAY measuring stuffIt’s #Top10Tuesday, and I’d like to share the top 10 pieces of kitchen equipment that get me through life with a diabetic child.

May I present my measuring devices:

measuring devices (1)cWhy yes, I *do* have 3 sets of measuring cups, plus one slider measuring cup, and a whole big bunch of Pyrex.

No, I’m not a professional baker. But I do like to cook and bake, and I’m always looking for the equipment that works best for me.

In the kitchen, I measure. A lot. That’s how I find out how many carbs are in the things I feed my family. Not because I think carbs are evil, but because my son needs to count them up with each meal, then take enough insulin to compensate.

So my little measuring-device problem has turned into an asset around here. Here are the ones I like the best!

For dry ingredients:

I have two sets of regular dry measuring cups. One set is mine to use for baking. The other one, with cups in different colors, stays out on the table and is used daily to measure portions at meals.

collapsible measuring cupsA set of collapsible measuring cups is great when you’re serving something like ice cream; you just turn the cup over and push the bottom to dump the ice cream into the dish. Sometimes, though, my son will just eat straight out of the measuring cup instead of grabbing another dish. He’s been known to have a couple of measuring cups sitting on his dinner plate, one filled with broccoli, another with rice. Whatever works…

Measuring spoons are another item you can’t have enough of. We have 3 sets. I love the look and feel of my metal measuring spoons, but I usually grab the plastic ones that aren’t all attached; this way I only have to wash the ones I use.

For liquids:

Emsa perfect beakerThe Emsa Perfect Beaker is fun to use. It makes you feel like a scientist in the kitchen. It’s great when you are mixing several liquids with several different types of measures (say, 1/4 cup of this and 1/3 cup of that) because you can just use this one cup, adding each one in–it’s easy to see how much of everything you have. Turn the cup around to see the different types of measures. UNfortunately, it’s plastic, so don’t use it for hot stuff.

Pyrex cupsPyrex measuring cups. I have 3 of them, in 1, 2, and 4-cup sizes. These are my workhorses, and they’re dishwasher-friendly. Barely a day goes by that I don’t use at least one of these. Since they’re glass, you can measure hot liquids in Pyrex cups, as well as melting butter in the microwave.

oxo mini beakersFor even more scientific-measuring fun, I like these Oxo Mini Beakers. It’s much easier to measure a teaspoon of liquid, such as vanilla extract, into a beaker rather than a measuring spoon.  And when kids are helping to cook or bake, these are just a lot of fun to use. I also get mileage of these when I’m setting up a mise-en-place.

pampered chef batter bowlNow let’s go to the other extreme: my 8-cup Big Batter Bowl. I got this from Pampered Chef. It’s a great bowl, comes with a lid, and is nice and heavy. It’s great for measuring or just for mixing. I’ve been known to pour an entire pot of soup, stew or sauce into this bowl to see exactly how much I get–then subtract the amount from a single serving and figure out how many servings will be in the whole batch.

Weights and Measures:

eatsmart digital scaleI use this Eat Smart Precision Pro food scale multiple times a day. It’s small enough (about the size of a paperback book) that we can even pack it in a small padded envelope and take it with us if we’re going somewhere. It is very simple to place a dish on this scale, automatically subtract the weight of the dish, then weigh the food. From the chips that go in the Kid’s lunchbox to the bowl of cantaloupe he’s having for snack, we can measure anything with this.

taylor digital scaleA little trickier to use, but still handy, is the Taylor Digital Measuring Cup and Scale. You can’t get the whole thing wet or it will kill the digital scale, so it’s hard to wash. Don’t delegate that job to the kids!

For the Sticky Stuff:

wonder cup metricI have 3 sizes of Wonder Cup measuring cups. When I need to measure solid or sticky ingredients like peanut butter, vegetable shortening, honey or molasses, these are my go-to cups! If you’re only going to get one, I recommend the 2-cup size.

Note: Amazon links in this post are affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something through one of my links, it doesn’t cost YOU any extra, and it gives ME a little something I can put toward my next purchase of measuring devices.

Crying It Out

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Those tears I should have cried 16 months ago are trying to leak out now, at the most inopportune moments.

Some of the stuff The Kid carries everyplace he goes. Because diabetes.
Some of the stuff The Kid carries everyplace he goes. Because diabetes.

I guess I’ve found the limit of how long I can pretend to be strong.

Ever since Saturday, I am struggling to keep the tears back. We spent much of the day at an event for families of diabetic children, sponsored by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the JDRF. That event has outgrown its venue, which is good in one way because more people can learn important strategies to help their kids manage diabetes, but bad in another because it means that there are very, very many kids who have to learn to manage diabetes.

On Saturday morning, everyone at the conference was jam-packed into a hotel ballroom, where someone had played a game of “How Many Skinny, Uncomfortable Chairs Can You Pack Into One Conference Room” and each and every person in the audience was the loser. As it got more crowded, I got more tense and upset until I couldn’t stand being in there anymore. My heart was racing and my eyes were filling with tears and I felt like I couldn’t breathe in there. Well, hello, panic attack! How nice of you to come at such an inconvenient moment!

I missed most of the keynote address because I was hiding in the bathroom battling back the tears, then sipping a (decaf) mocha in the lobby, where the chairs were far away from each other. I managed to calm down enough to make it through the day, but I haven’t really decompressed completely since then, so I almost broke down this morning in the school parking lot, during Mass, and in ShopRite.

Besides the (very reasonable under the circumstances) claustrophobia, I think a lot of this is because I never did cry when The Kid was diagnosed with diabetes. I had to jump right into management mode, because there’s no luxury of time to do anything else. We went straight from diagnosis into a 3-day boot camp, then home to deal with it all on our own.

I’m pretty sure that’s part of the reason that every time we go to a Diabetes Convention, where the focus is All Diabetes, All The Time, I break down. Last year it wasn’t as bad; I just couldn’t manage sitting at the lunch table talking diabetes with other parents, so I wandered around the exhibit hall. That seemed to head it all off at the pass. I also don’t deal well when we go to things like cast parties or school events, where I freak out at all the unlabeled food, though we’ve done fairly well at counting carbs at such times.

I’ve been too busy being the mom and trying to stay competent and, you know, keep my kid alive. I haven’t had time to cry.

Also, if I let myself cry, does that mean that this has beaten me?

The thing is, I look around at the crosses all these other people are bearing, and I feel ashamed that I am being brought to my knees by what seems to be comparatively small stuff. I should just be able to roll with it and handle this, right?

Desperately Seeking Loopholes

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Not me. It’s TheKid.

After lamenting the fact that today’s snow day had fallen on Mardi Gras, thus depriving him and his classmates of donuts in “at least 3 classes,” he gleefully informed us that since he’s diabetic, he can have all the meat he wants, any time he wants.

NOT.

“You don’t have to fast because you’re diabetic, but there’s nothing in diabetes that prevents you from abstaining from meat for a day,” we told him.

BACON“Yes, there is,” he shot back. “BACON!”

I miss the good old days, when he voluntarily gave up sprinkles for Lent. Sacrifice is a much harder sell for a 12-year-old, especially one who already uses every ounce of self-discipline he has and measures his snacks instead of just blindly sticking his hand into the pretzel bag like all his friends get to do.

But there will be no bacon tomorrow, Kid.

Small Success with a Side of Bacon

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Small-Success-Thursday-400pxThursdays at CatholicMom.com begin with a look at the past week’s Small Successes!

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The Kid’s blood sugar ran high all night and into this morning. We don’t know why. Sometimes diabetes is just random. And frustrating.

BACONSo Hubs suggested that he have a low-carb breakfast instead of his usual meal (a double bowl of instant oatmeal and an over-easy egg).

That meant I made bacon on a weekday.

I hate making bacon because I’m left with a huge mess all over the kitchen. Actually I almost never make the bacon. Hubs makes it. And then I rant that I want him to clean up the mess, and then I wind up cleaning up the mess myself, and it’s never pretty.

But today I maintained a good attitude about the bacon and its mess, and I hope it bodes well for The Kid’s blood sugar later today.

We’re not worrying about cholesterol right this minute. One thing at a time.

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baked salmon 1In other food news, I tried yet another recipe from Jeff Young’s cookbook, Around the Table with the Catholic Foodie. And it’s yet another winner. Baked Salmon with Olive Oil and Salt. Seriously, that’s all you need. No pepper. No lemon. Nothing creamy or fancy. It’s simple and delicious.

Every recipe I’ve tried from that cookbook, so far, has been a great success.

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In the name of cleaning up my act, I tossed a large basketful of the Personal Journal section of The Wall Street Journal. I enjoy reading those, but I got way behind when I was teaching every day, and I would just take the section out of the paper and recycle the rest. Finally I just admitted that I’m not going to get to these ever. And I threw them into the recycling bucket.

That felt good. I wonder what unused stuff I can let myself let go of today?

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Last Minute Shrimp Fried Rice (7)That bacon grease in the griddle pan? I’ll be using it in tomorrow night’s Last Minute Fried Rice.

Waste not, want not.

Share your Small Successes at CatholicMom.com by joining the linkup in the bottom of today’s post. No blog? List yours in the comments box!

The Blessing of Availability

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My flexible schedule comes at a price. If I had a job with set hours, rather than a substitute-teaching job, I’d risk getting fired every time I had a day like today.

5 minutes after I walked in the door after Mass, my cell phone rang. It was the school nurse, calling to tell me that Little Brother had felt woozy during Mass and needed to be taken home.

I made it to school in 8 minutes. I’d have gotten there faster, but cars in front of me insisted on observing the speed limit.

If I’d remembered that the school kids were going to Mass today, I’d have gone there–and been there when the principal rushed him out of church and, in Little Brother’s words, “power-walked” him to the nurse’s office.

apple juice boxHis continuous glucose monitor showed a blood-glucose level in the mid-120s, which the nurse wisely confirmed with a blood test. But since he was “white as a sheet” and really feeling awful, she gave him 4 ounces of apple juice anyway. That’s a quick hit of about 15 carbs.

When I got there, 8 minutes after she called me, he’d dropped another 20 points. While he was lying down in the nurse’s office, I ran upstairs to his classroom to get his backpack and lunchbox.

Getting into the car, he told me, “When I get home, I’m putting on my pajamas and lying down.” But by the time we got home, his blood sugar had stopped plummeting, bottoming out at 102 and leveling off.

102 is a healthy blood sugar. He’d spiked after breakfast (something we’re trying to figure out how to prevent) and during Mass his sugar began a free-fall.

Thanks to the principal and nurse’s quick actions, he stayed within a safe range, though the rapid drop made him feel (and look) as though he wasn’t.

And he’s been fine all day. He did have one workbook home (because he didn’t pack it yesterday) and he did have homework tonight in that workbook, so I made him do that, but otherwise he’s just been hanging out.

He apologized a few minutes ago for making me come and get him. I’m just sorry I hadn’t been at church when it happened. And I’m sorry he has to go through this at all. But I’m glad I was available to get him when needed–that all that was interrupted was cleaning the bathroom.

I may daydream about having a day job, but right now it’s all about the flexibility.