A1C Check up

Today was Nathanael's 3 month check up.  Or should I say his 28 month check up since diagnosis?  I knew this A1C wouldn't be as good as his last one.  Summer has been tough.  There is no routine.  He stays up late, sleeps late, eats whenever he thinks he is hungry.  He also had a week where he was completely on his own while he was at music camp.  Amazingly, he did pretty well at camp.  Being at home is the problem.  He has days where his number just continues to rise.  I know he is eating without taking insulin.  He was running in the 300's, 400's, and even hit 500's.  So the big number today was 7.2.  What??  7.2?  At last check, he was 6.9.  That's not too bad considering the month he has had.  The doctor was even surprised it was that low.  Also, my little boy is now 5.8 and 174 pounds.  He sure isn't little anymore.  He is going to be in high school in just a little over a month.

This past weekend has been a tough weekend in the T1D world. Two young children died after being misdiagnosed.  Both young children were thought to have the flu.  Turns out they had diabetes and when it was discovered, it was too late.  A very precious little girl Kycie Terry fought a very tough battle after having seizures that left her with brain damage.  She was a fighter!  I have followed her story since January.  Her parents have shown such incredible strength and courage the whole time.  Then on Saturday, word came of a 4 year old boy in Michigan was in ICU after having a serious of strokes.  He was just diagnosed on July 8.  His little body couldn't recover.  On Sunday, he was taken off life support and died a short time later.

My heart just breaks for these two families.  I too wonder, like many other parents of children who have diabetes, why testing for diabetes cannot be standard protocol when showing flu like systems.  We were very lucky.  Nathanael had all the classic signs.  Diabetes was the last thing from my mind.  His systems from the beginning were a stomach ache and headache.  Then he started getting dizzy.  It wasn't until we put him on medication for possible acid reflux that he started drinking a lot of water.  Then he started having accidents at night.  I saw a post today where a dad posted on the Pull-ups Facebook page to put a warning on the big kid packages that when your child is potty trained and all of a sudden cannot make it through the night without having an accident, that they should be tested for diabetes.  What a great idea to spread awareness!  

We need a cure but most importantly we need awareness.  We also need understanding.  There is so much misunderstanding with diabetes.  Today, Nathanael was told he can eat whatever he wants.  He can eat as much as he wants.  However, whatever goes in his mouth, he needs to take insulin.  Of course, this isn't what this mom wants to hear.  But he needed to hear from his doctor that he needs to take insulin for EVERYTHING he eats.  Yes he can have a regular pop.  He can have candy.  He can have ice cream.  Are these things good for a person with diabetes?  The question is are these things good for people without diabetes??  YES diet and exercise will help him lower his blood sugar.  Diet and exercise will help EVERYONE without diabetes.  He didn't get diabetes from having too much sugar was he was an infant.

April 12, 2013 to April 12, 2015

Everyone has certain days in their lives where they will never forget where they were and what they were doing.  April 12, 2013 is one of those days for our family.  Two years ago today, our lives were forever changed.  My son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.  I'm still amazed that it has been two years.  Some days it feels like we have been doing this our entire lives, other days I feel like we don't have a clue.

This past year, Nathanael has become a pumper.  Pumping has made things so much easier.  He has been more independent at school.  Sometimes too independent.  He sometimes forgets he has diabetes and just doesn't want to deal with it.  I can completely understand.  He is having to stop and take time out of his day to take care of himself, 14 year old boys should not have to worry about taking care of their body.  None of his friends wear their pancreas on the outside of their bodies. None of his other friends have to eat a snack during gym.  None of his other friends have to take a small backpack of supplies when they go for a bike ride with the neighborhood kids.  But this is Nathanael's life.  He takes it in stride.  He does get frustrated when his blood sugar is higher than it should be.  He doesn't look at the clock to see when the last time was he ate, he doesn't think about the food that he did eat.  Certain foods will keep him high longer than others. Some foods will send him through the roof in what seems like a split second.  Oh and don't forget those factors he has no control over, growth hormones and stress.

Here are some of the things we have learned in the past 2 years.  Every year, we learn just a little bit more.

• Carb counting.  This is something that we have to do every single time Nathanael wants to eat.  He has to know how many carbs are in what he is eating or drinking.  We try and stay away from  drinks that have carbs in them just for convenience sake.  Yes he can have regular pop but he should be able to drink pop without having to take insulin so he drinks diet.  He mainly drinks flavored water or tea.
• Diabetes doesn't play fair.
• Blood sugar will almost always be low when I want to sleep.  I get up 2 times a night to check his number.  Once at 11:30 pm and once at 1:30 am.  Normally, I can check his number and be back in bed within 3 minutes.  But when he is low, it takes at least 30 minutes to bring him back up to a safe number. 
• Blood sugar is almost always low when it is time for bed.  Nathanael thinks it's funny but if he is going to have a low, it will be when I'm trying to get him off to bed.  He has almost always brushed his teeth and the last step before heading downstairs to his room is check his number.  
• Nathanael doesn't listen any better while sleeping than he does when he is awake.  Getting him to eat or drink something in the middle of the night is a challenge.  Once I can get him to a semi-conscience state, then he will eat and drink.  There are times that I go to check him and he opens his eyes and looks straight at me.  When he does that, he is low and we are in for the long haul.  
• Starbursts, granola bars, peanut butter sandwiches, and Capri sun juices are our friend.  When Nathanael is low, he needs fast acting carbs.  He normally needs 30 carbs to bring him up and keep him up during the night.  When he is sound asleep, he get juice along with glucose tablets.  If is he somewhat awake, he will get a granola bar to help keep him up.  
• Exercise does make a huge difference.  Since January, Nathanael has been doing what is called active adviser at school.  This is a time in his day where kids have time where they can do homework.  He has been going to the gym instead and playing volleyball or basketball, etc.  This really helps his number in the afternoon.  He has PE every other day.  This has really helped keep his number down. The downside to all the exercising, is sometimes he over compensates for his low and they goes high later.  
• Moderation is the key.  Try telling this to a 14 year old growing boy.  Yes he can have the chocolate Easter bunny but that needs to be all for the snack.  Yes he can have girls scout cookies but one serving is sufficient.  He has really had to learn that he may not necessarily need a snack.  He has to stop and ask, do I need it or do I want it.  He is having to practice what every single person needs to learn how to do, eat in moderation and eat in servings. 
• I can normally tell if he is running high or low in the middle of the night by touching him and listening to him.  When his blood sugar is high, he moans.  I can tell he isn't comfortable.  When he is low, he is clammy.  I can tell when I pick up his hand to prick his finger.  

Know the warning signs of diabetes.  Before he was diagnosed, he was drinking a lot of water and complaining of stomach aches everyday.  Then the stomach aches turned into dizziness.  He did lose weight but it wasn't noticeable.  We caught it early.