January 16, 2016: The Highs and Lows of Everyday Life

I'm just going to say that this week was a pretty good week. I called Duncan's nurse, Patricia, to give her his glucose levels. Patricia is awesome, we go through his levels together over the phone so she can adjust his insulin intake accordingly. Duncan's glucose this week was actually pretty good. Let me explain what pretty good means... Duncan's range is between 100 and 200, they explained to me that they want his range to be higher than the "normal" range of 80 to 100 because his brain is still developing and he needs that glucose to help with the development. If his glucose level gets down below 80 I need to treat it as a "low" meaning he needs more sugar in his system. If his glucose levels get above 200 I need to treat it as a "high" meaning he needs more insulin in his system. Normally Patricia doesn't worry too much about his levels until they reach the 250-300 range, then we have to worry about keytones, which is something to explain for a whole other day. Duncan has never experienced keytones since I brought him home form the hospital so I don't worry too much about that.

For the most part Duncan is a pleasant kid, he's active, happy, and playful. He likes to make faces and run through the house like a mad man. Duncan has been all over the place this week like any other "normal" toddler. I probably shouldn't say "normal" because his diabetes is "normal" to him now. We've gotten pretty much into the rhythm of things since he was first diagnosed, he knows I have to check his levels before he eats and is usually pretty good about letting me prick a finger to get a sample. When his level is low, we drink some juice and try again 15 minutes later. If his levels are high we count that into his insulin using his "sliding scale". If his levels are in range we don't worry.

The hardest is when he's low, he gets really hungry and wants to eat everything in sight! Mostly carbs, and sugars. He whines and cries and rolls around the floor like he's having a tantrum for no apparent reason. When his levels are high, he still wants to eat everything he can get his hands on but it's usually the proteins. He wants cheese, meats, or nuts and he stuffs them in his mouth like he can't get it in fast enough. Most days I wish he could talk and tell me what is wrong when his sugar is not in range. I know the symptoms to look for, but it's really hard to know if he has a headache or if he's feeling dizzy if he can't tell me himself.

My 5 year-old asks me at least once a week "Mom, when is Duncan going to not need anymore shots?" I have to explain to him that Duncan will be getting shots the rest of his life, unless they find a cure which is what we pray for every night. Duncan gets pricked on the finger an average of 8-10 times a day, some days he cooperates and lets me do it, some days he's ornery and wants to be in control of his checks and balances. They told me as a teenager it gets harder because he'll start wanting to do it on his own, and he'll start hiding his highs and lows from me because he will want to be in control of his illness. They've never met a determined 2 year old who wants to be left alone with a loaf of bread for 5 minutes!

The other day Duncan was acting really weird. He was in the dinning area and was really quiet. We all know the saying when a toddler is being quiet you know something is wrong, so I walk over and try to find him... he's not there... maybe I was wrong and he went down the hall to his room? I walk down to his room and no Duncan... I walk back to the dinning area and there under the table sitting with his back to me is my son chowing down on a loaf of bread! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?!?!? Don't you know what that will do to your sugar? of course he doesn't, he's 2 all he knows is he wants food and he wants it now! I swear this kid is like Houdini when it comes to food. It doesn't matter how well I put it up, he WILL find it and somehow find a way to eat it. So I check his sugar, it's a little low only in the low 80's but enough to give him a little snack.

Get him in his high chair, hand over the cheese and pretzel and 10 minutes later off he's running to go destroy whatever new "thing" my older boys have built. I hear him run down the hall then it's 3... 2.... 1... "DUNCAN! NO" another castle was just destroyed by our very active, sugar free, T-Rex.