(This is the most popular post on my blog so far, so I thought I'd share it here. For other blog posts, please visit
http://type1anautoimmunething.blogspot.com/ )
If you don't have Type 1 and you know someone who does, please don't ask them if their BG is "under control". BG is not under control, even in a non D person. It bounces up and down in reaction to food, stress and sickness. BG is never a straight line on a graph. Well, except when it looks like this:
The Dexcom pegs out at 400 - J just tested 512. And yes, it is 4:23 am. It was earlier than that when this started. DH woke me up saying “you have to work his pump, I don’t know how to do what you are doing.” After following this thread over on CWD, I am trying to avoid bolusing huge amounts. The gist of it is that the larger a bolus, the longer it takes to absorb because the surface area of the insulin pool is smaller in relation to the size of the bolus.
The picture you see above called for a bolus of 12 units. A rather large bolus to give all at once if I want to see some quick action. So when this type of situation arises I change the basal and use it to deliver the large dose of insulin in smaller pieces, distributed every three minutes over an hour or so. DH doesn’t know how to do that, even though he is the math whizz. Me, I was always the English person and math made me cry.
So I am up waiting for the insulin to do its work since I will need to change his basal drastically after this is done or I’ll find J lying on the floor saying “help” in a small voice.
(for those in the know, I am using a temp basal but I have a simple basal program that I change as needed - it has one basal rate in it. I changed the Ping over to that “HIGH BG” basal and change it to 4 u an hour. Then told it to do a temp basal of 200% (as high as the Ping will go) for 1.5 hours. That is why I can’t just go back to sleep and let the pump do its thing.)
And here comes J, adding his own flavor of crazy to the mix, as always. He’s hungry. For mashed potatoes and gravy, which we do have in the fridge and which I don’t have any problem with him eating. Except for now. When he’s over 500!!! Does that matter to J? Not a bit, as a matter of fact, I think it makes him more determined to have them. I offer turkey bacon (no carbs). Nope. Don’t want it. I tell him he is very high and needs to wait before consuming carbs. Does that help? Nope. “I’m hungry NOW.” This is a 160 pound 14 year old I’m dealing with. He is not going to starve to death. He could stand to “live off the fat of the land” for a while, as a matter of fact, since he is only 5’3". (don’t get me started there - the boy lives to eat and his Abilify doesn’t help matters. It seems to be a choice of living with an overweight kid who will at least usually listen to me or a skinny kid who is a monster).
Have I mentioned I’m sick? Yep, really don’t feel up to arguing with him. And he can argue all night. It’s like living with a lawyer. Everything, and I do mean everything is an objection. “No, I don’t want to brush my teeth, take a shower, do my schoolwork, go to sleep, clean my desk, go outside, or anything else you want me to do!” I have discovered that most of the time his BG will drop if I let him have a meltdown. But it’s 4 am, and his meltdown would wake everyone in the house. Not an option. He won’t listen to reason, so I let him have the stupid mashed potatoes.
Then I realize - I could have solved this without toooo much fuss. Maybe. It might have backfired. But it might have worked. Because, you see, I keep our microwave and toaster oven in a room beside the kitchen. A room with a locking door. To keep J from eating all night long while we sleep. All I had to do was refuse to unlock the door. My brain works more slowly when I’m sick.
I am feeling better now and I appreciate the comment about my son being lucky to have me