Diabetes Hell Week
Scott Benner
We've recently emerged from a diabetes hell week, it was a doozy! Unexplainable high blood sugars that last half of a day were followed by perfect BGs that would suddenly fluctuate in either or both directs. I didn't sleep very long most nights during this period and at times I thought perhaps someone had switched Arden's insulin with water.
Shit was bananas and I couldn't figure out how many carbs were in it...
Not wanting to be left out of the fun, our diabetes technology also acted flaky once or twice during hell week - during one such incident I found myself wondering, "How does it know to f%^* with me right now?".
As a rough afternoon with type 1 diabetes turned into a long day and that day into a week, I found myself making some of the same mistakes I've made in the past. I'm hoping that this post will serve as a reminder for me (and you) so I can avoid them next time.
The mistakes...
- I was willing to trade my health for better BGs when what I should have done is played a Get Out of Diabetes Free card and asked Kelly for help. Instead, I passed out on the sofa one night as I was trying and ultimately failing to stay awake for another long night of BG battling.
- I fell down the rabbit hole of wondering what Arden will do when she gets older during times like this.
- I was too tired the next day to cook and stopped eating well, this exasperated the situation by sapping my energy further.
I did manage to do a few things right...
- I injected when I thought an infusion site was to blame for a high BG - sometimes it was the site, sometimes in wasn't.
- I kept Arden hydrated.
- We didn't use diabetes as an excuse to stop doing our day-to-day stuff. It sucked but Arden took a hitting (softball) lesson with a BG over 280, she made it to school with shaky numbers and went to the mall with friends in the middle of a BG nightmare (New site, almost 400 BG and a Dexcom sensor that was so confused by the high it stopped working for 3 hours). We adjusted and kept moving. BG was around 100 when she arrived home.
What I took from hell week
A few things stuck with me after the craziness passed and normalcy returned.
- I already knew this first one but was reminded again, I can't be here for Arden if I'm not here. My health is important.
- Staying fluid is monumental and attitude goes a long way to effecting reality.
- I don't have to cry anymore when I begin to wonder what Arden will do when she moves out because diabetes technology has evolved so that we can be with her if/when she has the need. Now that continuous glucose monitoring technology is in the cloud, Arden can call from college or anywhere and say, "I'm not feeling well and I want to take a nap... can you watch my blood sugar?". I am so grateful for the Dexcom Share2 for this and for taking away my annual What is Arden going to do when she gets older cry-a-thon.
Miranda
Last night as Arden was attempting to stretch out her bedtime by doing her Miranda Sings impression, I mentioned to Kelly that Arden suddenly looks more mature. Her face looks different and her body seems stronger. It was one of those moments when you could swear that she grew since the morning. I thought to myself, "This must be why her blood sugars have been so crazy lately" then I smiled - maybe the smile was from Arden's rather spot on Miranda impression, maybe it was from knowing that hell week was for a good cause - maybe it was a bit of both.
What ever you do... do not go to YouTube and search Miranda Sings - you have been warned!
