A Month In - Dealing With Type 1 Diabetes

So it's been a month. 

That's two lots of Libre 2 sensors, twice I've had to hold my daughter down as I fix it on to her arm. 3 empty insulin cartridges, countless needles, lots of sensor checks and lots and lots of dips in blood sugar levels with the accompanying spikes. 

I have described trying to figure out the insulin for her levels like being a safe cracker, only the combination keeps changing on the safe.

Initially we were chatting to the hospital (who have been great) every time we were adjusting her carb to insulin ratio (for the fast acting insulin). But we have been given the go ahead to start tweaking things ourselves, adjusting what's given very carefully. It's funny as she has a real handle on it and will chat to me about what she thinks the ratios should be as well. I'm keen to promote this as it's something she's going to have to get used to. 

It's interesting as we can plan for certain things, like we keep her breakfast insulin slightly higher, so we know her blood sugar will drop in the morning, but that means she can have a mid morning snack without having additional insulin. 

So far I'm still going into school each day to give her an injection for lunch. I'm hopeful she's going to make the jump soon and inject herself. We've said we can talk about pumps when she does and also that will mean a phone - something I'm not keen on her having but will be essential and is kind of essential now anyway as she needs quicker contact with me. 

At least I work from home and school is only a mile away. It's been nice to see her at lunch time and to have a little glance into her class each day - I must say they all seem to be working hard when I look in! A lot of the kids know me (from scouts and running the play group a few years back), so I always get lots of "hello Kev" which is nice as well. 

I've adjusted my working day a little bit to fit in. Obviously I can't do my casual carpentry work on site at the moment like I sometimes do (repair work for an estate normally), so it's been workshop work all the way. I've been having lunch earlier so I have it just as soon as I get back. This means I do have to alter my "lunch dates" with my dad as we will both often have our lunch "together" and just chat on the phone while we both eat, even though we're a county apart. Hopefully this won't go as it's something I really enjoy and helps keep us close. 

My daughter has been a little star, she doesn't seem to let it bother her. Although that said she is always fairly stoic when it comes to showing her emotions! She seems to be her happy self, she doesn't enjoy the injections or having the sensors fitted, and who can blame her, but it's a small part of the day in the grand scheme of things. Snacks are a bit of a problem and she has been woken by her alarm in the night and dealt with it herself by taking the sugar needed. 

She was incredible when she started back at school, her teacher came to me and said that she just came in as normal and dealt with all her diabetes stuff like it was something she'd always been doing. She's had a lot of sudden drops which she's dealt with instantly and in a way that hasn't over corrected and gone too high. She chats openly about it with me (and her mum) and looks at the graphs with us as we try to figure out what we can change to make it all more level and stable. As well as figuring out the right type of food and snacks for her as well. 

It's early days yet, the initial shock is gone, now it's just a constant background of work to try to keep things as normal as possible for her (and her siblings) and try to prepare for the bumps in the road we know are going to be coming.