WOO HOO! I SLEPT FOR 5 HOURS STRAIGHT LAST NIGHT!!! Oh, sorry for "yelling", but I want to shout it from the rooftops! I have found a way to wake up to the Dex alarms!!!
Imagine never getting more than three hours of sleep at a time. Gene and I have been getting up at 2 a.m. for most of the last three years. In the last few nights, Andrew has had two nice stable nights, one where he was HIGH OVER 400 going up, and one where he had been under 55 for an hour when I checked him at 2 am. Dex was alarming, but not waking either of us. We are lucky that he wasn't seizing then, and I shudder to think what could have happened if he had been left until morning. Nighttime checks aren't necessary for everyone, but they've proven to be necessary for Andrew many times. It's exhausting though. Last week, a friend with older children made an innocent comment about having to stay up later with teenagers to be there when they really need you, and I just replied, "I Can't!" It was an epiphany. Figuring out my sleep issue isn't just for me. It's necessary for me to be able to parent these precious kids now while I have the opportunity. They are growing up so fast! I started looking at something I had heard of on CWD. Here is the solution:
Sonic Alert Universal Sound Signalerhttp://www.amazon.com/Sonic-Alert-Universal-Sound-Signaler/dp/B003ESXF6Q/ref=pd_sim_hpc_6
Sonic Alert SB1000ss Sonic Boom Loud Vibrating Alarm Clock with Built In Receiverhttp://www.amazon.com/Sonic-Alert-SB1000ss-Vibrating-Receiver/dp/B000EX9K40/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I748MKP24FM5O&colid=6Z8N3U220YRV
The universal signaler sits beside Andrew's bed with the Dex in front of it. When the signaler goes off, it signals the vibrator in the alarm clock across the house in my room! The super shaker is a round circle that slides under my pillow & shakes when the dex beeps. I haven't figured out if I can get the alarm clock to go off, but the super shaker does the trick! I thought it might give me a heart attack, but it isn't that bad. It's also something that Andrew can use when he goes to college to wake up for lows without bothering his roommates. I slept sounder last night than I have in ages. I wasn't even listening for an alarm. I just slept. At 3:30 in the morning, I was woken by something other than Andrew, but I still felt great! I just can't explain how wonderful this is!!!! It's not like I'll sleep every night from now on. When Andrew's BG isn't stable, I'll be waking to the alarms, but that's what he needs. But when Andrew does have a good night, we will all get sleep! That's something I can live with!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
5 days without Dexcom!
Wow! How dependent on CGM I've become! Our Dexcom receiver quit working yesterday. The screen blacked out & the buttons started flashing. Dexcom technical support was kind & promised to send a new one out overnight - as soon as the shipping department comes into work, which will be Tuesday because of President's Day. So we are without Dexcom from Saturday until Wednesday. I miss it so much! I knew I loved it at night, but apparently we're pretty dependent in the daytime too. Before he goes out to play, I like to get a Dex reading. A couple hours after meals we check to see if he needs a correction. We don't treat based on the CGM, but it keeps us from being surprised by high numbers. Last night, he went to bed at 137 at 8:00, but was 406 at 1:48. If his dex had been working, we would have checked before we went to bed & corrected then. We could have done a BG, but how many times a night is it okay to prick a sleeping (or at least he was) child?
One good thing is that I should be able to get spot trends. Sometimes with extra info, we do enough interventions that we don't see overall trends like "he's high at dinner every day", becuase we correct before he gets too high. There's nothing to stop us now. Well, I think last night's site may have gone into muscle & is slow absorbing, which is contributing to the highs. Andrew thinks it's fine (he doesn't want a new site) & claims he just needs more basal. I don't want to adjust basal without the safety of Dex. How did I get so dependent??? I'm so looking forward to Wednesday & hoping that Andrew doesn't enjoy the break too much!
One good thing is that I should be able to get spot trends. Sometimes with extra info, we do enough interventions that we don't see overall trends like "he's high at dinner every day", becuase we correct before he gets too high. There's nothing to stop us now. Well, I think last night's site may have gone into muscle & is slow absorbing, which is contributing to the highs. Andrew thinks it's fine (he doesn't want a new site) & claims he just needs more basal. I don't want to adjust basal without the safety of Dex. How did I get so dependent??? I'm so looking forward to Wednesday & hoping that Andrew doesn't enjoy the break too much!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Link to Joe's Video
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Three Year Anniversary
Unbelievable!!! Three years ago today, Andrew's life changed forever. Our whole family changed forever. Diagnosis Anniversaries are always bittersweet. I'm so thankful for how far we've come and the grace that God has extended to us. Yet, I still HATE diabetes. I hate the years it stole from Andrew's life expectency. I hate the joy it removes from his life now because of the ups and downs of blood sugar. Don't get me wrong. Andrew handles all of this so very well. He "does anything he wants to do". But, it makes a difference.
Will is playing first grade Upward basketball this year. He's having the time of his life, and the joy is obvious. Sometimes, his joy reminds me of what Andrew lost. You see Andrew was diagnosed during Upward Basketball of his first grade year. It was the first place that I knew something was wrong. I didn't notice classic medical symptoms like extra thirst or urination. I just had a sick feeling in my stomach that something was wrong. He just didn't look and act like himself. After his diagnosis, I learned that his blood sugar would shoot up really high, like 400-600 high, during games. And that was on insulin. No wonder something seemed wrong. Andrew loves sports, and he's pretty good at them. But he has very few games that he looks joyful all the way through. If he looks like he's having fun, his BG is normal. Most of the time, adrenaline shoots him high & you can see his body is working hard. His expression is one of concentration. Limp is most dangerous. That's low.
Tonight, we went to an awards ceremony for the JDRF Walk. There were so many cute little kids with pumps strapped on them or taking shots for dinner. They wore smiles on their faces, but it broke my heart. I could have cried right there, but that wouldn't help the kids. Tomorrow will be a new day.
I am looking forward to our 4th year. Year one was survival, trying to learn diabetes, have a baby, etc. Since Andrew started on the pump right at a year, his second year was about learning to live on a pump. Year three, I joined CWD forums, read all their recommended books, discovered & ordered Dex, and learned the things not taught by doctors. This year, I hope to work more on diet. I still hate diabetes, but it is more routine now. Andrew's site fell out at school today. He changed it himself. Then he was 501 after lunch and the nurse called for advice while I was teaching class. The tiny 0.65 correction sent him low after he got home. He treated himself & told me on the phone. None of these events sent the slightest adrenaline through my system. All in a days work as a pancreas. So we have made progress. Thank you, God, for carrying us safely through another year!
Will is playing first grade Upward basketball this year. He's having the time of his life, and the joy is obvious. Sometimes, his joy reminds me of what Andrew lost. You see Andrew was diagnosed during Upward Basketball of his first grade year. It was the first place that I knew something was wrong. I didn't notice classic medical symptoms like extra thirst or urination. I just had a sick feeling in my stomach that something was wrong. He just didn't look and act like himself. After his diagnosis, I learned that his blood sugar would shoot up really high, like 400-600 high, during games. And that was on insulin. No wonder something seemed wrong. Andrew loves sports, and he's pretty good at them. But he has very few games that he looks joyful all the way through. If he looks like he's having fun, his BG is normal. Most of the time, adrenaline shoots him high & you can see his body is working hard. His expression is one of concentration. Limp is most dangerous. That's low.
Tonight, we went to an awards ceremony for the JDRF Walk. There were so many cute little kids with pumps strapped on them or taking shots for dinner. They wore smiles on their faces, but it broke my heart. I could have cried right there, but that wouldn't help the kids. Tomorrow will be a new day.
I am looking forward to our 4th year. Year one was survival, trying to learn diabetes, have a baby, etc. Since Andrew started on the pump right at a year, his second year was about learning to live on a pump. Year three, I joined CWD forums, read all their recommended books, discovered & ordered Dex, and learned the things not taught by doctors. This year, I hope to work more on diet. I still hate diabetes, but it is more routine now. Andrew's site fell out at school today. He changed it himself. Then he was 501 after lunch and the nurse called for advice while I was teaching class. The tiny 0.65 correction sent him low after he got home. He treated himself & told me on the phone. None of these events sent the slightest adrenaline through my system. All in a days work as a pancreas. So we have made progress. Thank you, God, for carrying us safely through another year!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Good Results for Kaitlyn's OGTT
Kaitlyn's results are in & they are fantastic!!! The lab had her fasting BG as 91, so even that number was normal. Her other numbers were 30 min- 163, 60 min 161, 90 min 161, and 120 min 141. A1c 4.9. These numbers are better than they were two years ago! They're much, much better than the 88, 169, 221, 232, & 194 we saw in June. Yeah!! Thanks for your prayers for her!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Kaitlyn "Passes" another OGTT!!!
After June's close escape from diagnosis, we have all dreaded today's oral glucose tolerance test. Her fasting glucose this morning was 108. It has always been in the 80's. Under 100 is normal, between 100 & 125 is prediabetes, and over 125 is diabetes. Today was her first official impaired fasting glucose. Sad. I braced myself for the rest of the day. All the other numbers are done by lab work so we don't have any official results yet. However, we took a BG by Andrew's meter at two hours and it was 149! That is also an impaired glucose number (should be under 140), but it looked beautiful to me!!! Even with the normal meter variation of 10-20%, we shouldn't get close to the 200 mark! What a relief!!! I'm still concerned about the fasting glucose. I hope it was just nerves, but she had a 110 at home one time too. It will be interesting to see what her A1c is. If anything is bad, they will call us by Saturday. Otherwise, we will hear in a week or so.
Andrew's A1c was up a little, but less than we expected. His first blood pressure was high, as it often is, but the second number was acceptable. I don't remember the bottom numbers but the first top number was 139 & second was 125. It just hurts to worry about these things in a child. His doctor isn't too concerned about it though. Being in the children's hospital for Kaitlyn's test is humbling though. We always see kids with cancer, Down's, and other conditions I can't imagine or describe. Andrew's comment walking out of the hospital today was, "I'm really lucky..." Tonight, we are all thankful to be home safe and sound with no new diagnoses for anyone. Thanks to all who pray for us!
Andrew's A1c was up a little, but less than we expected. His first blood pressure was high, as it often is, but the second number was acceptable. I don't remember the bottom numbers but the first top number was 139 & second was 125. It just hurts to worry about these things in a child. His doctor isn't too concerned about it though. Being in the children's hospital for Kaitlyn's test is humbling though. We always see kids with cancer, Down's, and other conditions I can't imagine or describe. Andrew's comment walking out of the hospital today was, "I'm really lucky..." Tonight, we are all thankful to be home safe and sound with no new diagnoses for anyone. Thanks to all who pray for us!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Scary Low
Last Wednesday night/Thursday morning Andrew had his scariest low to date. His BG was fairly steady while I was writing the last post. I had been watching him every 15 minutes or so because he was low 100s & slowly drifting down, but we're not supposed to feed him until under 80. I finally decided to get some sleep & get up if the under 100 alarm went off. He was 113 at 11:15 & the alarm clock was set for 2. The dex was beside the baby monitor, but the receiver is horrible! It is inoperable on my bedside table and makes very loud static noise where I plug it in across the room. I'm probably the only mother without infants that has been drooling over a baby monitor, but it seemed foolish to buy a new one when the old one "works". I'm sure you've guessed by now, but I never heard the alarm that went off by midnight....
At some point, Andrew woke aware that he was very low. However, he was so low that he couldn't speak. He's never had any symptoms like that before & it really scared him. He either passed out or fell asleep but without treating. He woke up again & mustered the strength to test with the extra meter we keep by his bed & drink the juice we keep beside it. Then he called for help...BUT I DIDN'T HEAR HIM! :( When he had enough strength, he gave up on my coming & came to me. At 1:45, I woke with him sobbing by my bedside. He was so frightened and felt so bad! It was heartbreaking! I will never forget holding my precious little boy, waiting for his blood sugar to come up, listening to the story, and him looking up at me to say, "and you didn't come..." If that doesn't break a mother's heart, I don't know what will. Ten year old boys shouldn't have to fight for their lives in the night, and they certainly shouldn't have to do it alone.
I am now the proud owner of a wonderful new baby monitor. Hopefully, the days of not hearing the dex alarm are gone. When he is preparing for college, we will hook Dex up to an amplifier so that it will wake him. In the meantime, I want to be there.
Andrew & I were both upset by this one. Despite the fact that I've cried many tears (not in front of Andrew), I am very grateful that the Lord woke him & gave him the strength and presence of mind to treat himself. He's fine. He went to school and had a normal day. Only his nurse knew what he had been through that night.
At some point, Andrew woke aware that he was very low. However, he was so low that he couldn't speak. He's never had any symptoms like that before & it really scared him. He either passed out or fell asleep but without treating. He woke up again & mustered the strength to test with the extra meter we keep by his bed & drink the juice we keep beside it. Then he called for help...BUT I DIDN'T HEAR HIM! :( When he had enough strength, he gave up on my coming & came to me. At 1:45, I woke with him sobbing by my bedside. He was so frightened and felt so bad! It was heartbreaking! I will never forget holding my precious little boy, waiting for his blood sugar to come up, listening to the story, and him looking up at me to say, "and you didn't come..." If that doesn't break a mother's heart, I don't know what will. Ten year old boys shouldn't have to fight for their lives in the night, and they certainly shouldn't have to do it alone.
I am now the proud owner of a wonderful new baby monitor. Hopefully, the days of not hearing the dex alarm are gone. When he is preparing for college, we will hook Dex up to an amplifier so that it will wake him. In the meantime, I want to be there.
Andrew & I were both upset by this one. Despite the fact that I've cried many tears (not in front of Andrew), I am very grateful that the Lord woke him & gave him the strength and presence of mind to treat himself. He's fine. He went to school and had a normal day. Only his nurse knew what he had been through that night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)