I would like to say that I have been backing off from managing M's diabetes because, at 13, it is time for her to take on the responsibility herself.
But mostly it's because I am lazy.
I have been busy at work. Final exams are coming up. Christmas just happened. I am creating a new curriculum for a new class. My college student is home. I am the adviser for three clubs at school. The driveway needs to be shoveled just about every day. I have been managing parts of the NHAWLT website with varying degrees of success. I am running three fundraisers at the school.
All of these excuses sound valid.
But, really, I am just tired of M glaring at me when I ask to check her numbers.
I have been asking her what her numbers were during the day when I pick her up from school. She says things like, "They were pretty good."
And I ask, "Like, how pretty good?"
And she says, "Like one hundred something..."
And I accept it.
Until two days ago.
M told me that she might have to increase her Lantus dose by one unit. Her blood sugar has been a little high (what more politically correct D bloggers call "out of range").
Oh? How high?
It turns out that her blood sugar had been in the high three hundred range for days.
Good news: She knew it was time to take action, since 300 is not anywhere near okay.
Bad news: She waited a good long while before she came to that conclusion.
Let me tell you right now: Teenagers and diabetes don't mix. While I ask M to record her numbers, and while I verify her numbers, and while I ask if checked for Ketones, she is angry.
She pouts. She sulks. She glares. She gives the silent treatment.
She feels as if I am treating her like a baby. As if I am in charge of managing her diabetes.
Well, she is in charge. I am the emergency back up, and this is an emergency.
Kids need a back up. Some parents act as emergency back ups for their kids when they do poorly in school. They take away privileges, monitor their homework, take away the PS2.
But this isn't like failing a math test. Kids who fail a test then have a choice to make: study harder, and resolve to do better in the future, or say, "screw it" and decide to become a hairdresser or something else that does not require calculus.
With diabetes, your options become more limited each time you fail the test. And if you choose to say "screw it", you die a slow, painful, death.
We added the unit of Lantus. She is now up to 41 units each night. And, now, because her bg has been all over the place, I am back to doing something I haven't done since her second week of diagnosis. I am waking up in the middle of the night to check her bg.
It's only been two nights.
Night one: 76
Night two: 265
The good news is that her daytime levels yesterday were in range (D blogger code for "good").
Now if I can just find a way to get back to sleep after the 1:30 am check...
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| Oh cursed alarm, let me be this morning! |
I'm 18 and my mom still calls me and asks me how my numbers are. It gets annoying, not going to lie, but I have to remember she's doing it for my own good and for her it's her safety blanket to be able to sleep at night knowing I'm ok. I got diagnosed when I was 17 and being a freshman away at college, she still wants to check in.
ReplyDeleteAbout her readings, they are going to be up and down while going through puberty and also other factors, such as stress hormones and school, will effect them. It is completely understandable that M is getting frustrated, but it will take a lot of adjustments until they get the ratios right, and even then they won't be perfect. Mine still change every so often. The pump will definitely be able to help. I know it definitely made me less stressed about shots and if I bolus correctly or if I forgot to bolus something. If I forget, there's nothing to worry about, I can just bolus for it separately. No extra injection needed! I hope this gives M a little boost and that it's ok to get frustrated, but the hard work is worth it in the end :)