I created one this week. And it happened while Grace was at school.
You see, it's testing week this week at school, our state test - the PSSAs. Reading, Writing, Math, you name it, we test it. And they are long. And kids sit for 2 hours at a stretch. And they are stressful, even though I plead with my kids to just 'try their very best and let the chips fall where they may' - they don't quite understand that last part, so I just stick with 'try your best, that's all I ask.'
And Grace is in 3rd grade, so she gets to start the tests this year.
Can I get a Yeah!??? from the crowd?
Didn't think so.
Every day the class would have their snack at 10 am. Grace was SO responsible, she kept her OmniPod PDM with her in class (it usually resides at the nurse's office throughout the day and she stops by to check and dose with some limited supervision). She checked when we asked her to, before snack, and would dose herself for her snack. Normally a 100 calorie pack of something. She was thrilled to do it all by herself and we praised her and applauded such responsibility. She beamed with pride.
Monday comes and we see this:
107 - wake up
220 - 10 am check
95 - lunch time
Tuesday comes and we see this:
118 - wake up
247 - 10 am check
110 - lunch time
You see the pattern? Yep, me too. Stress inward much? Cool as a cucumber on the outside and sweating on the inside. Stress drives up her numbers. Gary would tell me about it and how he would raise basals by close to 100% for situations that were stressful. But really, my 8 year old didn't stress about anything, so in one ear, out the other. I did lodge it in the back of my mind, along with a zillion other things, but things in the back of my mind rarely come forward to join the working crew of brain in the front.
Here it was, stress related BG skyrocket of numbers.
So, being the gal that I am, I raised her basal by 50% for 8:30 - 11 am.
I thought all was well and was gonna see how W, Th and F played out.
I made a crucial tactical error.
We changed her Pod from her bottom, to her tummy on Tuesday night.
Can anyone tell me what that means? Anyone?
I'll give you a minute..
Minute's up.
It means better absorption rates, for my girl.
The Pod on her bottom is a slower rate of absorption than her tummy. Her tummy sites are notorious for rocking her numbers. So are her arms. As we move sites around her body, her thighs and bottom are slower and often I need to adjust basal rates based on them.
Do you think I thought of this on Tuesday night?
Nope, I made the basal change and changed the site.
Wednesday morning brought her Pod on tummy and a new basal rate to combat the stress and hit that 10 am high hard.
The Perfect Storm.
Wanna see and cry along with me?
Wednesday
89 - wake up (Hey Penny, get a clue!)
29 - 10 am check (Grace reports that she would like to sleep, in class, to her teacher)
Juice is given. Two juices. Along with glucose tabs and a snack. The teachers and nurse shove 45 grams of carbs down her. It takes about 40 minutes, but we see a 89, 109 and whew! we made it out of the storm.
The hell with the stress high. One week of 240's at 10 am, I will take it, in a heartbeat.
9 comments:
Oh my goodness! I totally got it. Better/faster absorbtion. B is in third grade this year. It is nice to trade battle stories, it makes me feel better prepared for next month when HE will be taking the big test too!
Hi! I just found your blog. please check mine out too. www.type1diabetic3yearold.blogspot.com. our daughter was just diagnosed 4 weeks ago. jennifer
Hi, I didnt realize you were in Philly! I am in bucks county! Nice to see someone in the area blogging about D type 1! As for your post, I always think this about my hubby's numbers: if I know the highs are temp and we know exactly what is wrong then I don't stress about them as long as I know it will be back to normal in a few hours :)
Oh geez! That stinks! Poor Grace! You know, we just can't think of everything. I am sooooo not looking forward to all this....
OH DEAR GOD!!!!!!!!!
Screw stress. Screw testing.
I just wanna run over there and hug you guys right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh GEEZ Penny!!!! That is some STORM girl. I am so glad you posted this. We only use Joe's bum for sites, but I have friends that have noticed the same change in absorption rates when they rotate and I know they were questioning about the need to change basals etc when the set is placed in different locations. This was extremely helpful. Thank you. xoxo
How did the rest of the week go? Tell Grace good job!!!
Awe man...you can't remember it all..even though we all feel like we should. You make a really good point though. I talk about how I find it strange at times my kids handle it all so well "cool as cucumbers" as you put it. Maybe sometimes those hi's have more to do with stress than I give them credit for.
Good post today. Thank you.
Oh.my.word. I KNOW stress affects Ry and he's just in 1st grade. He hasn't hit the testing yet (also in 3rd for TX). But this was so useful to tuck away for later use. We are on OmniPod as well, just since Dec. We rotate middle, four areas, left belly, right belly, righ low back, left low back. I HAVE noticed it's easier to control sugar on the back, may be the sensitivity to insulin on the belly. We have used the arm a little bit but Ry doesn't prefer that. But never the bottom or thighs. Something to think about, I suppose. Hmmm. But great post! Thank you so much for sharing. My stomach turned at the 29 and I'm so sorry. (Hugs) to you both. HATE testing for our kiddos, d or not!!
Oh dear. Hugs my friend.
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