Diabetes Awareness: But she's too skinny to have diabetes......

We have been extremely busy the last few months and I have gotten behind on my bloggin'.....A lot has happened in the Dean house since my last post so I have plans for several posts over the next few weeks!

However, with this post I want to discuss type 1 diabetes misconceptions.  I've touched on this topic in the past, but this issue has been coming up a lot more lately.  I used to get defensive when people would make these types of comments, but then I realized its because they don't know any better.

There are many misconceptions about this disease, but I've put together the ones I feel strongly about.  Here is my top 5 list of type 1 diabetes misconceptions:

1. "But she's too skinny to have diabetes." Although diet and weight are factors for type 2 diabetes, it is not the cause of type 1 diabetes.
2. "She can't eat that cupcake." As is should be for us all, moderation is key.  Also, there are times when sugar levels can drop too low and sugar is needed to raise it.
3. "She can't play sports because her sugar will drop." Exercise is important for everyone including those with diabetes.  Precautionary measures like eating snacks and frequent bg checks can help avoid hypoglycemia.
4. "She'll never be able to have children."  Diabetic pregnancy require closer monitoring, but there is no reason,  with excellent blood sugar control and diabetes management, that mother and baby will remain healthy throughout the pregnancy and birth.
5. "Taking insulin will cure diabetes." Insulin is not a cure, it is their life support.  Unfortunately there currently is no cure for diabetes.

Summer Vacation

Alyssa has been experiencing post breakfast highs every morning this week except for today. Also, normally her bg's drop nearly 100 during the night and this week she's only been dropping about 50. (ie. before bed bg's were 200 and this morning 150)

The difference in this week and the others since schools been out for summer is that her cheer gym has been closed this week for the 4th. She normally practices cheer 3 hours a week and also has separate tumble lessons. So I'm sure the decrease in physical activity is affecting her levels. Back to it come Monday though :)

Life with T1 is definitely a balancing act.....

Alyssa's Birthday!!

Alyssa celebrated her 9th birthday this past Friday on June 15th.  The first thing she said that morning was that she wished she didn't have to have diabetes on her birthday.  So, it became my goal to keep diabetes from the forefront.  We had a fun day hanging at the pool with friends.  I knew she would be swimming and running, so I let her eat anything she wanted.  (Of course I kept the meter close by :)).  But she had mini cupcakes, Doritos, chocolate pudding; and, crackers, ham, and cheese.  When we left the pool, bg was 112!  So we stopped at McDonalds for a happy meal where she had a burger and fries and an injection.  That evening she had a few friends sleep over so, we went out for pizza.  Bedtime bg was 200 even!  What a great day!

Now, her party was the following day and her bg's were a different story.  They started off well in the morning, but by the time of her party at 3 pm, she was around 80 ( a little low for her in the afternoon).  She had several friends over and I'm sure her low was because she was so active.  They played on the slip 'n slide and in the jacuzzi.  When it was time for cake, Alyssa went in to change out of her swim suite and it seemed to be taking her a long time.  I went in to check on her, and she was incoherent.  She was trying to put her dry clothes on top of her bathing suite and when I asked her if she was ok, she said she was very tired.  She was very pale and her eyes seemed to be in a daze.  After she answered me,  she immediately started crying.  I knew she was low.  I grabbed a juice box, a container of frosting, and her meter.  Luckily when I stuck the straw in her mouth she began to drink the juice and I checked her bg..... 30!!  That's the lowest I've seen it.  She quickly finished the juice and I started taking finger fulls of icing and putting in her mouth.  In just a few minutes I could see the color coming back into her face.  I helped her get dressed and held her....she continued to cry...she was scared and so was I.  Ten minutes later, bg's back up to 90!!  Relief!!


(We had 2 cakes, this one Alyssa and her friend decorated)

We went back out on the porch where our family and friends were waiting for us and I said, "take 2!"

Cheer Camp

Alyssa is on a competitive cheer team and this weekend she took part in her first cheer skills camp. Alyssa’s diabetes is very sensitive to extra physical activity, so this requires careful planning and monitoring as well as timing meals and insulin. This is because muscles use up glucose at almost 20 times the normal rate during intense exercise and can result in low blood sugar levels.

During her normal practices in order to avoid drops in blood glucose levels, we check her bg’s before class starts and if she is below 200 she has a carb/protein snack and she has a low sugar Gatorade on hand that has about 15 g of carbs. This snack and drink will replace the glucose slowly as she burns the glucose she has on board and holds her over through the 1 ½ hour practice. In the case of cheer camp, I knew the activity would be more intense and last longer. We checked her sugar when we arrived on day 1 and it was 212, she had a snack and about an hour in her bg was 200. At the water break re-check, her level was at 147, so she had a few grapes and more low sugar Gatorade. By the end of day 1 practice, her level was at 150. Day 2 started at 12:30p, so she ate lunch at 11:30a. When we got to the gym her bg was 300, but she had just eaten and had a lower level of insulin about 30 minutes prior. At the water break, we checked and her level was down to 200. She ate a few grapes and 2 peanut butter crackers. At the end of camp, her bg was 116. I knew her bg’s would continue to drop after the exercise stopped because her team had worked so much harder on day 2, so I let her have a little of the high carb snacks that were offered like cheese puffs, chips, grapes, and even a donut! I chose not to give her insulin and rechecked her bgs about an hour later…99...perfect... her body was still burning that glucose.  If she hadn't had that snack, she would have went low.

Alyssa is such a trooper. She didn’t complain about having her finger pricked 4 times extra because she was having such a good time… We have a longer choreography camp in a couple of weeks and I'm feeling a little bit better about it.