Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The Highs and The Lows!

Living with diabetes has it's highs and lows, not just in blood sugar numbers, but in so many ways. The most obvious high/low, is everytime we check Charlotte's blood sugar.

Will it be too high?
Will it be too low?
Will it be just right, and is it just right for that time of day?

We don't want her too high, and we don't want her too low, we want her just right! But what does just right mean? Well, for those of you reading who don't know a lot about Diabetes, the "normal" range is 70-180. That is the ideal range. But...the ideal range, right before she is going to eat a meal, could be the lower end of that 70-180. Or right after she eats, ideal range could be a little higher as her body and her insulin processes the food. It is crazy! I can feel myself, holding my breath waiting for the count down on her meter to tell me the number,
5
4
3
2
1
or once 1pm hits on a school day...

I find myself checking my email every minute until the school nurse is able to send me the number.

Stress!

We have had some real lows, and just recently a high that was the highest it has been since we left ICU. When I say low, I mean 58! And when I say high, I mean 345! It is crazy to me how her little body can be under so much stress of blood sugars that change so dramatically in just one day or even a matter of hours. Highs and lows!

Now, like I mentioned the blood sugar numbers are not the only highs and lows that we are dealing with. A high could be her Sunday School teacher saying to me "now I have to ask, is she like a different kid"? So many people in her life have made comments to us that she seems to have come out of her shell, or just a little more outgoing. She is not an extremely outgoing kid, but now that she feels better, she is more her true self. If that's not a "high", I don't know what is!

A low could be when she wants to have donuts, or a cupcake like her friends or something and we have to be the ones to tell her that she can, but has to have a shot of insulin in order to have it. I think that is a low...telling a six year old that she has to have a needle in order to have a treat. It stinks. low!

We are trying to focus on the emotional highs and not the blood sugar highs. We don't want to focus at all on the lows.

Everyone and everything has highs and lows. In diabetes there are going to be highs and lows. They don't necessarily mean we did something good or bad, they are just what they are...highs and lows. It's how we deal with them that counts. Deep breath and deal with it.

So today we are dealing one day at a time. One step at a time. One hour at a time. One meal at a time. That's what we are doing. And that's the best we can do.

We are ok.