Wednesday, May 4, 2016

What is up with Hamburger Buns

    I would say that we have a pretty good handle on type 1 diabetes. If you are part of this community you know I say that with caution and expectation that highs and lows will come out of nowhere and for no real reason at all. We have been successful at maintaining William's A1C below his endocrinologist goal for many years now. It is not easy and it takes a lot of effort and lost sleep to get there. I also believe that my experience as an engineer also helps. I see trends and trouble shoot machines all day long. I am able to understand what is expected most of the time and make adjustment for that. The continuous glucose monitor is also a very effective tool to see if what I believe is going on is actually what is happening. If I have a basal rate set I do not expect to see his number change much during that period. I test this on weekends where I can let William's meal times slip a little. It is a continuous evaluation of data with all of the factors taken into account. It is relentless and can get overwhelming at times. That is our life.

Having a Little fun at Robotics
    There are things in life that make people wonder every day. Since we are submerged in this type 1 diabetes life, we do not get much of a break so we think about it a lot. The things that make me wonder happen to be simple things. One thing I know is that if William eats pizza or a hamburger bun we will pay the price all night long with high numbers, most of the time (this is type 1 diabetes we are talking about here). I am amazed that I can give William anything on a bun and his numbers will be great for hours after eating. He even goes low at times but when he goes to sleep it is like someone is sitting on the side of his bed feeding him carbohydrates all night long. He had a hamburger last night for dinner. It was a very simple hamburger, ketchup, bun, cheddar cheese and a hamburger patty. I gave him the dose of insulin for his food. He was low for the rest of the day and for about an hour after going to bed. Then all of a sudden his numbers started to skyrocket. It had been about five hours since he ate the bun but here it was letting us know it was there. The rise in blood glucose was expected but I am still amazed every time. I do not let William eat buns or pizza often because it is bad for his health especially on a blood glucose level. I do not feel good about him sleeping all night with elevated blood glucose. It makes me feel like a failure to know that I could have done something about it. So last night, as I do with any night he has pizza or a bun, I was up most of the night adjusting his blood glucose to keep him from going through the roof.

    In this world where there are loose rules and you can go into the twilight zone at any moment, there are some things that stay the same. If you are willing to accept that these are vague rules and things change all of the time, you might not go insane. I lose sleep and watch William's numbers as closely as I can. I want to deliver him to the point where he is responsible for his own care in as good of health as I can, even if it takes away years of my life. It is a price I am gladly willing to pay to make his life as good as possible. I want him to feel as normal as any other person he passes and that includes eating pizza and hamburgers with buns or being a monkey at robotics.

It is like shooting at a moving target,

Your Loving Dad

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