Bottom line is this: A normal glucose for a non-D person should never be over 110. They use to say 120, but thats changed. And...diff Drs, will tell you diff things.
For Colton--his 'target range is between 80-100. When he was first dx'd, his 'target' was 100-200.
Thats changed due to the fact that 1) that was ten years ago when he was first dx'd 2)his eating habits and carb intake has changed and 3)he's older and SHOULD be able to have a bit more control than when he was 3.
There are a lot of reasons for beating stuff into his brain and being so hard on him. We have to. We can't just let everything slide because he's a kid. We have to do everything we possibly can NOW, to ensure he does what needs to be done when he's at a friend's, or later in life when he no longer lives in the same houses that we do.
When Colton gets up every morning, the firs thing he does, is check his blood. He has to do this. He can't just get up, go to the bathroom and just go watch tv or eat. He has to check his sugar before he does anything. Even after he checks himself, he has to eat. He can't just hold off until he gets good and ready to eat. He has to know exactly what his blood sugar is before he eats. If checks it, and he knows we are going to be leaving and stopping at Sonic or something, he will have to check his sugar again. Even if its only been 30 minutes! He has to know what his glucose level is. Let me tell you, Ive seen him drop from having a reading of 140 all the way down to 40 in 30 minutes! Pretty scary thing!
He must go through that same routine EVERY SINGLE DAY EVERY TIME HE EATS....ANYTHING!
What happens IF he doesn't do all of that? What happens if we dont stay on him to do all of these things? What if we just blew it all off and didnt care what happens to him. What if I had not listened to the urging of a neighbor to get him back to the Dr for the THIRD time in one week?
If Colton does not get all of the things done that he has to do, the results will be as follows:
He gets up, checks his blood and sees its say, right at 100. Thats great! He goes about his day, eats breakfast and 'forgets' to bolus.(thats just giving himself extra insulin for his food, aside from his basal rate). So he eats, and just goes about his morning, doing his school work etc. A few hours pass, and he needs to check himself. He does so, and his reading is now 385! For every single minute that passes and he does NOT check himself and does NOT bolus for his food, his glucose levels increase. His pump supplies him with a steady flow of insulin--thats his basal rate--and thats the same as the insulin that comes from a normal, non-diabetic pancreas. So, his reading is 385. He knows thats 'high' and knows he needs to bolus. He proceeds to eat a snack, and then 'forgets' to bolus for his snack. He goes back to doing his school work, but he can't focus and concentrate on it because he's got to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes. Well, thats because his glucose is so high. His body can't do on its own what it was intended to do, so with his glucose being higer, he's got to pee all the time. (thats why he has an insulin pump!) He continues going about whatever he's doing and he just continues to feel blah and sluggish. He feels this way because his body is trying to tell him, "I NEED INSULIN!"
When a person's blood sugar goes up to levels that are too high, it begins to 'flow' in the veins 'thick', which is why I always like to compare it to the consistancy of ketchup, syrup, cooking oil, etc. And not only does it flow slow/thick. It makes you feel like total poop! The higher the glucose levels, the more likely that ketones will develop as well as ketoacidosis. Ketones/ketoacidosis happens when sugar is too high in the blood. Sugar spills into urine. Frequent urination will result in loss of body fluids or dehydration. Sugar can't be used, resulting in fat breakdown as an energy source. Fat breakdown results in 1)weight loss and 2)ketones, which are a breakdown product of fat and appear in the blood/urine. 3)too many ketones in the body=acidosis. When ketoacidosis happens the symtoms are upset stomach and or stomach pains, vomiting, sweet(fruity)odar to the breath, thirst and frequent urination, drowsiness, deep breathing(which indicates the need to go to the hospital) and if left untreated, a coma can result.
"IF" Colton were to go for about 3-4 days and NOT do what he knows he has to do, he'd be dead. I know that sounds morbid, but its a matter of fact! He HAS to check his blood every single day, before each meal and any other time that he's going to be eating something. He has to check his blood if he's been outside riding his bike or playing basket ball. He has to check his blood before he gets into bed at night--even IF its only been 30m minutes since he last did it. Why?? Because A LOT can change in a very short time.
Example--just 5 minutes ago, he said, "Im going to check myself. I feel lower than I did 15 minutes ago."
He had dropped from 100 down to 50! So???....SO..he had to eat something.
And its just as bad for him to have a reading thats too low, as it is for it being too high.
If its too low--say, 68 or less--and he has enough consecutive readings--The result can be a seizure.
We've only had 3 times since we learned of his diabetes that this has happened, but it was 3 times that I would have rather not had to experience.
The first time this ever happend was in February 2001. I'd been paged at church twice because his teachers said that he was just not acting himself. So, I checked his blood and he was in the mid 60's. I gave him a snack and went back to church. By the time church was over, and I went to get him, he was hiding under a table in his room. I got him out and checked him again, and his glucose was even less, around 56. I knew not to give him a shot because his glucose was already low. I gave him some goldfish and a juice box. He'd had several readings the day before that were all low. He and I got home from church, ate lunch, and laid down for naps. Kyle was asleep at the time too, because he was working the night shift at the time. He had gotten up, and was fixing him something to eat, b/c it was going to be time to head back to work again. I was trying to tell him what had been going on all day with Colton's blood all day, and thats when everything happened. I quickly got his meter, and checked his bloog sugar, told his daddy I needed a juice box NOW. Before he could get the juice to me, Colton went limp and started seizing. If I had not been holding him, he'd have been in the floor, because he was sitting on the couch before I picked him up. Kyle grabbed the emergancy glucagon kit, mixed it up and gave him a shot of it. I grabbed the phone and called 911. Within about 2 minutes, I heard the sirens. By the time they got to the house, Colton started to come around. The guys from the fire dept. check his vitals and I checked his sugar again. He was up to about 85. His glucose had came up enough from the glucagon that the seizure was over. The glucagon--is basically a mixture of sugar/water. And its used in cases of a severe lows just like this day..I would say so long ago, but it still seems like yesterday to think about it.
There are so many things that can happen as a result of him not doing all of the things he has to do on a daily basis. And the things that could happen, WOULD happen if we did NOT stay on him every single day like we do. That is WHY we are so hard on him. We can not just go every single day on, "I forgot" or "why?" or "IF"
A good example of not ignorning things, or blowing stuff off, or thinking, 'it will just get better.."
is my nephew Zach. When I was pregnant with Colton, Zach was 5 years old. He'd been having headaches and dizzy spells. My sister had taken him to the Dr several different times. And with each visit, there was no change. He seemed to get worse. After being persistant and telling the dr, 'there is something WRONG', did she finally get some answers. Zach was at my brother's house--I think Mic had picked him up from kindergarten early b/c he had such a horrible headache. Mic called Lisa and told her what was going on, and that Zach was really hurting and crying and wanting his mamma. So, Lisa left work--Im pretty certain it was the fastest drive from El Reno to Mustang, she'd ever driven. When she got there and was trying to talk to him and ask him what was wrong, he looked at her and said, "Mamma, I can't see. I can't see you!" That was it, she took him back to the DR and told them that something was wrong with him and it wasn't just a typical headache.
He was 5 years old, and we found out that he had a tumor, growing at the base of his head, and more than likely it had been growing since he was a baby. Drs suspected it was roughly the size of a ping pong ball(I think?) but when they got in there to do surgery, it ended up being the size of a golf ball.
Praise God it was benign!!!!!!!!!!
The whole purpose in sharing that story was, What if Lisa had not been persistant with the Dr? What IF she had just blown it all off, and chalked his headaches to being 'nothing.' What if, she as his mother hadn't done everything that she has done over the years, to take care of him and make sure he's had the check ups he's needed after having gone through major brain sugery?
You can't just think, "Oh he's been having a lot of headaches.." It could be something serious! You can't just think, "I just can't sleep these days..." It could be a chronic condition. You can't just think, "Oh, I just get so sick feeling when I eat.." It could be a serious problem.
So, all that being said, there i a reason for the madness that I feel at times. There is a reason for the aggrevation I feel at times. And there is a reason that even through the STORM of diabetes being a part of my families life--God will and always does get me through.
He was there the day Colton was diagnosed. He will continue to be there through whatever we face--and we will face a lot Im sure.
I guess the whole point of me posting these two notes is, information. I just can't seem to get enough information out there on what we deal with as far as Colton's diabetes. Its like I said, its real, its a disease, and its a matter of life and death. I just want everyone to see just how serious it is and can be if he doesn't do what he needs to do, and if we-his parents- dont make sure he does what he needs to do.
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