So yesterday we pulled a CGM Sensor early.
It was only 3 days old out of the 6 it should last.
WE haven't had an issue with the CGM until yesterday.
She was steady all night, had a good number before breakfast. Even ate an apple toaster strudel with the icing for breakfast. I expected a spike for sure.
At work, my phone rings. This is my mother, who now has Amy full time for the summer. Amy is predicting a low at 9.0 mmol/L. We have a bit of time to work with, no arrows. Give her a granola bar with the yogurt coating.
Okay.
Calls back a few mins later. Still predicting a low, what now? Give it some time, the SG lags behind the BG, it will take some time to go up.
Okay.
Calls back a few mins later. Still predicting a low, 2 arrows down.....but meter is reading 16.
What the hey?
Trust the BG, not the CGM. (*scratching head and thinking hmmm, thought it was weird that she was low after breakfast*) Told her to wait it out as lots of IOB.
Amy calls me. Mommy, something is like crazy with my CGM. It says 2.0 mmol/L and shut off, but my meter says I'm 20.0 mmol/L.
CRAP! okay, I'm coming home.
When I get home, I find out they also gave a Koolaid Jammer because they were freaked out by the continuing low alerts and arrows. That Amy had restarted the basal when it auto-shut-off, and that she felt funny.
I checked the ISIG and it was the lowest I'd ever seen it (although I still don't know what its for, was just told to check it when things seem off). I decided to turn off the CGM, then turn it back on, finding the old sensor. I gave a correction for the 20 mmol/L for the 40g of carbs she got because they thought she was low, then headed back to work.
Lunchtime.....phone rings again!
Umm.......so now the CGM says 20 mmol/L and the meter says 12 mmol/L.
Just leave it. Watch how you feel while outside this afternoon and we will change the sensor when we change the site before supper.
And that's what we did.
Apparently she was outside all afternoon, then at the playground for an hour in the evening. Oh activity, how you mess with my life and sleep (or lack thereof!)
I was up until 2am fighting lows. Two uncovered snacks of crackers and cheese and yogurt. Three apple juice and one strawberry milk later, with a reduced overnight basal of 50% I finally felt comfortable to go to sleep.
And guess what?
Her CGM and meter were spot on....all night......I was amazed!
Thursday, 27 June 2013
Tuesday, 25 June 2013
Tuesday Tidbit
Yay! Summer is here!!
With that comes summer snacking.
Jell-O Creamy Chocolate Pudding Pops
BEAT pudding mix and milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 min. Stir in COOL WHIP.
SPOON into 5 paper or plastic cups. Insert wooden pop stick or plastic spoon in center of each cup. (or use ice pop molds like we did!)
FREEZE 4 hours or until firm. Remove from cups before serving.
I'm sure it can be modified using sugar-free pudding, but none of the grocery stores in my town stock it.
Mom tested, kid apporved in our house!
What are some of your kids favorite summer snacks?
With that comes summer snacking.
Jell-O Creamy Chocolate Pudding Pops
What You Need
1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
2cups cold milk
1cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
Make It
BEAT pudding mix and milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 min. Stir in COOL WHIP.
SPOON into 5 paper or plastic cups. Insert wooden pop stick or plastic spoon in center of each cup. (or use ice pop molds like we did!)
FREEZE 4 hours or until firm. Remove from cups before serving.
I'm sure it can be modified using sugar-free pudding, but none of the grocery stores in my town stock it.
Mom tested, kid apporved in our house!
What are some of your kids favorite summer snacks?
Tuesday, 18 June 2013
Tuesday Tidbit
Carb Counting with Lenny
When the Medtronic Rep was here for the CGM start up, she gave us a flyer about an app that is available featuring Lenny.
Its an easy way to learn carb values for many basic foods and to test your carb knowledge.
Check it out on iTunes.
When the Medtronic Rep was here for the CGM start up, she gave us a flyer about an app that is available featuring Lenny.
Its an easy way to learn carb values for many basic foods and to test your carb knowledge.
Check it out on iTunes.
Monday, 17 June 2013
Happy Father's Day Weekend
I'm a little late on the post, but had a very busy week
Amy started her CGM Wednesday, then had sports day Thursday. Note to teachers, don't keep treating her low until the arrows change direction, you still need to wait 15 minutes! (not to put down her teacher, she's amazing and have taken on more responsibility than I could have asked for)
Rylie had her Aboriginal Family Center School Readiness Program graduation Thursday night. She received an award for best attendance, and they did a traditional Inuit drum dance for us. Off to Kindergarten in September!
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| Drumming |
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| Amy with the ball at the Soccer Fest |
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| This is what 10 (of 15) loads of topsoil looks like |
Not only was Sunday Father's Day, but it was also my birthday. The girls wanted to make breakfast for us since it was a special day for both of us. They have never done anything in the kitchen before without help, but they gathered up everything for cereal and yogurt for us. They were so proud. Amy even used a measuring cup to portion out our cereal "just like you do for me!"
We did some more yard work, went out for supper, and had carrot cake at my parents house to end the weekend,
A great time for sure!
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| Me and My girls on my birthday |
I also wanted to take the time to say Happy Father's Day to Corey. He is an amazing father to both girls. He was played a HUGE roll in their lives, right from the beginning, changing diapers, bathing and helping with feedings. When Rylie came along, he did most everything for Amy while I took over the newborn. As they got older, we shared the duties between us. He took everything in stride when Amy was diagnosed. Always keeping a level head, and diving right in. What started out with only mommy being allowed to give pen injections soon turned into only daddy. What started off with only mommy doing pump site changes turned into mostly daddy, and the start of the CGM, well, mommy is yet to change a sensor.
I always knew Corey was a great guy, and would make an amazing dad, and he's proved me right every step of the way (but don't tell him that!)
Now, to get through this last week of school while he's away!
Thursday, 13 June 2013
Sensor This
Wednesday at 3:00pm we became part of the diabetes community using a CGM.
I love it already, and more importantly, so does Amy!
She was pretty apprehensive first, almost in tears as we left school to come to her appointment, didn't help that we were treating a low from being outside during lunch hour.
The Medtronic Rep was great, she had Amy come up and she showed her the sensor on the fake belly, let her touch it, and gave her a mini Lenny the Lion.
When we took a quick break, Amy said that it didn't sound so bad.
Then it was time for insertion. Her father did the insertion while Amy played Candy Crush. She made a tiny little flinch, which was more from the click than anything because she said she didn't feel a thing.
It takes 2 hours to initialize, then was ready for our first calibration.
She had subway for supper, then headed to the backyard on the trampoline before Soccer. We went to soccer, and noticed a 5.0 reading with a down arrow, before soccer even started. I gave her a snack. When she came back to her bench after her second shift, she had a "predicting low BG" alarm. She drank a strawberry milk and was back on the floor. We made it through with no lows.
Now, we've never used a baby monitor before, but I think I will have to start. I slept through the predicting low alarm in the middle of the night, and woke when she was actually going low. Our pump has the shut off for 2 hours when your reading goes below your programmed level. Thankfully it never went that far. She was at 3.9 when I caught it. I treated and set a temp basal, but guess I didn't need both as it wasn't long before she was above 10 mmol/L.
My one request from Medtronic would be to have the My Sentry available in Canada. I would love to have one of those! Then I wouldn't need the baby monitor, nor worry about sleeping through alarms.
So far, it's been great, Amy loves looking at the readings. She has her end of year sports day and picnic today, so I hope this will help.
Now, to convince her she doesn't need to look at the screen every 5 mins!
I love it already, and more importantly, so does Amy!
She was pretty apprehensive first, almost in tears as we left school to come to her appointment, didn't help that we were treating a low from being outside during lunch hour.
The Medtronic Rep was great, she had Amy come up and she showed her the sensor on the fake belly, let her touch it, and gave her a mini Lenny the Lion.
When we took a quick break, Amy said that it didn't sound so bad.
Then it was time for insertion. Her father did the insertion while Amy played Candy Crush. She made a tiny little flinch, which was more from the click than anything because she said she didn't feel a thing.
It takes 2 hours to initialize, then was ready for our first calibration.
She had subway for supper, then headed to the backyard on the trampoline before Soccer. We went to soccer, and noticed a 5.0 reading with a down arrow, before soccer even started. I gave her a snack. When she came back to her bench after her second shift, she had a "predicting low BG" alarm. She drank a strawberry milk and was back on the floor. We made it through with no lows.
Now, we've never used a baby monitor before, but I think I will have to start. I slept through the predicting low alarm in the middle of the night, and woke when she was actually going low. Our pump has the shut off for 2 hours when your reading goes below your programmed level. Thankfully it never went that far. She was at 3.9 when I caught it. I treated and set a temp basal, but guess I didn't need both as it wasn't long before she was above 10 mmol/L.
My one request from Medtronic would be to have the My Sentry available in Canada. I would love to have one of those! Then I wouldn't need the baby monitor, nor worry about sleeping through alarms.
So far, it's been great, Amy loves looking at the readings. She has her end of year sports day and picnic today, so I hope this will help.
Now, to convince her she doesn't need to look at the screen every 5 mins!
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Tuesday Tidbit
I'm about to write a magazine for the first time, and it isn't fan mail!
I'm a subscriber to Canadian Living Magazine. Normally I really enjoy reading their articles. June 2013 had an article entitled 10 Food Myths Debunked (for Good).
The last myth was:
Myth: eating too much sugar causes diabetes.
Truth: "this is not a myth so much as an oversimplification of the facts". "people with diabetes are advised to cut back on sugar, so this may be why sugar has mistakenly been labelled as the cause of the disease. In fact, the cause is more complex". It goes on to give a few risk factors, then says "while you wil not get diabetes from eating sugar, limiting sweets is important for everyone". and that "dietary improvements for people with diabetes include eating less sugar, but also choosing whole grains instead of refined grains, planning regular balanced meals and drinking water as their main beverage".
I couldn't believe what I was reading.....water as their main beverage.
No wonder there are so many untruths out there.
So, as I'm ready to write my letter to the magazine, what would you like to see me include?
I'm a subscriber to Canadian Living Magazine. Normally I really enjoy reading their articles. June 2013 had an article entitled 10 Food Myths Debunked (for Good).
The last myth was:
Myth: eating too much sugar causes diabetes.
Truth: "this is not a myth so much as an oversimplification of the facts". "people with diabetes are advised to cut back on sugar, so this may be why sugar has mistakenly been labelled as the cause of the disease. In fact, the cause is more complex". It goes on to give a few risk factors, then says "while you wil not get diabetes from eating sugar, limiting sweets is important for everyone". and that "dietary improvements for people with diabetes include eating less sugar, but also choosing whole grains instead of refined grains, planning regular balanced meals and drinking water as their main beverage".
I couldn't believe what I was reading.....water as their main beverage.
No wonder there are so many untruths out there.
So, as I'm ready to write my letter to the magazine, what would you like to see me include?
Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Log Books & Record Keeping
I had amazing record keeping in the beginning.
I set up an excel spreadsheet with all the glucose readings, the insulin doses and any notes about that day.
I filled it our religiously.
I printed them before endo and family physician appointments.
I felt prepared. I was prepared.
I was warned that once we started pumping that would change.
You won't do that anymore.
All the info is there for you when you upload your pump.
I shook my head.
For the first 2 months, I logged everything.
I painstakingly transferred all the information from Carelink to my written log.
I logged snacks and meals with carb counts.
I added the days that there was gym.
I wrote until I got cramps in my hand.
Then I stopped.
I didn't mean to. To be honest I ran out of the sheets that I was using and hadn't gotten around to priniting more.
I miss them.
I miss the control I felt when I was keeping them.
I think I may be missing something by not keeping a food diary with the BG readings. Like I can look back on a particular day and say "oh look, she ate so and so and look what happened. Maybe we should try ______ next time".
Does anyone who uses the pump or has a child with a pump still keep detailed records? Do you find it beneficial?
I set up an excel spreadsheet with all the glucose readings, the insulin doses and any notes about that day.
I filled it our religiously.
I printed them before endo and family physician appointments.
I felt prepared. I was prepared.
I was warned that once we started pumping that would change.
You won't do that anymore.
All the info is there for you when you upload your pump.
I shook my head.
For the first 2 months, I logged everything.
I painstakingly transferred all the information from Carelink to my written log.
I logged snacks and meals with carb counts.
I added the days that there was gym.
I wrote until I got cramps in my hand.
Then I stopped.
I didn't mean to. To be honest I ran out of the sheets that I was using and hadn't gotten around to priniting more.
I miss them.
I miss the control I felt when I was keeping them.
I think I may be missing something by not keeping a food diary with the BG readings. Like I can look back on a particular day and say "oh look, she ate so and so and look what happened. Maybe we should try ______ next time".
Does anyone who uses the pump or has a child with a pump still keep detailed records? Do you find it beneficial?
Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Tuesday Tidbit
My mom tagged me in this photo yesterday, and told my husband and I that we are strong and are doing a wonderful job. She said that Amy shines bright because of our love and care.
As parents, we do the best we can. As T1D parents, we have an extra role to play.
I want you all to know that YOU ARE STRONG!
As parents, we do the best we can. As T1D parents, we have an extra role to play.
I want you all to know that YOU ARE STRONG!
Sunday, 2 June 2013
Slinging topsoil, and being a pancrease
I can't believe its Sunday evening already!
We spent almost the entire weekend outdoors. For anyone who knows what the weather in Labrador is like, we have COLD winters, and HOT summers (believe it or not). But, our summer is usually limited to the months of July and August. Although our snow melted early this years, we are still only in 10-15 degrees C right now. However, other than some rain on Friday night, and some pretty cold early morning temps, we had a great weekend. That meant a lot of yard work!
We had 10 loads of topsoil delivered Saturday. We spent most of that day cleaning up edging, removing old sod that was full of weeds and moss, treating ant hills and dumping countless wheelbarrows full of stuff. Today, we spent the day doing the initial topsoil spread (ie in small corners and crevices) before the loader comes to do the bulk of it tomorrow.
All the while I was attempting to manage Amy's diabetes.
I've said it before and I'll say it again....Man outside playing is hard on the lows! I gave extra snacks without bolusing, I temp basaled until it was only delivering 0.05 units/hr, I broke the day up with some quiet time.....and we were still full of lows! And last night, I was up every 2 hours, checking on her (please let us start the CGM next week like is planned)!
I'm not really sure where to look for advice on how to manage that. Any ideas?
Otherwise, we had a great weekend.
I was on call and only had to go into work once :)
We spent almost the entire weekend outdoors. For anyone who knows what the weather in Labrador is like, we have COLD winters, and HOT summers (believe it or not). But, our summer is usually limited to the months of July and August. Although our snow melted early this years, we are still only in 10-15 degrees C right now. However, other than some rain on Friday night, and some pretty cold early morning temps, we had a great weekend. That meant a lot of yard work!
.JPG) |
| Yard cleared of most old grass and weed by loader |
We had 10 loads of topsoil delivered Saturday. We spent most of that day cleaning up edging, removing old sod that was full of weeds and moss, treating ant hills and dumping countless wheelbarrows full of stuff. Today, we spent the day doing the initial topsoil spread (ie in small corners and crevices) before the loader comes to do the bulk of it tomorrow.
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| This is what 10 dump truck loads of topsoil looks like (doesn't do it justice!) |
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| This is all the wheelbarrows full of stuff we removed |
All the while I was attempting to manage Amy's diabetes.
I've said it before and I'll say it again....Man outside playing is hard on the lows! I gave extra snacks without bolusing, I temp basaled until it was only delivering 0.05 units/hr, I broke the day up with some quiet time.....and we were still full of lows! And last night, I was up every 2 hours, checking on her (please let us start the CGM next week like is planned)!
I'm not really sure where to look for advice on how to manage that. Any ideas?
Otherwise, we had a great weekend.
I was on call and only had to go into work once :)
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