“Mom, I’m 55 with an arrow straight down. I already had a juice.” I listened to Micah’s voice, as I stood in our sunny kitchen miles from where he was at school. His urgency and anxiety seemed to transfer into my own body. (Note: Micah’s optimal blood sugar range is between 80mg/dL and 130mg/dL).
It was the second day of Micah’s junior year and the second time he’d called me–first at 10:30am and now at 11:45am. Before dropping him off at school, I set alarms on his phone firmly instructing him to call me with his blood glucose number at those times. He did as he was told—a definite win. However, his number plummeting in the middle of the morning and then, despite ingesting juice and a granola bar, having it drop low again an hour later was not.
These first weeks of school have been a rollercoaster with Micah’s blood sugar surging and diving trying to get used to a new schedule that includes a rigorous second period physed class (racquet sports) and a late lunch at 12:45pm. Exercise always has a lowering effect on his blood sugar (not the case for everyone who has t1d).
Enter my heroes: the diabetes nurse educators at our children’s clinic. I knew I’d have to confer with them for Micah to have blood sugar stability this week and beyond. I can’t put into words how grateful I am for these women, not to mention the physicians who have helped me navigate the land of type 1 diabetes and how to care for our son.
For this dilemma, they recommended putting the activity feature on Micah’s pump for three hours starting first period. This would stop base insulin from pumping into his system and hopefully prevent low blood sugar. They helped me tweak a few other numbers as well like insulin to carb ratios and correction factors. All I had to do was implement the changes and wait to see how Micah would respond. Fortunately, after a couple weeks, the lows have almost disappeared.
Having type 1 diabetes (or being a caregiver for someone who has the condition) requires you to roll with the highs and lows. You are not always going to be in your sweet spot (normal blood sugar range). Sometimes the hardest part is dealing with the anxiety that accompanies wonky numbers. Although I am thankful that Micah can call or text me, it’s difficult to hear the anxiety in his voice, knowing he doesn’t feel confident that everything will be okay.
“It’s just a number, Micah,” I tell him. “That’s what the CGM is for. We know the number and then we can do something about it to bring you back into range. Don’t worry.” Sometimes, I wish that my son and I were like robots, just responding and fixing without having to feel the hard emotions.
It’s been almost fourteen years since Micah was diagnosed, and we’re still learning how to best live with type 1 diabetes. The advances (CGM and pump) have been beneficial. But, despite amazing technology, it is still a challenging medical condition to live with. We need to remember to take a deep breath, turn it over to God, and try to put our focus instead on the many wonderful parts of our lives.
At the end of that first week of school, we learned Micah had been cast in the school musical, “Annie.” He had auditioned after school on Wednesday. When the director’s email came around six o’clock on Friday evening, I held my breath, then looked at the list. Lo and behold, there was Micah’s name under one of the ensemble headings. He would be playing an apple seller and a cop!
Now that’s a high that we’re happy to roll with.