No Rest for the Wicked.... or D-Moms

People who live with Type 1 diabetes on a daily basis know that it is a dragon that doesn't sleep. It doesn't take a vacation. It doesn't 'get better'. It doesn't go away. Not ever (well not unless they find a cure:). But sometimes it does play nice. Sometimes the management of the this disease seems to work perfectly and for a few days or maybe even weeks you might get great numbers, but it won't last.

Just last Sunday afternoon I commented to my husband how great Ezekiel's numbers have been and how we haven't had any issues. But I think I forgot to knock on wood because that same day his sight fell off in the pool and his new one didn't insert properly and had to be changed again (the only way to know the site isn't working is the high blood sugars that follow). A few days later he went to 22 at bedtime one day, completely out of the blue, not rhyme or reason at all whatsoever. 

Then along comes Canada Day. We start the day by biking down to the parade for which Ezekiel has decorated his bike. Since the bikes are at the front we stop to watch the rest of the parade at the end where he collects a bucketful of candy. Then come the free hot dogs, cake and juice from big jugs. Being a special day I did allow him to enjoy the day and just eat his candy and whatever while we were at the events. Having a pump made this possible, but as a human it was nearly impossible to keep track of everything he was eating/drinking, add to that the guessing of carbohydrates and I was certain we would either be correcting him later or treating lows. But all day he was perfect. Sometimes you just never know. 

I was so happy/pleased with ourselves over achieving such perfect numbers with all odds against us. I felt we were back on track. But of course it wasn't to last. Yesterday we went to my mother in law's house at the lake, a 40 minute drive from town. Literally as soon as we stepped out of the car I went to bolus him for the sandwiches he ate on the drive there and the buttons on the pump did not want to work. Immediately following trying to bolus the pump went into BUTTON ERROR and would not work again. Luckily we had a pen with us and were able to give shots. But oh, what a long night! For some reason it seemed like a good idea not to give lantus when we got home (lantus is the background insulin that he used to take before the pump which lasts for 24 hours). We had survived the day so far by frequent BG checks and injections and decided if we continued through the night we would be free to start the pump when it arrived without worrying about any lantus still being on board. Unfortunately for me this meant continuing the frequent BG checks and injections.

To top off the day, Ezekiel fell asleep on the way home and while i thought it would be for the night, he woke up from his nap at 7:30. This is a kid who can't sleep at night after even a 10 minute nap, so you can imagine what a 2 hour late evening nap did! Finally at 1:00 in the morning he was drifting back off to sleep. And me, I was up ever hour or 2 providing him with life sustaining therapy. What any mom would do for their child I am sure. Fortunately most don't have to. But for all the D-moms (and dads) out there (D-moms = mom of a child with Type 1 Diabetes btw), who are up in the night keeping your kids alive, I salute you. It is truly a 24/7 job and sometimes there is no rest for the wicked.... or D-moms!