As I sit here, drinking my tea, typing on my computer, my T1D son is playing down the street at a friend’s house. We live in a newly developed neighbourhood, so we’re new to the area, and his friend is too. I haven’t met the parents. He rode his bike down to their house and they like to play on a trampoline in the backyard. He just ate a pancake brunch, with regular syrup and whipped cream, so he has quite a bit of insulin on board. Most T1 parents are probably feeling their anxiety creep up just reading this. But I’m not anxious. I’m not worried. I’m sitting here, sipping my tea, perfectly calm about the whole thing.
This post has been sponsored by Dexcom Canada. All opinions are mine.
Maybe it’s because he’s getting older. Maybe it’s because we’ve worked hard to figure out insulin timing for those things.
Or maybe, it’s because I can see his numbers the entire time he’s away from me.
He can be more independent. Do things other boys his age are doing. And still be safe when it comes to his T1D.
If you’ve followed our story for a while
You might remember that we’ve had a bit of a bumpy road when it comes to handing over the T1D management reins.
He could add up the carbs in a meal by the time he was 4. He could do his own finger pokes and recognize if the number was low, high, or in range even earlier.
But then…
There was the time he bolused himself over 100g of carbs after bedtime because he wanted a snack.
Or the time he snuck into the pantry and drank maple syrup out of the bottle, because he wanted to eat and not bolus like a normal person.
Little did he realize, normal people don’t tend to drink maple syrup… but I digress…
We’ve had ups and downs when it comes to how much control we should be giving him.
There is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to T1D
Will the insulin for those pancakes cause a low? Will the pancakes themselves cause a high that we’re chasing for the rest of the day?
Maybe his bike riding and jumping on the trampoline will counteract the brunch carbs that will be hitting him later. Maybe the exercise will increase the insulin efficiency and cause him to go low.
Any of those things and more could happen while he plays just a few houses down the street.
And yet, I’m calm about it all.
Recently, he started using the Dexcom G6 CGM System
And I could let go a bit.
Right from his first sensor insertion, which he did himself, he became more independent. Not even specifically with T1D stuff, but with everything.
He has been able to take over more of the bolusing, treating lows, and swagging lately.
And it’s easier on me.
Because I can see his Dexcom graph. I can see if he did something that he maybe shouldn’t have (like sneaking away and drinking syrup). And we can look at graphs together and talk about them.
“See that spike there from dinner? A longer pre-bolus next time might help avoid that.”
“Your BG tanked when you played handball at school. If you eat lower carb snacks before a high energy activity, you’ll have less insulin in your system and be less likely to go low. Or you could have a granola bar before you play without a bolus. Or reduce your basal. What do you think we should try?”
“See how your blood sugar gradually went down all night? Looks like we need to reduce your basal a bit and do some basal testing. It should be staying steady, not dropping or rising like that.”
We have learned to recognize these kinds of things
Things we could never see or be able to work on without a Dexcom.
So I can look at his graph and see what is happening at a glance. I can see if he’s rising or dropping and how quickly it’s changing. I can troubleshoot and figure out why his blood sugar is doing what it’s doing.
And then the next time, our management has improved.
Now, when he asks, “Mom, can I PLEASE go over to my friend’s house to play?” We can look at his graph, talk about his current number and what might happen to it, and make a plan together.
So, he’s at a friends house
Playing on a trampoline. With more insulin on board than he usually has. And it’s ok.
He was in range when he left. He usually needs a second dose a couple of hours after the brunch to cover the fat/ protein spike. But biking and going on a trampoline tend to drop his blood sugar. So we decided to forego the second bolus and keep an eye on it.
He has his “d-bag” with him. It has his PDM, low treatments, activity snacks, and everything he might need. He can text me or I can text him if either of us notices something “off”, either on his graph or with the way he’s feeling.
He’s gotten so much more experience with his Dexcom. We have more data that we can use to analyze certain situations. He doesn’t go high or low “out of nowhere” as it seemed with finger pokes. We can see it coming now, and there are always reasons behind the numbers on his graph.
Now I can sit here
Sipping my now cold tea, because I always get distracted and leave it too long.
Writing about my son, who is happily playing at a new friend’s house instead of playing Fortnite or some other video game.
With a quiet house and a dog napping next to me…
Maybe I should take this opportunity to fold the giant pile of laundry on my bed?
Haha! Just kidding!
I’m going to reheat my tea and put on some Netflix.
Happy Carb Counting!
~ Leah
How old was your child when you let them go over to friends houses? Did you worry while they were away or did you feel confident about it? Tell us about it in the comments! To learn more about Dexcom’s G6 System, head over to Dexcom.com for more info.
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