Still Learning! (Blog 4)

After being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes Beren couldn't go back to preschool until the staff had been trained to test blood and treat hypos etc. The nurses did this quickly though. He was only there for the morning and the staff were to test his blood sugar before his snack. He was having hypos nearly everyday only being caught by the finger prick blood test. There are signs for a hypo but with children it's very difficult to spot. They don't usually recognise it themselves. Feeling dizzy, drowsy disorientated, sleepy, hungry. Beren usually doesn't show any sign so this was so worrying.

At the time I only worked 3 hours at a nursery over lunchtime but I was getting calls from preschool nearly everyday and often having to leave early. It was very distressful leaving Beren at preschool. As mentioned Beren was on two injections a day of mixed insulin, long lasting and fast acting to cover carbs. He had a set amount of carbs at mealtimes and snack times and had to eat at set times. Finger prick blood tests would be before every meal or snack and also before and after exercise/energetic play and any time you suspected a hypo. Also random checks through the night to check levels.

I carried on like this for a few months. The nutritionist had mentioned using a fast acting insulin (bolus) to cover carbs by weighing food and counting carbs before a meal and injecting before eating every meal and you would then use a long lasting slow acting insulin (basal or background) every 24 hours. I thought it was best to keep him on 2 injections a day and then he wouldnt need them at preschool or out of the house. I didn't realise that the 2 injections of mixed insulin wasn't the norm. So we carried on like this for months. It was mentioned again at a hospital appointment and explained that I would have better control of his blood sugar as every carb would be covered by the insulin so he would have more flexibility in eating times and would be able to eat whatever he wanted.

I started the carb training. I found it very confusing at first. There were a lot of sums and I'm so bad with numbers! (I should also apologise for my gramma!) I was petrified as incorrect carb counting and having too much insulin can kill. Mistakes are easy to make and I made them. This is where I was given another piece of wrong information by the old hospital. I was told to include vegetables in my carb counting. (unprocessed meat, fat, some dairy and some veg are carb free so you can eat them freely). Even the vegetables that contain carbs shouldn't have been counted. The carbs from veg are so slow realease that the insulin will lower blood sugar first causing a hypo.

Beren's blood sugar was so low at the park once (1.6) that a grown adult could've been unconscious and he was still running around! I had to hold him still to conserve his last tiny bit of energy and give him glucose tablets immediately before he went unconscious. It's so scary to think I only tested him randomly at that time and if I hadn't it could've been fatal. I constantly worry about this happening in the middle of the night and him never waking up.

Everyone's insulin sensitivity is different and everyone's carb to insulin ratio is different and also changes in one person at different times of day. Different foods affect your blood sugar differently and so many little things affect your blood sugar. Weather, hormones, exercise, stress, excitement, growth spurt and illness especially. You could have exactly the same rountine, food and insulin all week and your blood sugar would be different. It's so difficult to control.

Beren started on the new insulin injections before every meal. Preschool refused to give him the injections and I had to give up my job. It was getting difficult anyway with continuous phone calls and leaving early, not to mention the stress of him being there and my lack of sleep and when I was sleeping I'd started to jump awake in a panic and run to Beren's room before waking up. Usually thinking I'd forgot to give him insulin or I'd made a carb counting mistake and gave him too much. I still do this now occasionally.

Beren was on the fast acting insulin injections with every meal for over half a year. He used to hide under the table if we were in a public place when he needed an injection.

During this time as previously mentioned I changed hospital where they immediately applied for him to have Insulin Pump Therapy. A few months later I started training.The insulin pump therapy should give better control and more flexibility although it comes with different risks and is more complex to use.

The hospital advised me to go to a JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) talk at Alderhey Children's Hospital. I hadn't heard of the charity before this. I found out about their research for a cure and better treatments to improve life with diabetes etc. I also learnt lots of in depth information on how to control diabetes type 1 and met other families in the same situation. I felt more positive and in control. After that day I wanted to do my bit to raise money for JDRF. I started small by donating a percentage of my personal sales on eBay!