Photo courtesy of digital-photography-school.com
Our first outing with Sawyer was a birthday party.
I'll admit, I was a little concerned how it would go. There would be pizza, cake, and sweet drinks.
There was also a fun-filled activity time planned when the children would be running on an obstacle course.
So we have lots of carbs and lots of activity. How do we figure out what plan of action to take? Too many carbs to cover the activity and his blood glucose could sky rocket. Not enough, and he could face a hypoglycemic reaction.
Not to fear. With my handy-dandy kit in hand, I was up to the challenge. His kit contains a glucagon pen, his insulin, needles, glucometer, testing strips, some glucose tablets, and a Calorie King book which lists all the foods one can imagine. I also carry with me a sheet that his endocrinologist provided with some basic foods listed - including pizza and ice cream.
Photo courtesy of thehomeparties.com
I want Sawyer to have a sense of normalcy in his everyday life. This includes being able to attend birthday parties, play with his friends, and eat birthday cake.
We explained that there would be no food snitching. All carbs had to be accounted for. He agreed and he lived up to his promise. Of course, we kept our eyes on him for good measure.
He was playing pretty hard and upon checking the time, I noticed it had been two hours since lunch. This would be a good time for a 10 carb. snack. He took a quick break from the action to chew 2 glucose tablets and then he played for another hour.
Then is was pizza time.
We found a place a little out of the way from everyone to check his blood glucose. It was hovering around 100.
Perfect.
We figured in his carbs and gave him his insulin.
There was one little hitch.
We didn't know he would drink two small dixie cups of lemonade. Oh no! What will happen now? Will his sugar go too high?
We checked him when we got home and his blood sugar was, again, near 100.
*Phew*
It all worked out and Sawyer had a great time. We stayed calm and all went well. I'm glad he was able to play and have fun with his friends as any child would do.
Diabetes doesn't have to limit what a child can do. With perseverance and continual monitoring of blood glucose levels, they can do anything.
