Thursday, May 14, 2009

Tomorrow....103

103 degrees that is. YIKES. There is no turning back now.....Summer in AZ is HERE! For the next 5 months we are likely to be in the 100's. Even more likely to be in the 105-118 range. And, I love it. (when I'm beside my pool or inside the house!) Heat and insulin don't mix, so we will most likely have to start changing our pump sites every 2 days. Tomorrow Maddison has Field Day. In other words, tomorrow will be the test! Will blood sugars go crazy from heated and weakened insulin? I'd hate to find out the hard way!

Field Day. Oh-my-gosh....FIELD DAY! What to do? Field day is tough enough to manage without the 103 degree heat. Lets think here. Today was Day 2 of 400% basal rates for Maddison. At morning check today Maddison was 71 with .3 active. Hmmmm......gotta decrease somewhere a bit for tommorrow. Now add Field Day. DAMN! I'm also thinking 10c uncovered before field day begins. Gatorade mini bottles.....perfect. I asked the school nurse today how she would like to manage Field Day tomorrow. She told me that if I give Maddison a nice big breakfast.........STOP-RIGHT-THERE......Ummmmm, mom logic says if I simply give Maddison a nice big breakfast she will have ALOT MORE insulin in her while she is running around wildly for morning field day. A nice big breakfast isn't the answer. I wish it were that easy. In fact, a big breakfast would probably be the enemy. Anyway, after agreeing with how the school nurse will handle field day tomorrow, I thought of a million other concerns.

To name a few....Water. Medtronic isn't waterproof, it is water "resistant". Last year Maddison wanted to take her pump off for the water fun on field day. Good thing she did, those kids find a way to be DRENCHED in water. So, the pump will be off.....for 3 hours? Oh geez. Snack? Everyday Maddison's class has a snack at 9:30am because they are the last grade to have lunch at 12:30pm......ok, just bolus half for the snack and hope for the best. Ice cream? You know somewhere they will have some crap for the kids to eat on field day. Cookies.....who knows. It better not be snocones! I will have to come prepared with my sugar free syrup if it is! LOL. Who's got the sugar anyway? Who is holding fast acting sugar for Maddison if she needs it? The nurse's plan? Give the field day people her cell phone number. If Maddison feels low, she will be called and will be there in an instant. WHAT? Um......I asked the nurse what happened to "duty" teachers carrying fast acting sugar to recess, PE etc. Her response? "We did that in the beginning of the year, but not anymore" OH-MY-GOSH....are you kidding me? Like a crashing blood sugar (or passing out and seizing) can wait for a cell phone call. Um...NO. That isn't going to work for me!

I asked Maddison to carry glucose tabs in her pocket tomorrow....she told me bathing suits don't have pockets. -Sigh- Its not a tab treatable low that makes me worry....its the possibility of an unidentified low that makes Maddison drop to the ground, unable to EAT the glucose tablets. Lets think....103 degrees. 3 hours of running, jumping, sprinting, climbing, excitement, 400% basal rate that could change at any moment.....UMMMMMM.....YEAH. I'm thinking someone needs to have Glucoburst nearby. Cake Gel, honey, liquid sugar, powder sugar, SOMETHING besides a frickin cell phone! Sheesh. Field day is guaranteed to be a ton of fun for Maddison, IF we work it right and avoid lows!! I just want her to feel her best. No lows stealing her fun. The problem is planning for all this from a parents view. So much to think about. And no one really understands. Which is why after my Ultrasound in the morning I will be headed to school, in the 103 degree heat. Lucky! My day off....I will make sure Maddison has her fun, while I hide in the shadows. A finger poke here, a snack there.....I'm not relying on a cell phone call or the school nurse. Mom will have Diabetes at school tomorrow. Can you imagine how often someone might need to make a judgement call with field day for 3 hours? (take the pump off, bolus missed basal, high? low? snack? site fell off in the water?) The school nurse can't sit around and wait all day for things to come up. Mom can. And I will be happy to do so. I'll see Maddison have a blast, and I will love every minute of it. And, I hope I get a tan :)

2 comments:

Wendy said...

ENJOY! Take lots of pics :)

We have Water Day looming next Tuesday...and I can't be there...

I think I'm going to throw up now.

Scott K. Johnson said...

Holy heat batman! I would be a constant ball of sweaty mess.

Sounds like she'll have a very fun day, and you might enjoy it a bit too! :-)