Thursday, February 12, 2009

A New Symptom

I got to work another day this month :) This time with 5th graders! It was a great group and overall no major meltdowns. Only one that decided to put a "Kick Me Hard" sign on his friend...haha! Oh yeah, and my first fire drill as a Sub...those are always fun! The end of the day is when the day fell apart. It was 3:30pm and I was bring the class in from outside and one of my friends met me coming down the hall and said "Kacey's low!" I responded with "How low?" (keep in mind the kids were getting their backpacks to go home at 3:40pm) She said "54!" My mind swirled for a moment and I said "Tell them to give her a juice box. NO! Give her 3 glucose tabs!" About that time, Kacey's teacher comes around the corner and says "She's taken care of! I've already treated her." I breathed an instant sigh of relief and got the class packed up to leave. I took them to the front door to go to the buses and I saw Kacey sitting there with Mrs. M and she was smiling. So...this is what happened....

Kacey said she was sitting at her desk and started sweating. (Yikes! SWEATING? Thats a new symptom!) She asked one of her friends if he felt hot? Nope! So asked Mrs. M if it would be ok if she tested? Sure! She got her kit and it was a 54! Mrs. M asked her what she needed to do? She knew what to do immediately. She went to her backpack and pulled out her "emergency stash" of glucose tabs and ate 3. Perfect! There was no need to call on the nurse....Mrs. M & Kacey had complete control over the situation. YAYYYY! I was so proud of her (& Mrs. M!) I was a bit scared because I kept thinking about ...What IF Kacey hadn't tested because she was sweating? I would have got in the car with her THAT low and driven home. Scary! I'm just thankful that Mrs. M is on the ball. We got to the car and Kacey had a little bit of a meltdown. We tested and she was up to a 232 but that wasn't why she was crying. I think the thought of having a low like that at school had finally hit her. Then she cried even harder and said "I knew what to do, Mommy!" Thats right...she did....at only 8 years old, she treated her own low blood sugar without the help of an adult. It's amazing at how responsible our kids are when they are dealing with an illness like this. She did say that sweating wasn't her only symptom...she got the shakies while she was trying to open the glucose tabs but she said she thought it was just because she was scared. (Poor thing!)

She's been on the lower end of things for the last few days. I'm not sure if a dose change is needed? I'm really thinking it's because we've had some really nice weather and she's been playing outside. So now I have a question...yesterday she had gym, played outside for recess, came home and played outside all evening. She went to bed with a 115...woke up with a 151 (hmmmm?) and then she was a 155 at snack...so far so good! But then she went to an 81 for lunch and an hour later she was a 156 but said she was feeling low. An hour after that she dropped to the 54...up to 232 after 30min....and then 2hrs later for dinner she was an 85. Can all the activity she had yesterday affect her blood sugars today? I know that sounds crazy but I'm wondering if all the activity is affecting things.

6 comments:

k2 said...

Sweating & the shakes absolutely come with lows.New symptoms can happen. Last year my lower lip started to go numb, which had never happened before.
Also, exercise has a positive effect on a persons blood sugar for 24 hours. So if she was super active yesterday, her lows could very well be the result of that.
Diabetes is never the same 2 days in a row. Kacey is doing a great job & the fact that she's active in her diabetes is huge & it can be scary - little girl or big.
She's amazing and we are all so proud of her!
k2

Amy said...

Good for Kacey! Bless her heart--I'm sure your so proud of her and you should be! Jada typically gets shaky when she's low and falling fast- and she gets somewhat "frantic". I have noticed with Jada and the nicer weather over the last week, that she has run low more often, which I attribute to exercise. We've kept her lantus the same, but she's had many meals with no novolog! Our CDE's told us that there is often an immediate effect with exercise, then a latent (don't know if that's the right word?) effect which can be 8 to 12 hours later!

Unknown said...

Exercise can affect blood sugars for up to 24 hours either high or low. That is what sucks about being diabetic, it is never the same.

Shannon said...

HAHAHAHAHA! I loved that! I needed that after the day that I had today! Thanks!

Shannon said...

Opps I meant to post that on your post with the joke. Please don't think I was saying that about Kacey's low! So sorry!

On that though we have seen a low of 26 and I went to panic mode. I really thought she was going to pass out! I am so thankful for her being able to tell me! Way to go Kacey!

Anonymous said...

Poor Kacey for being scared but it's excellent that she knew what to do and did it! Good for you Kacey. Ya exercise is tricky! Tristan usually always gets a snack before gym class. During the summer when he plays outside a lot, we can actually take the pump completely off for a few hours and he will either stay within range or drop. He can even have snacks without corrections sometimes but not always. It's confusing and frustrating I know! :)