Today I took a leap of faith. It's a leap that was probably long overdue but I just wasn't ready to take yet. I've started to really trust faith and today was the first day that I really applied it. Kacey was selected to participate in an African American dance for an upcoming school performance. She was thrilled to be able to participate in this because she absolutely LOVES being on stage. BUT...the only draw back...for the next 3 Mondays she has to stay afterschool from 3:55pm top 5:30pm and learn the dance. RUT-ROH!! I wasn't going to make a big deal about it because I don't want her being afraid to be left on her own. She packed her bag this morning and I told her that I would meet her afterschool to check her blood sugar and bring her a snack. I met her this afternoon and she was a 269 when she came out of class. She took her purse, her snack and her water bottle and off she went. I knew she was in GREAT hands. She was with her principal and she knew that I wouldn't be far away. Around 4:45pm, I peeked in on her and her principal said she would love for me to take some pictures for the yearbook. I went and got my camera and I came back in and moved to the front row. As I snapped the pics, I watched Kacey move into "slow motion". I SAW IT! I saw her body slowing down. I saw her getting "foggy". I mouthed, "Are you ok?" to her and she shook her head yes. But I SAW IT. I knew. It was the face I'd seen several times before. So WHY wasn't she testing? WHY was she pushing herself to make it through the dance routine? WHY was she ignoring the symptoms? After about 10 minutes, they finished for the afternoon. She came down off the stage and plopped down in one of the seats on the front row and said, "I'm LOW!" Ummmm....DUH! As I reached for her purse, I asked her if she felt it coming on? She replied, "Yes" and just looked at me with that blank look on her face. I didn't want to draw attention to what was going on but her principal saw what we were doing. She asked if Kacey was ok and I said "Ohhh yeah, shes just low." By this time, I'd already pushed a 15g carb snack and became a human pez dispenser (Thanks Reyna!). How low was she? She was a 58 with 1.25u of IOB!!!! Crap! She came up enough that we were able to walk out. As we walked I asked her WHY in the world she would ignore her low? You know what she said? She innocently said...I was having fun and I didn't want to disrupt the class. UGHHHHHHHHH!!!! So we had a long talk about how it's not disruptive since she knows how to treat her lows before they get too low BUT if she got too low from ignoring it then she could easily have passed out and hit her head on the concrete floor. So it was safer for everyone if she treated her lows. The dance teacher (who is also the principals sister) was there when all of this happened and she was so sweet. She told Kacey that when they take their water break in the middle of the class, then Kacey could go down and test and get a snack or some sugar so then she could finish the dance without having a low. I REALLY want Kacey to be able to stay after without having me tag along but I told her I was playing "photographer" for her principal and she was ok with that. None of the other girls seemed to know why I was REALLY in there and they have been in school with Kacey since diagnosis so it's not anything they are not used to seeing.
By the way...when Mommy gut says there is something wrong....there usually is! TRUST IT!
Have any of you had a problem with your kids "ignoring" their symptoms while they are having fun?
8 comments:
Ah! I dread this.Justin doesn't always fell his lows so I cant say for sure if he has ignored on purpose... though I have questioned at times.
I think yo handled it great and I pray that she doesn't "test" that again.
I ignore my lows often when Im busy...usually when Im cleaning house, I just dont wanna stop and always HOPE the feeling will pass. By the time you just cant keep going you decide its time to check :( Dont know why we do that, but we all do!!!
I don't usually feel lows until they are below about a 45... but, one of the few symptoms I do have when I'm low is getting more and more stubborn about finishing what I am doing - a tough call since I'm pretty stubborn to start with :) but I try and stop myself when I get to the point of "yeah, there's sweat pouring down my face and my fingers are shaking but I really ought to finish dicing this carrot..."
Oh no. This is seriously what I dread the most! Glad to hear this one worked out for her but woah . . . . not cool. Makes our heart skip a beat or two, that's for sure!
I don't know. I don't know if Sweets feels her lows and ignores them or doesn't feel them or thinks it's hunger because that's what she says - I'm hungry. I dread this, Jill. But you give me hope! I think you handled it so well.... I just hope I can do as well when my time comes!
When I was 21 and fist diagnosed, I didn't want to ask any of my friends for help when I was feeling low. If we were out walking somewhere, I would wait a while to ask them if we could stop and check my blood sugar. I think part of it (for me anyway) was that I wanted to believe I could take care of it on my own and not "bother" anyone. Another part was that I didn't want to admit myself that I did have to take breaks to adjust my insulin or check my sugar. I didn't want to feel like anything in my life was different. After 5 years, I now am a lot more comfortable with asking for support or help.
I call myself the "weak-o-meter" for my husband who cannot feel his lows. I know before anyone that he is going low. Like a 6 sense or something. He now wears a sensor that tracks his numbers and alarms go off before he gets to low. You may want to ask her doc about it :)
I think mine ignores her lows because she doesn't want to stop whatever it is she's doing, but then there are also alot of times she doesn't feel her lows. It's crazy, sometimes she'll come and tell me she feels low and she'll be like a 73, and then other times I can tell she's low and she says she feels fine and we test and she 53. Ugh, you know mine's only 6 now, but one thing I dread is letting her grow up and take care of herself. hang in there!
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