Let’s talk about Time in Range and A1Cs. How do I use smaller wins (time in range) to help accomplish large goals (A1Cs).
Author: Chris Stocker
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Going to Crayola with our Type 1 Four Year Old
The area in Pennsylvania we live in is filled with amazing things to do. There is a ton of history in this area and there are a lot of manufacturing plants and businesses that you would never know that are from our small town unless you lived here.
One of those places is Crayola.
Crayola has a few different warehouses in the area and their Crayola Experience which is in downtown Easton, PA. This Crayola Experience is an interactive 4-story adventure. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it.
Not our First Time There
We have been to the Crayola a few times before, but going after our daughter’s diagnosis was going to be a bit different. At the time of writing this blog post, we have been to Crayola with her twice.
Once as a family and then once with just my wife and her while I drove around town with a sleeping baby in the car. Crayola was our daughter’s choice for her reward for getting her bloodwork labs done (in which she passed out and scared the hell out of us, but that’s another blog post!).
The first time that we took her to Crayola after her diagnosis was for her 4th birthday and we did not have a Dexcom or Omnipod yet, so we were checking quite frequently. Looking back on these things we did before having a Dexcom, I don’t know how we did it. I mean, I know how we did it, because we could do it again if needed, but the constant thought of not knowing what her BG is without easily being able to just look at our phones makes me nauseas.
The second time we went to Crayola Experience, it was just my wife and our daughter and that time she was wearing a Dexcom and Omnipod, so it was a lot easier to manage. Except for the fact that she passed out earlier in the day from getting her blood work done and over-correcting her and her BG shooting up into the high 400s.
Keeping Dexcom Phone within Range
There are a ton of things to do within Crayola Experience which means there is a ton of excitement which means blood sugar drops!
One of those fun, amazing activities is the 2-story high indoor playground. Can I just say now that this thing gives me ajida (I have no clue how to spell this word because I never heard of it until I was about 25 or so anyway).
There’s a few reasons why, but one, my kid is pretty clumsy and I know she’s going to fall or trip on something inside the playground, which is just part of growing up, but I hate watching it happen.
Also, I have been freaked out by germs before Coronavirus. I understand that there are germs everywhere in the Crayola Experience, but when she’s inside the playhouse thing, I can’t control her using hand sanitizer or not touching her face and mouth.
The next reason is Dexcom sharing. We didn’t want to put the Dexcom in her pocket or even in the little fannypack thing we have from SPIBelt.
I didn’t want to take the chance of it falling it while she was playing and not knowing and another kid picking up an iPhone and walking away with it. So, for that reason, my wife was standing as close to the playground as possible to make sure that we would not lose connection.
Some people may be reading this thinking that we are a bit obsessive over the Dexcom, and you are 100% correct. If I have the technology and she’s wearing it and going through the process of it getting inserted, then why the heck would I not utilize it at all times?
Some people may be reading this thinking that we are a bit obsessive over the Dexcom, and you are 100% correct. If I have the technology and she’s wearing it and going through the process of it getting inserted, then why the heck… Click To TweetPacking Juices and Snacks
Crayola Experience does not allow any food, drinks or snacks inside. We always carry a doctor’s note with us for situations like this. They searched the bag and allowed us to bring in juices and some candy. One thing they will not let in is peanut butter. Luckily, none of our snacks are peanut butter related.
The first time that we went to Crayola after her diagnosis, which was without a Dexcom as I mentioned previously, when we checked her she was right around the low 100s, so we knew she was going to need something soon. This was getting very close to lunch time so we were hoping we could finish the current activity we were doing and just have her eat lunch and potentially not even need a bolus.
That didn’t work out. She went even lower and we had to check her BG again and had to give her a juice. Luckily, we were able to bring in our own juices. I didn’t see any vending machines anywhere around, other than at the cafeteria which was nowhere near where we were.
Our entire goal is to make sure that our daughter can do everything she would have done before she had diabetes. Since she has been to Crayola before she was diagnosed, we didn’t want this trip to be any different. This time was actually better for her, she got to have a juice in the middle of the trip when the last time she wasn’t allowed to have any juice or snacks brought in!
Our entire goal is to make sure that our daughter can do everything she would have done before she had diabetes Click To TweetHow do you prep for doing fun activities like this?
Do you carry a doctor’s note places that don’t allow food or snacks in? Or do you just say my child (or myself) have Type 1 Diabetes and I need to bring this in?
Please comment on this post or head on over to Facebook or Instagram to continue the conversation.
Our First JDRF One Walk as a Family with Diabetes
When we first learned about the local JDRF walk being close enough to us to attend, we knew that we were going to do it. We told our daughter and she was so excited. It was almost like a holiday for her.
She got her calendar and marked it down and started to count down the days to it. Perfect math lesson at the same time!
My wife and I have done 10-15 JDRF, ADA, and DRI walks over the years, but this was the first one with two people with diabetes in the family.
JDRF One Walk Allentown PA
Our daughter is super proud to have diabetes. At least at this age, she wears it as a badge of honor and thinks it’s cool to have diabetes. So, when we get to do things that are diabetes focused, she is that much more excited about it because it’s a special club that you have to be a part of.
This walk was in Allentown, PA. It was outside at the PPL Center which is where the Lehigh Valley Phantoms play hockey (affiliate of Philadelphia Flyers). We have not spent much time in the downtown Allentown area, so I was not too familiar with the area and the parking was confusing, so I thought we were going to be late….luckily, we weren’t.
It was a pretty cold day too. I hate doing physical activities in the cold because you never know how to dress. You have to dress warm, but at the same time you are going to be sweating and it’s just a confusing situation for me!
We also had a 4 month old baby that was going to be in the stroller the whole time, so we had to make sure she was bundled up and going to stay warm as well.
More than One T1D in the Family
I have mentioned before in my posts that my niece also has type 1 diabetes. She was diagnosed several years ago, so when there are local diabetes related events, we tend to also meet up with my brother and his wife and kids. For this event, we did the same thing. We also met up with my parents to have a total of 10 (plus a 4 month old in a stroller).
We were rolling in #STOCKERSTRONG
Register for T-Shirts
The first part of any walk is to register. You have to make sure you get those free t-shirts at registration. They had some other pretty cool SWAG as well. They had face covers, which are coming in handy now (writing this during COVID19 pandemic).
Honestly, I have given so many diabetes related t-shirts to Goodwill that I didn’t want another shirt. My daughter was so excited to get a diabetes shirt and she wanted it on right away. This goes back to her wearing her diabetes like a badge of honor.
It makes me so proud to know that she embraces the disease and although I know she is still young and naive, it’s a good start.
She still wears that shirt as pajamas all the time. When she is in charge of grabbing her own pajamas, it is definitely one of her favorites. We typically end up reading either Coco, Rufus, Year One with Type One or Open Up Your Bag or another diabetes book.
This is a bit of a side story, but when my daughter asked what Find a Cure meant on the shirt and my wife explained it to her, she was confused as to why they wanted to find a cure.
Our, then 4 year old responded with “but if they cured diabetes, then I wouldn’t have it anymore and I love my diabetes.”
Our, then 4 year old responded with “but if they cured diabetes, then I wouldn’t have it anymore and I love my diabetes.” Click To TweetStock Up on Snacks
Now, my favorite part of these walks is the free food. I’m not afraid to admit it! Unfortunately, this walk did not have a lot of sponsors, which I don’t understand. There were no food sponsors. Just apples, granola bars, chips and drinks.
We stocked up on some of those supplies for the 5K we were about to walk. Everyone needs a little bit of a snack along the way, so it’s good to have these things at the beginning of the walk.
Some of the JDRF walks we have done in the past, specifically the ones in Boca Raton, FL are loaded with food. Pizza, hoagies, cookies, and other random samples of goodies were a staple and the best part of finishing the walk.
3 – 2 – 1 – Walk
It was finally time to walk. After a few speeches from local leaders and JDRF employees, the music started for us to walk.
I honestly thought the walk was only 1 mile down and 1 mile back, but I was wrong. It was actually 5k.
Our daughter was super excited when we started to walk. She was walking with her cousins and couldn’t be more proud to be walking in something that was all about her.
The walk was packed. It didn’t seem like it when we were at the starting line, but as we started walking, my nerves started going crazy, as they do in any large crowd. I am constantly concerned about knowing exactly where my kids are and being able to see them at all times. So, when my daughter was super excited to start walking, she didn’t really care about the rules of staying close to mommy or daddy.
It was all good though.
Snacking During the Walk
When we started to reach the halfway point of the walk…which we knew was the halfway point because we saw people turning around to start walking back…our daughter wanted a snack. Of course she chose the chips, but hey whatever, she’s exercising, it’s fine.
We checked her Dexcom and gave her a bolus for the snack because she was trending a little higher. We waited only about 5 minutes because we knew the activity of already walking a 2.5k that she was going to start trending down.
Walk Over, Trend Down
And that is exactly what happened. As we were approaching the end, she started to go straight down on her Dexcom, so we decided to give her a juice to correct that.
All the excitement that she was having was going to end up sending her low too. We also knew that we were planning on going to a pumpkin patch after the walk, so we wanted to make sure that she had enough glucose in her to prevent lows happening in the near future..
The walk was a lot of fun. Our daughter had fun and so did the rest of the family. I love being able to share these type of fun experiences with my daughter and family.
Swim Lessons and Diabetes
We were late to the swim lesson game. We didn’t start swim lessons until after she was 4 years old. She knew how to do some basic stuff in a pool just from our own lessons of teaching her in the pool.
We decided that we wanted to do real swim lessons at our local community center. Of course we had to take extra steps and precautions with her type 1 diabetes.
Meeting with the Teacher Ahead of Time
When we signed her up, we explained to the community center that she had Type 1 Diabetes and wanted to speak directly to the teacher so we could talk to her about symptoms of lows and diabetes in general.
It’s important for us to meet with any teacher beforehand to discuss diabetes and to go over signs and symptoms of a low blood sugar. We also wanted to make sure that it was going to be OK for us to be in the pool area for the swim lessons.
We don’t plan on being helicopter parents forever, but diabetes was still new to us and so were swim lessons.
We don't plan on being helicopter parents forever, but diabetes was still new to us and so were swim lessons. Click To TweetThe teacher was very responsive to learning and caring of making sure to keep a closer eye on our daughter.
Dexcom for the Win
Luckily, she was using a Dexcom during the swim lessons. We were able to track her blood sugars from the bleachers and know which way her blood sugars were trending. This was huge for us.
I’ve heard so many stories (and myself included) about swimming just tanking a blood sugar. My blood sugar drops quick soon after being done swimming. It doesn’t hit me right away, but everyone is different.
We would do a finger BG check beforehand just to ensure that the Dexcom was accurate.
Monitoring Dexcom
The swim lessons were in an indoor swimming pool, so there were bleachers next to the pool. Perfect for parents who wanted to be close by and watch their kids closely during swim lessons.
Some parents just dropped their kids off and left and some stayed but weren’t really paying attention and then there was us. The parents who were watching every movement.
I wasn’t watching to make sure she was swimming properly and following directions, I was purely watching to look out for symptoms of a low or something diabetes related.
We were also monitoring her Dexcom closely. There were times in the bathtub and pool that her Dexcom would lose signal, so we were monitoring it to look for trends in case it did lose signal.
Lower Blood Sugars Later
As I mentioned above, when I swim, my blood sugar doesn’t tank immediately, but it does go down pretty quickly after I am done. I wasn’t sure how swimming would effect my daughter, so we were thankful to have the Dexcom.
Her blood sugars stayed pretty stable during swim lessons, so we didn’t have to worry too much about it. The swim lessons were at 6 pm, so we ate dinner beforehand and then went to swim.
I think that helped because instead of her spiking after dinner, we went to swim lessons, so it equalled out.
We did start to see her blood sugars slowly go down after we came back and when we were getting ready for bed and also after she went to sleep.
To not have to worry about lows in the middle of the night, we typically ended up giving her a small snack before bed.
We were not comfortable enough with temp basals on the Omnipod at that time, so we didn’t use them. Now, we are much more comfortable with the Omnipod to do it.
It was a lot of stress, but the more she swam, the more comfortable we were with it.
How do you handle swimming and blood sugars? Do you drop quickly during or after? Or both? What strategies do you use?
Please comment on this post or head on over to Facebook or Instagram to continue the conversation.
Hershey World Day Trip
Last April, I had to drive to Harrisburg, PA to go to the PA Real Estate Commission office in order to pick up my real estate license. If you want to start practicing real estate immediately after passing your exam, then I recommend driving to Harrisburg to get your license information in person rather than waiting for them to mail it to you.
Hershey, PA is very close to Harrisburg and how could I just drive out to Harrisburg and not bring the family along to stop at the sweetest place on earth.
So, that’s what we decided.
Stopped for Gas and BG Check
Harrisburg is about 2 hours away, depending on traffic, but we were planning on about 2 hours. As I mentioned in my post about going to the aquarium, anytime we go on a drive, our daughter’s blood glucose levels just start an upward trend.
We had breakfast at home before heading on the road. We were making good time and we were only about 30 minutes outside of Harrisburg when our daughter….and myself… had to go potty. We stopped off at a Sheetz.
We utilized this time to check her blood sugar. And of course, she was high. Well into the 300s. Once again, a long ride = elevated blood sugars.
Pre Dexcom and Omnipod
We could have suspected this was going to happen, which we did, but this was pre-Dexcom and also pre-Omnipod, so everything was being done manually.
We had to give a correction shot while she sat in her car seat, which is never fun having to give an additional shot. This is exactly why we wanted to go on an Omnipod as soon as possible. We did what we had to do, gave a shot, got back in the car and headed off to Harrisburg.
One Last Pit Stop before Hershey
We arrived at where I needed to go in order to get my real estate license, but we had no clue how long it was going to take and I knew she was going to have to use the potty again soon due to the elevated blood sugar levels.
My wife stayed in the car with her to check her BG again. Luckily, it was coming down.
I ran into where I needed to go and found out I would be in and out in about 5-10 minutes so they just stayed in the car waiting for me. About 15 minutes later, I was back in the car and we were going to make it to Hershey, PA in about 30 minutes, so we buckled up and got back on the road.
Hershey World
We were not going to Hershey Park, in fact, I don’t even think it was open. It was freezing cold and it didn’t seem like the park itself was open. Just outside of the actual park is Hershey World, which is an indoor attraction that includes a ride to tour how the Hershey Kiss is made and a few other rides and activities.
Test Before Getting on Ride
I had gone through Hershey World a few times before in my life, but I couldn’t remember how long the factory tour ride took, but we wanted to check her blood sugar before we went on the road, because if she was going low, there was nowhere for us to simply get off and give juice or snack.
Her blood sugar level was in a decent range, so we got in line for the ride. If you have never experienced Hershey World and you are anyway near PA, I highly recommend it. The ride is pretty cool too.
Injection for Chocolate Sample of Course
At the end when you exit the ride, you are given a Hershey Kiss sample. This is one of the best parts of the ride to me! Kidding aside, you can never go wrong with a free Hershey Kiss.
At the end when you exit the ride, you are given a Hershey Kiss sample. This is one of the best parts of the ride to me! Kidding aside, you can never go wrong with a free Hershey Kiss. Click To TweetWe knew that our daughter was going to want her Hershey Kiss right away and not wait, but we weren’t going to give a bolus injection for just that, so we decided to give a snack / lunch as well so that we were getting our money’s worth with the injection.
Injections were always easier when you can bribe with a Hershey Kiss (which we did for a while after that as well, because we obviously bought a ton of Hershey Kisses!)
We spent the rest of the time at Hershey World shopping through the store. They have more flavors of Twizzlers than I even thought was possible. I loaded up on Twizzlers and flavor mixes of Hershey Kiss that you can’t buy in a regular store.
Primanti Bros. = Bolus-worthy!
After we left Hershey World, it was time to go to Primanti Bros. I have never been there before, but I have heard amazing things about it from people that I know who live in Pittsburgh. We wanted to eat somewhere that is unique to the Hershey area, and when I saw they had a Primanti Bros. it was a no-brainer from there.
I’m talking about a pastrami on rye with french fries on it, gravy, cheese, and kraut. It was everything that I thought it would be. It was bolus-worthy as they call it.
Luckily, Primanti Bros. has carb counts on their website, so we were able to get an estimated carb count for our daughter’s meal. This required taking her to the restroom to take her insulin shot. We sometimes gave a shot at the table, but at other times we would do it in the bathroom.
This was a fun and exciting day trip. It started out as just me needing to do something for work and turned into a memory-filled family day.
How do you handle amusement parks? I’d love to hear. Please comment on this post or head on over to Facebook or Instagram to continue the conversation.
The Movies with our Type 1 Child
We have taken our daughter to the movie theater a few times before her diagnosis, but we didn’t go often. We are a stream movies at home kind of family. So, we weren’t movie-going experts to begin with. Add in diabetes, and we had a whole new game plan that we had to create.
Frozen 2 was coming out, so that is one movie that we could not wait until it started streaming. **We watched Frozen 2 again like all of America the day it came out on DisneyPlus.**
Here is how we handled our trip to the movie theater with our daughter with diabetes.
Popcorn’s 500 Different Carb Counts
I don’t know about you, but popcorn has never been easy for me to bolus for. Have you ever looked at the nutritional label for popcorn? Unpopped is a ton of carbs, whereas popped is very low in carb.
This is a side-note, but what do you do with unpopped popcorn kernels? How do you eat them? Wouldn’t they just crack your teeth? Please explain this to me.
Back to the popcorn carb counts. I’ve seen a bunch of different carb counts for popcorn. Movie theater popcorn had more carbs in it then the popcorn that we buy for home…according to Google. Also, how much popcorn is in a small, or the kids size that we bought? I tried to search it before we went to the theater, but of course, I couldn’t find an exact amount on the website.
Also, the kids snack pack came with a pack of fruit snacks, which are not individually marked with nutritional information, but we saved those for another time because we snuck in our own snacks….keep reading.
This is not diabetes related, this is just human being related. If you haven’t snuck snacks and/or drinks into a movie, then I don’t think we can be friends. Click To TweetPlease Turn Your Phones Off!
Let’s face it. If you wear a CGM, you have been in a quiet, public place and then BEEP-BEEP-BEEP. Your CGM alerts go off.
Unless you want a bunch of angry parents shhhhh-ing you in the middle of a movie, then you better turn your alerts off. We just put them on vibrate and not completely turned off.
Vibrate is movie theater safe. Loud beeps are not.
Choosing seats near exit for Potty breaks and missing good parts
I don’t know about you, but I have always been an end seat movie theatre guy. Couple reasons why.
- I don’t like feeling stuck in the middle of the row.
- If I have to get up to go to the bathroom or any other reason, it’s a quick exit and you don’t get in anyone’s way.
- If I have to make a fast escape, I can.
We went straight to an end row seat because I just knew she was going to have to use the potty during the movie.
It just so happened to be the part she wanted to see the most, when Elsa went running into the ocean.
**Flashback to when she was first diagnosed. She had to watch videos during every shot she took. She started watching movie trailers and it happened to be right around the time that the Frozen 2 trailer came out and she was obsessed with it. She would keep asking us, “Why is Elsa running into the ocean?” And…we missed the part where Elsa ran into the ocean!**
Sneaking in own juices/snacks Incase of lows
This is not diabetes related, this is just human being related. If you haven’t snuck snacks and/or drinks into a movie, then I don’t think we can be friends.
There is an absolute art to it.
I’m a stuff the pockets, but make it look natural kind of guy. You can not sneak in soda cans though, you will get caught!
Our experience was a pleasure. The kid had fun, we enjoyed the movie and everything was great….except for missing one of the parts of the movie that she was excited to see.
How do you handle going to the movies or theatre? I’d love to hear. Please comment on this post or head on over to Facebook or Instagram to continue the conversation.
Going to the Aquarium – Diabetes Style
Our daughter loves the aquarium. We have gone to the Camden Aquarium multiple times. We wanted to take her on a special trip of her choice after her diagnosis and she chose the aquarium….which didn’t shock me at all.
This was going to be the first time going there with her having diabetes, but also with an infant as well.
Long Drive = High BG
One thing we know happens 100% of the time is that as soon as we get in the car and start to go on a drive anywhere, her blood glucose levels will begin to creep up.
Driving to the Camden Adventure Aquarium is about an hour to an hour and a half drive, so we knew the sugar levels were going to go up and we had to be prepared for it.
And just like we thought it would, they did. It’s just something about sitting still in the car that her levels just creep up, no matter what she had to eat before hand.
Pack Your Own Lunch
Going somewhere that allows you to bring your own food is the greatest. Being able to pack your own lunch, count carbs at home and be prepared for bolusing a correct amount is crucial to anyone living with type 1 diabetes.
Being able to pack your own lunch, count carbs at home and be prepared for to bolus the correct amount is crucial to anyone living with type 1 diabetes. Click To Tweet
This aquarium does have a few different food court options like pizza, hot dogs, burgers, chicken tenders, pretzels, etc. I have eaten from the food court previously, but we typically bring some Wawa or Sheetz hoagies and then pack PB&J or something similar for our daughter.
Along with packing our own lunches, we bring in snacks. We have a few juices, candy, peanut butter crackers and that’s usually about it.
If we see downward trends, then we will just give a little snack here and there instead of waiting until she’s low and needing to correct. We sometimes don’t see the trends though because we are paying more attention to the animals then we are her blood sugar levels.
Excitement and a lot of Walking
There is obviously a lot of walking around at an aquarium, especially at this one as it is a pretty decent size.
There is also a lot of excitement. How can you not get excited seeing a ton of fish and other water animals. Petting the stingrays is one of our favorites, and also where I think she went low.
This is the worst time because then you have to rush to wash hands really well in order to do a manual finger check, but the excitement definitely drives her down.
We always have fun at the aquarium. I mean, who doesn’t?
Every time we make a trip to any place similar to this, we always learn something new about managing the trip and we make it better the next time around.
How do you manage adventures and trips to the aquarium, zoo, or other fun and exciting places? I would love to hear your strategies.
Comment on the post or join in on the conversation on Facebook / Instagram and let me know!
As if a Diabetes Diagnosis Wasn’t Enough, We Bought a House!
Before our daughter’s diagnosis, my wife and I were discussing our living situation and were thinking about buying a new house. We knew that we had another child on the way, so we decided to start looking at homes.
I’m a Realtor, so I know that once people start looking, even if it’s just online, it’s tough to stop that feeling of wanting to move into a new home. So, once we started a looking, I knew it would just be a matter of time.
We were renting at the time because we had moved from Florida back to PA and were in a brand new rental unit. We were the first people to live in the apartment and we quickly loved the idea of being the only people to ever live in a place, so we knew a new build was what we wanted.
We started to look at some new build communities online, but nothing serious. That search was put on hold once she was diagnosed. We decided that we needed to put all of our efforts and thoughts into this new way of life, rather than dealing with the building of a new home.
That didn’t last too long.
Before our daughter's diagnosis, my wife and I were discussing our living situation and were thinking about buying a new house. We knew that we had another child on the way, so we decided to start looking at homes. Click To TweetAfter about a month we finally found the community we wanted to build in and what style of house that we were going to build.
We started the process in March and initially expected the house to be done in September. We also knew that our new daughter was going to arrive in June or July, so nothing to stress about right?
It was definitely a lot of added stress.
In July, it became very stressful.
We had a newborn, a 4-year old with Type 1 Diabetes, in the end stages of building a new home with building timing issues, final mortgage issues, and being in a new profession for only 3-4 months.
The stress was becoming unbearable. I was having almost daily panic attacks from one thing or another.
This is when I really started to work on meditation and breathing exercises and making sure that I was getting a good amount of sleep.
After it was all said and done, we ended up closing on our house in mid-September and it was even more stressful moving in and trying to get things unpacked and situated with a newborn.
When our first daughter was born, we moved a month before she was born, so we seem to have some sort of fun moving near child birth.
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Her First Birthday Party Since Diagnosis
Shortly after her diagnosis, her birthday was right around the corner. With all the newfound stress of managing her Type 1 Diabetes, we barely put any thought into what kind of birthday party she was going to have.
She decided that she wanted to have a bowling party. So, that’s what we did.
I’ve been to a million bowling parties before. I know what bowling parties entail.
I am writing this blog post about a year after this all happened, but from my recollection, we did not have pizza after her diagnosis because that food is the devil. 16 years into diabetes and I can’t figure out how to bolus for that food.
But, this was her birthday party, so she was going to have pizza, snacks and a cupcake. Nothing was going to stop that.
This was also our first time going bowling since her diagnosis, so we weren’t really sure how her blood sugars were going to react to that particular activity. She was not using a Dexcom yet, so it was manual finger checks to make sure her numbers were good.
The party started off great. The plan was to bowl for an hour and a half and then food and gifts for the final 30 minutes. I obviously don’t remember the specifics a year later, but from what I remember, she did go low during the bowling portion of the party.
There was a lot of excitement, bowling, playing games in between their turns and the perfect recipe to drive a blood sugar straight down. Good thing there were a ton of juices that we had on hand for the kids.
Pizza
Bolusing for pizza, and also for cupcakes in this situation was going to be tough. She was not on an insulin pump at that time, so we had to give the bolus amount for both at the same time. We knew the pizza was going to take longer to break down and would raise her blood sugar at least an hour or two after she ate, so we were OK with giving the full bolus amount upfront.
Also, it’s pizza. It’s one of the only foods that she eats quickly.
Cupcakes
The cupcakes were homemade, so we were confident on knowing the carb count on them. Well, to the best we could calculate. My wife is all about baking her own cakes and cupcakes now for special occasions so that we can count the total amount of carbs and then break it down per serving that she breaks them down into.
Running Around
After eating pizza and cupcakes, there were balloons in the party room, so that means only one thing. Running around chasing and hitting balloons like a maniac. The running around in the party room after bowling was definitely the highlight of the party and much more active.
She went low again, but again, she doesn’t get to drink juice too often, so it was a great opportunity to allow her to enjoy some juice on her birthday.
I think that we checked her blood sugar probably two additional times during the “running around” phase of her party. Later that night, she skyrocketed, which I knew was going to happen, but we took it all in stride and corrected as needed.
Clean Hands
Obviously this one takes on a whole new meaning in today’s world that we live in, but clean hands has always been something that we obsessed over. Now, with Type 1 Diabetes, we became quickly obsessed with her not getting sick. Cold or flus took on a whole new level for us.
Let’s face it, bowling alleys are disgusting. My wife grew up in a bowling alley. By that I mean her mom and dad bowled in leagues for years, her mom manages the biggest bowling alley in South Florida and my wife worked there for 5-6 years also. So, I know all about bowling alleys and the hands that go into the bowling balls, people not washing their hands, and how impossible it is to keep it clean.
While trying to just enjoy her birthday party, I couldn’t help but constantly watch her closely every time she touched her face (which if you know our daughter, is like 100 times a minute).
It was a success
Luckily, no illness came after the party. And overall, the party was a huge success. She had fun. It was the first time she had a chance to play with all of her friends and cousins since her diagnosis. She had a great time and that’s all that mattered.
It was also the first time that we really had a chance to see other adults as well and of course the questions about diabetes and what she can and cannot do started to roll.
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