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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