To give you a little perspective, here are some facts:
*L who is in Kindergarten, is wearing pants that J wore in 2nd AND 3rd grade.
*J had the same carb ratio AND correction ratio for 4 years! K-3.
*J who is in 6th grade, is only 2 inches shorter than my 2nd grader. (But to be fair, B is REALLY tall.)
*J’s little buttie and hips were depleted from so many years of shots. He was too skinny to get injections anywhere else. He needed some fat to slow down the insulin because he was so skinny.
But J is changing. He is 12 now and has started puberty. He has gained a lot of weight and is finally growing. Within one year he has completely transformed. I recently looked at Christmas pictures that I thought were from 2 years ago, but they were actually from 1 year ago. He was so tiny then…not anymore.
J is extremely happy he is growing now. Maybe not happy about the extra weight...he has quite a tummy, but trust me when I tell you, that wearing the same size shoe for 3 years didn’t sit well with him.
So here he is….just growing….and changing….and it’s happening right before our eyes.
Last night though, it really socked us in the head.
Lawton alerted and the boys ran to check their blood sugar. (If you are imagining happy boys skipping cheerfully to their blood sugar monitors, you would be wrong. They were watching a program and wanted to get their check in during a commercial. It was a scramble if anything.)
Anyway…Lawton alerts…they check…and they report back to us. All of them were in the low 100’s with extra insulin on board. It was J’s report though that threw us for a loop.
“I am 139, with a correction needed of 0.8 units and I have 1.9 units on board.”
What the! (Not What the! about the insulin on board...What the! about his correction.)
My husband shook his head….”No way J. There is no way that is right. You are 139 and you need a correction of o.8? What is your target, 50??”
Giggles ensued as my hubby and J started calculating in their heads what his correction ratio was. My husband was rolling on the ground laughing…He kept saying ”There is no way!"
You see, to us, J is still that little boy. His correction ratio was for so much of his life, 1 unit of insulin to bring his blood sugar down 100 points.
While my math enthusiasts were figuring out ratios in their head, I grabbed J's pump and looked up what his sensitivity was. Sure enough, 1 unit is needed to bring him down 50.
What the!
That explains my eye twitching at night when I correct J. If his pump tells me to give him 2 units there is always panic in my tummy…my knee jerk reaction is ALWAYS, “That can’t be right.” But it is.
Change happens whether we want it or not.
We are constantly changing basal rates and ratios. It seems they never just gradually need more insulin…it always happens suddenly. Out of nowhere, someone will start having numbers in the 400’s. After going through days of troubleshooting, it always becomes apparent. A change needs to be made, they need more insulin. But why so suddenly? Why no warning? As they get older, I can see it more clearly, but when they were tiny, it was WHAM! HE NEEDS MORE INSULIN, NOW!!!
You would think changes would happens like this…
But it seems they always happens like this…
Maybe I am too busy and overwhelmed to notice the steady rise in insulin needs. Maybe.
But if there is anything constant with diabetes…it’s that nothing stays the same.
This post is so very true Meri! All of a sudden, it hits and WHAM! you are right, sometimes it seems right before our eyes. Wouldn't it be nice to have a little warning before the shocker??!!!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that J is growing. That's good stuff.
I am SO with you on this one! I feel like I am constantly changing something and it is usually due to DRASTIC highs/lows. I am very apprehensive giving what is recommended at night, but it must be right. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the graphics you provided too, the definitely are a good visual of what is happening for Zane too! :)
Keep em comin girl... I will be needing to refer back to all this stuff real soon!!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome post, Meri! Right now we're hanging steady...but one just never knows! uhg.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear J growing! Gives me hope. Our oldest.. in 5th grade is often confused for a first or second grader...always been the smallest in his age group no matter where we are. I for one, can't wait til he hits a huge growth spurt-and I know he can't either!
Hey hey girl I am in the same boat and cant imagine why I have to make so many changes in my ratio too . You hit the nail on the head .
ReplyDeletesooo true... just when you get a bit comfortable, it changes again. with 3 I can't imagine that you get too comfortable :-)
ReplyDeleteTrue true! I know what you mean! The other morning Syd needed a bolus of 3.9...in my head I thought "almost 4 units? No way! She will crash." But I trusted the pump's math and she was just fine. I hate change. :( But it does what it needs to do to keep the kids healthy!
ReplyDeleteIts so true.. nothing stays the same. I sometimes wish there was a sweet little voice that came from the pump warning you days in advance that something is changing. "Excuse me.. Avery is fine now but in 2 days he will need an insulin adjustment for his carbs. Thank you." ;) Oh how nice that would be. We always need to be on our toes and hopefully we can catch most of it. Did i read somewhere that you mentioned a d mom chat? what is that?
ReplyDeleteI very much relate to this. Caleb's IC ratios all just about doubled about a month ago after being exactly the same for about three years. He's been growing at a steady pace that whole time, but it definitely brought several "what the?" moments the first few days of the new hefty bolus amounts.
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog and I feel like you're in my head....which is an odd way to say that I get where you're coming from. I can't wait to learn more about your family!
ReplyDeleteWOW...great description...it does seem outta nowhere the insulin needs rise...yesterday after b-fast...my son was in the 400s...and I have been cranking up B-ratio and Basal...ARGHHH.
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