Monday, June 8, 2009

Mother Chronicles--Lessons learned. :)



Mother's everywhere have had, at one time or another, to deal with learning parenting lessons the hard way. We had yet another one of those experiences last night. This particular time dealt with diabetes. I've heard it can happen to infusion sets. I've read about this happening to other kids with infusion sets but for some reason it didn't dawn on me that this is what was happening to Sydney. I will chalk it up to sleepless mommy brain but, lesson learned, now we know.

It happened yesterday--site changing day. We moved Syd's insulin site to her arm. There were no tears. The process went smoothly and we were glad to be done for 2 more days. My niece Ashlyn is a 7 month old magnet for Syd. She gravitates to the baby. So, naturally, when Ash started fussing Sydney picked her up. Ashlyn saw Syd's tubing hanging from her arm and decided this looked like a fun play toy...she proceeded to yank on it. It didn't rip out but Syd said it hurt. She put the baby down and went on playing. We didn't think much of it.

Dinner time! Blood sugar was 273. That was quite high for Syd's dinnertime sugar but that happens with diabetes so we gave her insulin and went on our way with our evening. Bedtime. Blood sugar was now 387. Wow...I couldn't believe it was still high. More insulin was given. We were sure this would fix the high b.s. issues. Around 11 pm I went to do a b.s. check. 490!! Holy high! I couldn't remember the last time she was that high. Then the light went off and it dawned on me what probably happened.

When Ash yanked on her tubing it pulled the cannula out of her arm (even though it didn't rip off it lifted the tubing enough to cause trouble) and when it tried slide back in her arm, it kinked the end of the tubing and she hadn't been getting her insulin all evening. That was the only explanation I could think of for having that high of a b.s. So we drug her out of bed at 11 pm to put in a new site. Syd was a champ though. No tears and no complaints but she did have some dirty looks for me. However, being that high is not a comfortable feeling (so I'm told). I am sure she knew that she would feel better after her new site was inserted. It worked! By 2 a.m. she was back down the 180s and she was 115 at breakfast. So, note to self, don't let Syd hold Ashlyn when her tubing is exposed and, if it does happen again, next time it will dawn on me quicker and we won't let her b.s. get to nearly 500 before changing her site. :-)

How about some of you other moms, do you have any "lesson's learned stories" to share so I don't feel so silly about my screw up? :-) Share away!!

6 comments:

Becki said...

You live and learn!! That's cute that Syd is so great with her cousin.

Jen said...

Getting a mushy brain from time to time just happens! There is SO much to think about every hour of every day with a diabetic child it is amazing our brains can handle it! We completely forgot Addison's nighttime lantus dose about a month ago and he was high for 12 hrs after..it was awful knowing it was our fault that he wasn't feeling so great! But, you do live and learn, eh? And you try not to be too hard on yourself and remind yourself you DO a great job every day!

Wendy said...

Addy's insulin needs have changed so drastically since school got out -- I've had a terrible time figuring out if it's...

A) Carb ratios
B) Basals
C) Correction factors
D) Miscounted carbs
E) Overheated insulin
F) A site issue

Ay, yi, yi...every single high BS leaves me baffled lately!!!!!

Keep up the good work...you're doing a great job!!!!!!

Audrey said...

I have a lot of mommy lessons that my kids teach me.

1) don't let them go downstairs with plastic high heels

and most importantly
2) always make sure their diaper is on securely.

But I do have a question. You already posted what a low is like for Sydney, what is a high like?

Rachel said...

Oh been there done that! Tristan has a habit of rising after a site change so it's always difficult to know if the site didn't work or he's rising just because he is.... :)

The Lane Family said...

Don't be to hard on yourself, it sounds like from other mom's that there can be all kinds of things happening, and I am glad that Sydney took it look a trooper!

For lessons learned just read my blog and there are plenty...most recently maxipads do not work as diapers!!!