Tuesday, December 09, 2008

An Opportune Low

Holden had another basketball game last night. As we stood in line to buy food Riley was eyeing some very delicious-looking cupcakes.

"Can I have one?"

"Let's see what your sugar is first."

I checked his sugar while standing in line: 63.

"Yes. I guess you can."

"Can I eat it first?"

"Yes, you need to go on and eat it to bring your sugar up"

Normally, he would get a juice box before he could eat but this particular cupcake was piled high with sugar laden icing. I knew he would eat the icing first. He always licks all the icing off first and eats the cake part last.

I rechecked him in 15 minutes: 93. He got a bolus for the cupcake and the cheeseburger he ate.

Two hours later he was 91. Since he still had insulin on board and we'd be at the game a while I told him he could have a snack. We got back in line and this time he eyed something covered in chocolate. I asked the person behind the counter what it was. It was peanut butter crackers covered in chocolate.

Riley ate two of them. I bolused accordingly and two hours later he was 88.

Even thought is sugar went low it was not dangerously low. He got to eat a few treats and his sugars responded rather favorably.

We needed a night like that.

8 comments:

Allison said...

If you used a cupcake to treat a low, why did you give him insulin for it? Did you only give him a partial dose for the cupcake because it had more carbs than he would need to bring his BG up? Just wasn't clear the way you wrote it...

Amy said...

Oh- I love those times. Jada was just able to have a piece of pie because she was low. Allison- my guess is that Penny may be concerned that he would have a rebound effect and go way too high- I do the same for Jada if I feel like it's going to spike her to high.
Good, happy post Penny! :)

HealthypH said...

Hi Penny,

I am just wondering if anyone has brought the idea of raw foods your way. I just posted some info on my blog. Feel free to check it out here:

http://moxxorproducts.blogspot.com/2008/12/can-i-cure-my-diabetes.html

Although you will see that my blog promotes an omega-3/antioxidant that I sell, do not worry, I am not affiliated in any way with the resources I am providing in my diabetes post. I hope you consider checking out the links and DVD I recommend in that post. Take care!

Penny Ratzlaff said...

Allison,

I counted the cupcake as 35g of carbs. It was also supper time so he ate supper also. I subtracted 15 g and only counted 20g for the cupcake and 30g for the cheeseburger. Also, whenever Riley is low I use the first sugar, not the sugar after the carbs to put in the pump.

So, after checking to make sure his sugar had come up I put 63 in the pump for his sugar and 50g for what he ate. This is how I always do it if he's low at the same time he's eating a meal. I don't bolus right away but rather wait for his sugar to come up before bolusing him. If I didn't bolus for his supper carbs and extra carbs from eating the cupcake he would have been sky high later.

If he was not eating a meal he would have just gotten juice and would not have gotten any insulin coverage for the juice. My thinking was that he didn't get any insulin coverage for the approximatly 15g of carbs in the icing on the cupcake.

I hope that helps make sense of it all.

Scott K. Johnson said...

What a great day! Cupcakes and good blood sugars!

Anonymous said...

I love days like that -- we somehow managed a few days like that at Disney World last year -- truly a magical time when you almost forget about diabetes!

Carey said...

Awesome! Those are rare but wonderful moments. I hope Riley enjoyed every bite.

Penny Ratzlaff said...

Thanks guys. I love to hear from people who get it, who understand how thankful you are when your child (or you) has a day where diabetes fades into the background.

Carey,
He enjoyed every single bite with a huge grin on his face. I actually sat and watched him eat the whole cupcake before starting to eat my own supper. You wouldn't think a cupcake could make someone so happy.