Daddy's Diabetic Day

Well, as I mentioned before, the LadyBugs are with their Dad for his custodial one weekend per month visit. I've got to admit Friday & Saturday nights both went by without a telephone call & a diabetic inquiry from the Daddy-Man. I was surprised!

But then this morning, the phone rang.... and I knew. Poor Rowan was at 18 something (I think that's what I recall. No wait, I think it was 20 something) and was producing large amounts of katones. I get frustrated by this because I *know* it's from not properly monitoring her diet. I think it's wrong for a parent to screw up, and the child have to receive an extra injection as a result. I mean suck it up, make sure you're doing the job right for the sake of your child's health and comfort.

So he administered another 3 units of Novo Rapid. Our sick day dose is 5% of total daily dosage. That morning she'd received 3 units Novo Rapid and 17 units of NPH. He calculated 5% as being four units, but I'm a bit of a "moderate" and we compromised on her being given an extra 3 units of Novo Rapid. An hour later her blood glucose was lower, but still not optimum, but her katones were gone. Thank heavens. Those damn katones do nothing but complicate everything (at least in my opinion).

She's not terribly hungry for lunch, and he was worried about giving her a big meal when the glucose still wasn't within range. Again- a compromise. Don't give her any more insulin (right now) but if she isn't that hungry anyhow, give her half of her lunch, and take her out to run it out of her system. But be careful I warned: if you've only given her half a lunch & her glucose is gradually dropping, make sure you have an emergency snack in case she drops like a rock during whatever activity you have planned.

In a strange sort of way Diabetes has had an impact on the two of us that I didn't immediately see coming. He and I had tried for years to be friends for the sake of the children. I also have a personal philosophy that if you were good enough to spend 16 years of my life with, you should be good enough to still remain a friend. But when the divorce finally hit the Supreme Court, it was hard to be friends. There is so much adversity unintentionally built up through the court system. It was horrible because during the week she was hospitalized at Children's Hospital, we were in fact before the courts just the week before. Animonsity was high (as was awkwardness) and we unfortunately had more than one "less than civil" encounters at the hospital. But today, I realize that Diabetes has helped bridge us back to that "friends" place. Not jut for the sake of our children's happiness, but for the sake of Rowan's health. Not only do we HAVE to be friends, but we HAVE to be team mates and commrades in Rowan's treatment. I am grateful that it helped us bridge the gap between us again.

Huh! Who knew..... a blessing through diabetes?!?!? I promise, it's not the first blessing encountered through this crazy diabetic journey, and I know that it will not be the last.