My daughters best friend has diabetes and is insulin dependent.
I pretty much have everything down as far as testing her blood sugar, snacks and meals when she needs it. The only thing I don't know how to do is figure out how many units she needs after meals. We have o call her mom everytime.
I would like to take her away for a weekend, without having to call her mom every time she eats.
Is this hard to learn? Is there some kind of chart I could keep?
I will ask mom to teach me, but would like my own references as well.
Thanks!
Mandy, is your child insulin dependent?
Thanks Kristina for the "warning", but was honestly curious on her experience with an insulin dependent child. The more knowledge the better.
The child administers her own insulin while I supervise. If the mom does trust me to figure out her units, it will def be a slow process.
Thanks Brigette! That was extremely helpful. I am also familiar with her night time shot and have that down.
Bothering mom is not one of my concerns. I'm more concerned with
, if by chance, I couldn't reach her every time during the whole weekend, I wouldnt be lost.
My niece is insulin dependent. When I look after her we have no qualms in calling her dad to work out the bolus. It would probably ease the parents' minds also. No news can make my sister and brother-in-law nervous. Mandy is spot on.
Members of my family are insulin dependent and my understanding is that it is a skill. I grew up with insulin dependent people all around me from aunts, cousins and friends - now my mom, I would never assume to decide how much they needed with out LOTS of practice. IF mom were to teach you to I would not expect to be able to administer the insulin with out approval for a VERY long time. The thing is that if done wrong it could cause a diabetic coma or worse. No one is overreacting when it comes to the mother monitoring the insulin situation.
** Fair warning if your first reaction to an answer you do not like is you SWH ... "Mandy, is your child insulin dependent?" You might not like what is going to happen as more answer your question and tell you what you do not want to hear.
Always leave it to her Mom. That's one thing you do not want to make a mistake with. You would never forgive yourself if you made a mistake and something happened to her. Her mother knows better than anyone.
My husband has had Type I since he was 8. He still has to make daily adjustments based on activity level, stress level, sleep, even the weather, and of course his food choices. I have found that he is more likely to have highs or lows when we are on vacation. When the schedule is disrupted, less sleep, more activity, etc, you just have to watch things more closely. It is not impossible for you to learn, but it is fairly complicated. How long has the friend been diabetic? How good is she about "feeling" high or low? How well controlled are her levels in general? Is she on a pump or taking injections only?
In the short term, as in a weekend, the big concern is the low sugar more than the high. Be sure you know what her signs are for getting low. I can always tell when my husband's eyes get light and glassy-looking that he is low.
Thank you for wanting to take on the extra challenge and bring the friend along with your family. I remember my husband telling me on our third date that he was diabetic and understood if I didn't want to date him because it was a "complicating factor." I know he got dumped a few times by girls and friends because people didn't want to deal with the Type I. Thanks for not dumping your daughter's friend :)
Her mom is going to be your BEST reference. She knows her daughters body the best.
Added: no none of mine are, but like the other posters I have a niece who is and I've cared for her before and still call her mom to ask dosing
Well apparently there is an app for that.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/insulun-bolus-calculator/...
Lord there is an app for everything.
I know nothing about this subject but you could take a look at that app with the mom and make sure it works properly and all that. Then if she is comfortable with it give it a try.
I have two children who are insulin dependent. Even my parents, inlaws, sister and closest friends call to find out how much to bolus for any carb consumption.
There is no chart and an app will be useless, as insulin is dosed differently for each individual, sometimes different doses for different parts of the day. Between my two kids, we have 7 different insulin amounts during the day and none are the same between the two kids.
Please don't be offended by this, but as a D-mom who's life is centered around managing diabetes for two kids, I can safely say that if you make a mistake, it could be fatal. A call or a text to mom means safety for the girl and peace of mind for her mama.
I'm glad you are so willing to learn how to care for her so she can have fun outings with your family! That makes my mama heart so happy! Bless you!
I wouldn't attempt to figure it out on my own.
My son's best friend (and my best friend's son) has severe food allergies. If he's at my house and I'm providing any food, I always check with her about exact brands/items he can have. I even double check when I know I've asked her before. I know that she's not annoyed by this, but in fact, appreciates that I'm careful.
No, we don't have insulin dependent children here. My grandmother is - but she's 96 and totally different than a child! :)
Our old babysitter has been insulin dependent for years. She has the insulin pump on her that delivers the insulin directly into her body. I remember her telling me before she got the pump - they had to monitor her food intake (always do but you know what I mean - more so) and then keep in mind her activities - was she swimming, playing hard outside? There were things she needed to "track".
I know there are classes to help caregivers of insulin dependent children. Contact your PCP and ask them if they can hook you up to a nutritionist or dietitian to help you monitor her! :)
my grandson is -- I cared for him while they lived with my family for a few months. It was scary at first but they wrote down everything he ate in a notebook and had a food nutrition book with every kind of food imaginable.
There was a math formula that I used but can't for the life of me remember == but it wasn't difficult to figure out (as long as I had my calculator). It was something like blood sugar level before eating + carbs eaten at meal/snack divided by a fixed number. Then I just dialed the number on his insulin shot and pressed the button. Really easy.
Now his nighttime shot was a different matter and his parents always gave him that one - it was a regular syringe type shot.
One thing I will say about his mom & dad - they NEVER got annoyed when I called with a question. EVER. They appreciated the fact that I was trying to be careful and double check.
my friend of ny daughters has type 1 but im not sure how to treat it sorry
I do not have an insulin dependent child, but I have volunteered at the ADA Camp for kids with diabetes and more than 80% have Type 1 diabetes. How old is the child? and how long have they had diabetes? what is the communication level of the child? Adjusting bolus (post meal) insulin doses can be tricky because of so many factors. It is based on the number of carbohydrates ingested, the insulin to carb ratio which is determined by the doctor (how many units of insulin does it take to reduce a certain amount of carbs), the pre meal blood glucose level, the activity level of the child and the blood glucose range that the doctor recommends for the patient and the timing of the dose. If you throw in other factors like hormones, being ill, being dehydrated then you are adding other multiples to the mix. Can you learn how to carb count? Yes, there are several books out there - and that is the first step, but accounting for some of the other factors are tricky--and sometimes it is just an educated guess. Older children and teens with diabetes are taught how to figure post meal doses, so it is not that hard to learn. However, if you don't do it everyday, it is easy to forget how to do it or leave a step out. One thing you might want to do is to have glucose tablets on hand (they are available without prescription) to help with a low blood sugar and also have a glucagon pen available (needs a prescription) for a dangerously low blood sugar. I think I would call the parents over the weekend and let them make a call on the number of units the child should give themselves. But I would have glucose tabs on hand in case of a low blood sugar.
