home at last

[joesmum]

They let joe come home today but now im worrying that what if something goes wrong. His bloods seems to have been up today and they gave him 3 units of novarapid at lunchtime because of this, he's had his dinner and after 2 hours his bloods are at 24.4, i asked the nurses that if it was to stay high what should i do and they said not to give his snack before bed and to check his blood at 2am.

Is it normal to feel this scared the first night home on our own without nurses looking over us 24/7.

my husband and joe have just gone for a walk with the dog to see if that will help to lower it a bit, fingers crossed it comes down or looks like another sleepless nigth for me (didnt mean that to sound selfish).

[hrermgr]

Glad you are home. What your feeling is normal but hopefully you will have learned a lot and have really good phone support from your clinic/doctor. And being at home really is a good thing.

I'm jealous about the walk...the temp is minu-something here in Minnesota so going for a walk is not an option! (Really, when it gets below 0, does the temp really matter???:p )

[Amy C.]

They let joe come home today but now im worrying that what if something goes wrong. His bloods seems to have been up today and they gave him 3 units of novarapid at lunchtime because of this, he's had his dinner and after 2 hours his bloods are at 24.4, i asked the nurses that if it was to stay high what should i do and they said not to give his snack before bed and to check his blood at 2am.

Is it normal to feel this scared the first night home on our own without nurses looking over us 24/7.

my husband and joe have just gone for a walk with the dog to see if that will help to lower it a bit, fingers crossed it comes down or looks like another sleepless nigth for me (didnt mean that to sound selfish).

It is normal to feel scared, but it sounds like Joe won't be going low on the regime he is currently on. It takes a day or so for the body to settle into a working mode. Many childrens insulin needs go down after diagnosis. I sounds like the doctor is treating the highs conservatively.

Did his sugar come down at the 2 am check?

[joesmum]

its not as cold as where you are but cold enough for me to stay indoors. thought the walk might help a bit as its gentle exercise just keeping my fingers crossed it comes down a bit or i'll be up all night worrying, i've already set my alarm clock for 3am to check his bloods, am i being paranoid do you think?

[joesmum]

they didnt do a 2am check last night as his level was down to 7.3 so they told him to eat some raisins and then this morning it had risen to 25 and has stayed above 15 all day.

he's just got back from his walk and its gone down to 19.8 so not too bad, but now should i let him have his digestive biscuits before bed or not?

[bogusrogus]

If I had it my way a nurse would have come home wth us.
But soon you'll fall into a routine an you'll realize that you can do this:cwds:

[Mojo's mommy]

Hard to answer that question, is he on MDI (Multiple daily injections) meaning an injection with all meals? Or is he on NPH regimin. I have been reading your posts and am a little confused about when and what insulin he gets.

My daughter is on MDI and gets a shot with each meal and some snacks. I wonder why they are letting him stay so high, possibly still trying to find right dosage??

[joesmum]

he's on mixatard 30 twice a day, morning and evening, they have said that if he stays high in the morning then the evening dose will have to be increased at the moment its 9 units and the morning one is 16 units

[wendyc]

What you are feeling is very normal. I was so scared those first few days.
It will take his body a while to re-adjust. Being back to a normal routine is what helped Abby the most. While honeymooning, you will see ups and downs and most likely the insulin needs will decrease. Doctors tend to be more conservative in the beginning until you get into a more set pattern. Many like to see how the child adjusts after being at home and in school, then they will tweak ratios and insulin dosages.

As for the sleepless nights, you are not being selfish. It's just one of those things we all go through.

Best of luck and welcome, sorry this club had room for another member.

[hold48398]

Oh I remember: I was sooo scared, especially at night. Hang in there!!

Unfortunately, there is no way of telling how Joe's body will react until you can establish a PATTERN, and even then, they constantly change... but I advise you to write down everything on a log sheet: Time, insulin given, carbs/foods eaten, exercise, sickness and any other relevant information (like stress, excitment, etc). You can then look back and review and with every day passed, you have more information to make your decisions on. More information = better decisions = better BGs! :)

You are absolutely not crazy to get up and check Joe's BG in the middle of the night. In fact, I STILL get up and test Mia's BG every midnight (my bedtime) AND 3am (this one is the hard one for me) because her BG can drop all the sudden, and it scares me still to think something may happen when I am sleeping....soooo lots of coffee gets me through the day, and I am pretty used to it by now :p.

Anyways, test often and log, and soon you will see what works best for your son. Good luck!!

[Jackie UK]

Just noticed that you have identical twins but only one has diabetes. I also have identical twins born in 1994 Sasha was diagnosed in 1999, Beckie still remains undiagnosed. However both of them have celiac.

Jackie England UK

What you are feeling is very normal. I was so scared those first few days.
It will take his body a while to re-adjust. Being back to a normal routine is what helped Abby the most. While honeymooning, you will see ups and downs and most likely the insulin needs will decrease. Doctors tend to be more conservative in the beginning until you get into a more set pattern. Many like to see how the child adjusts after being at home and in school, then they will tweak ratios and insulin dosages.

As for the sleepless nights, you are not being selfish. It's just one of those things we all go through.

Best of luck and welcome, sorry this club had room for another member.

[Jackie UK]

Hi Nicci

The insulin regimens used in the UK are usually quite different to the ones they used in the US. I first use to post on US mailing lists and boards and the parents were amazed at the insulin being used in the UK. They didnt understand what I was posting about. They also couldnt believe that we arent taught to carb count. Unfortunately in the UK they often start children off with twice daily mixtards (thats a biphasic mix) which is very inflexible. You cannot give more of one type of insulin without giving more of the other. Premixed insulin is usually only used for older people with type 2 diabetes in the US. The UK is way behind the rest of Europe and the US for diabetes care. Though some clinics have done a turn about in the last couple of years, because so much diabetes information is avaiable that parents start asking more about their childs treatment and pushing for changes.
Premixed should work OK if your son has a long honeymoon period, if not you should ask to move to a more modern basal bolus regimen. If you want to chat the the UK parents sigh up for the UK parents list. You will get a whole load of UK related info. The reason why I asked Jeff Hitchcock to set up the UK parents mailing list and the UK board section was because of the very different insulin regimens commonly used and the different way that BG levels are measured. Plus there is a lot more insulin pump usage in the US than in the UK. Though we have 45 members of the UK parents list with children on pumps now.

Stay in touch with the friends you have made on this board to. I dont look in here too often because all the UK parents post via the mailing list and dont use the board very often at all. That's why there are not very many UK posts here even in the UK section of this board.

Things will get easier as time goes on. One of the parents on the UK mailing list was just like you a few months ago, but is a lot more on top of things now.

Best wishes

Jackie
Mum of Sasha aged 12






he's on mixatard 30 twice a day, morning and evening, they have said that if he stays high in the morning then the evening dose will have to be increased at the moment its 9 units and the morning one is 16 units