The Mom Card

On her way to the new job!

Sometimes you just have to play it.  You walk that fine line everyday to not butt in and to allow your child to make their mistakes.  It's like when they are learning to walk or ride a bike, right?  Well every now and then you have to step in.  This past week has seen really bad lows and really high highs.  I think it's the combination of the two jobs together.  Katie quit GameStop because of lack of hours.  She loved it there but 3 hours a week wasn't going to work.  So she got and loves her full time job at Starbucks.  BUT she insisted on doing the full two week notice and then they decided to schedule her 10 full hours each of her last two weeks at GS.  Which would have been fine if she was a normal 18 year old..but we all know she's extraordinary and not normal!  She had texted me earlier in the week that she was not feeling well and her blood sugar was in the 60's.  So I texted her to leave work.  She got a bit short with me and said she was fine.  I called her at work and she answered and was slurring her words.  So I texted a neighbor to drive me there and texted Katie that I would drive her home.

To say she was annoyed with me for showing up and standing outside her work was an understatement.  But she then thanked me because I said her sugar was way too low and she looked horrible.  We got her a burger and salad and went home.  She's spiking high and swinging low all week.  Then on Wednesday she texted me from the 2nd job- GameStop to say she *really* didn't feel well.  Her coworker convinced her to sit down and drink some soda..but she said she was really tired and just didn't feel good.  I didn't even hesitate.  Enough was enough.  It's stressful enough to be on the receiving end of these texts -can you imagine being her body going through it?  So I called the store and told them that she could NOT work her shift and this would be her last day.  I said I was sorry but she's endangering her health out of some misguided sense of obligation.
I was lucky in that my uncle (in from out of town) and my mom had decided to follow me back to my house.  (In another story- my 98 year old grandmother is staying here right now while her house is getting new windows and doors!)  Thank goodness they were in the area and could help me with the logistics.  By the time I got to the store she was weaving and looking super pale.  And was out of it.  In the 15 min it takes to get home, she actually started feeling a bit better.  My uncle took her, my mom took her car and I went to get her food and meds.

I'm telling you as a parent- sometimes you have to play this card.  Even with the older adults.  She does NOT recognize she's low at all.  Ever it seems.  Sometimes she will catch it but usually she has no idea.  She did this at Starbucks...who adore her and the staff recognized it before she did because she was holding her head.  They forced her to take a break and test her blood and lo and behold- low low low.  They told me that they would all carry my phone number and be trained on the glucagon so she's safe and she can take whatever breaks she needs.  They've been so supportive.  She literally was diagnosed on the day they hired her.

And that bike she learned to ride?  Didn't happen without training wheels until she was in middle school.  We tried to get her to ride without them.  Sometimes it just takes what it takes.

The Real Deal

We were told that she could swing into low blood sugars.  They showed me the handout where the guy looks cranky.  I was told she could get belligerent.  I had no idea what the meant.  But we did have the episode and it's important for other parents wondering if it's normal.

First it's laughable that I could convince a fully grown woman-child to eat a snack.  HAHAHAHAHA...she's stronger than I am (I have the bruises to prove it) and I had no idea what would set her off.  It turns out it was me texting to see where she was after work.  For most other 18 year olds..the eye rolling is normal.  What is not is a 20 min meltdown of destruction and chair throwing, kicking, punching, etc.  Perhaps more frank language would have been helpful from the doctor's office.  Or maybe no one wants to talk about it?

I'm not posting this out there for all to embarrass myself or my daughter.  But it was scary as crap and I was so glad I was dead honest with my best friend.  Who told me it was ok.  She didn't judge because frankly- that was not Katie who I was dealing with.  I think it was a combination of the stress of the disease combined with low blood sugar that sent her over the edge.  She kept screaming she wasn't mad at the disease because that would be STUPID..she thought we were the idiots (juicier words inserted please) and she hated US.  Her solution was to stop her insulin and move out.  I didn't handle it well.  Kev didn't either.  We both were upset. 

She finally got herself a snack and was able to think clearly enough to realize that she overreacted.  This is the same type of outburst we were dealing with for over a year now..nice to know our sweetheart daughter didn't mean it all those times.  And if she really was mad at us...maybe we will just give her a pass  :)

The scary part is that for Katie- her low sugar right now is in the 100s.  Her body loves being in the 200s.  So as she adjusts to having insulin in her body again she will have a lower and lower threshold before she's experiencing hypoglycemia.

We are now waiting for the honeymoon period.  Some kids for reasons totally not known- experience a lack of symptoms and their diabetes seems to go away.  Some might not even need insulin.  It's like their bodies get enough insulin that any islet (eyelet) cells left kick into gear and try and do what they are supposed to.  But eventually they die off.  The longest period of time this could be is a year or so.

And is it wrong of me to hope this doesn't happen?  All the insulin has a shelf life of 30 days.  That would be money down the drain if she ends up NOT needing it.

Some kids don't Honeymoon at all.  And don't get me wrong..I say kids because I have a kid with it.  But you can be diagnosed with T1D as an adult too.  Rarer but not impossible!