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Northern Mum

Crossfitting, pancreas acting, single mum to three

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Living with Type 1 diabetes – the basics from a mother…. ~ Northernmum

I am still amazed at the almost obscene amount of knowledge that I have about diabetes floating about in my head.  I have much more to learn but feel I have done remarkably well in a short space of time.
Six weeks ago I knew Type 1 diabetes was an incurable condition that had something to do with sugar; now I am close to a Mastermind session on it.

What causes it?


This is an easy one – no one knows, medical science is a bit baffled about diabetes.
We do know that some people are susceptible to diabetes type one and it is hereditary.
In cases like twin girls where there is no hereditary link it is presumed that six months (ish) before diagnosis her body would have been infected with a virus that her immune system struggled to fight off and as a result her pancreas tried to have a bash, failed and died as a result.
Just what every body needs, an over valiant pancreas willing to die for its quest.

What cures type one diabetes?


Another easy one – we are stuck with this, so far diabetes is chronically uncurable.  #arse

How do you treat it?


Insulin, and more insulin.

This is the scientific part…
In order to be able to eat most any food we need to ensure she gets the correct dose of insulin per meal.
So we carb count, three times a day and we give insulin accordingly.
For example…
Beans on toast has 50 carbs in, twin girl has one unit of insulin per every 25 carbs so to wolf down the nations favourite tea she has to inject 2 units of insulin beforehand.  Make sense?  Good.

Is there anything she can’t eat?

Juice – you can give it her and she will show you what hyper really means…

Can she have sweets and chocolate?


Yes, but she can only have them after a meal so if she is offered a sweet before a meal she will most likely say thanks and hide it away for later.  She was devestated when all her friends were giving chocolate by a well meaning adult and she was told that she would get some ‘special’ chocolate the next day.  Have you tasted diabetic chocolate?  It brings shame to the cocca bean, give us dairy milk any day of the week.

Can she snack?


Yes, she can have a snack morning and afternoon if she wants but it has to be less than 10 carbs (with less than 30% sugars). So a digestive always goes down nicely.
Is there anything she can eat when she wants?

Cheese and ham baby, cheese and ham.

What’s a hypo?

Normal blood sugar range is between 4 and 8,  when a diabetic drops below 4 she is ‘hypo’ which means she doesn’t have enough sugar to function and needs some fast acting sweets to kick start her system.
When twin girl drops below 4 she feels shaky and goes so pale she is almost see through.  She tests her blood and has some sweets and flies back up to “normal”.

If you don’t treat a hypo she will become unconcious.

What is hyper?

Hyper is when she has too much sugar (ie about 8). She tends to go a bit excitable and then gets headaches and feels quite low.  Best way to get rid of it is to get her to do star jumps or run round the garden twice.

Sugars over 20 are considered extreme and dangerous.

Does it change anything?

Everything and nothing at all.

That is the basics.  I have more but will save it for Mastermind…

Comments

  1. Jen aka The Mad House says

    December 12, 2012 at 9:03 pm

    I am sure that they will find a cure for it in our and Twin girls lifetime. What you have to remember is that they didn’t even know what DNA was a few years ago and now they can identify a spelling mistake in a gene which means that I will get cancer. I hope by the time the boys are tested at 18 not only can they identify it, but also change it. I think that they will discover something amazing for Type 1 D too.

    Reply
    • northernmum says

      December 14, 2012 at 11:00 pm

      Thanks Jen – all is crossed!

      Reply
  2. sarsm says

    December 13, 2012 at 6:20 am

    You must be on first name terms with the doctors by now.
    Wishing you all well.

    Reply
    • northernmum says

      December 14, 2012 at 11:01 pm

      we do get around them a bit!

      Reply
  3. helloitsgemma says

    December 13, 2012 at 9:13 am

    it’s a lot of maths.
    twin girl is totes amazes. As are you.
    Thanks for the information. Am a bit shocked by possible cause.

    Reply
    • northernmum says

      December 14, 2012 at 11:01 pm

      yup never get ill!

      Reply
  4. Mummy Barrow says

    December 13, 2012 at 9:15 am

    And not only you but your daughter sounds like an expert too. And managing her own needs brilliantly.

    Fabulous.

    Reply
    • northernmum says

      December 14, 2012 at 11:01 pm

      Thanks poppet x

      Reply
  5. Liska says

    December 13, 2012 at 11:23 am

    It’s so so cool that you have put this together. I am sure it will be reassuring for anyone who Googles the topic, and sees that there is light at the end of the tunnel and ways of coping with it. If I was in that situation and stumbled across this, written for a Mum by a Mum I was be so indebted to you.
    Also, if I was the Mum of her best friend, I think I would print this and put it on my fridge so I know what to do when she comes over.
    It’s so lovely that you are on top of it now, right in time to have a lovely Christmas.
    Take care lovely,
    Liska x

    Reply
    • northernmum says

      December 14, 2012 at 11:01 pm

      Thank you Liska xxx

      Reply
  6. Mrs C says

    December 13, 2012 at 11:38 am

    This is a fab post. It’s not fab that you’ve had to write it, but it’s fab that you have written it. (Am I making sense? I’ve just had a mince pie with an obscene amount of brandy butter on it so I may be talking rubbish!)
    Sometimes people are scared of the unknown, but what you’ve written here is a fantastic summary about things. What can happen and why in easy steps. Thank you. You’ve taught me more about diabetes in this post that I knew before! Goodluck with Mastermind!

    Reply
  7. northernmum says

    December 14, 2012 at 11:02 pm

    I got to get me one of those mince pies…..

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Your Questions About What Is A Normal Blood Sugar Range After Eating | Healthy Silicone Valley says:
    December 28, 2012 at 9:43 am

    […] even walking 3 times a day for 30 min. This will help too. Hope this helps.Powered by Yahoo! AnswersJohn asks…Blood Sugar normal after being diabetic, why?I have been diabetic (type 2) for about a y…"dtm-content">Blood Sugar normal after being diabetic, why?I have been diabetic (type 2) for about a […]

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