Just Love Her

Today was Lainey's 2nd time at dance "kwass". Everything was going great for the first 35 minutes, and then I noticed she had stopped participating and was nearly in tears. The dance assistant was trying to hold Lainey on her lap, and since she wasn't the same assistant as last week, she didn't know Lainey had diabetes. I knew something was wrong because she had so much fun last week. My first thought was, "Check her sugar. She's low." So I pulled her off to the side of the studio and pricked her finger; she was at 448!

Lainey is not able to tell me how she feels when her sugar is high or low, and acts the same regardless of where she's at. I just have to look for signs and ask questions. Our T1 (type 1) Buddie, Sydney, has this on her blog about symptoms of high blood sugar:

--She is GRUMPY. Or moody. Or emotional. Some people get violent and mean due to highs.
--She is thirsty--this is beyond normal thirst.

--She says she gets "fuzzy eyes" which I can only decipher as blurry vision.
--Her stomach hurts this may or may not be accompanied by puking.
--She gets a headache.
--She gets friendly with Mr. Toilet....a lot!
--She is dizzy and/or lethargic.
--She gets dry, itchy skin.
--She has an increased heart rate and fast breathing.
--High sugars can also cause her to have a fruity or sweet odor on her breath.

(One sign I've noticed is that Lainey wants to eat and eat.)

After I gave Lainey insulin, to bring her sugar down, and took her to the bathroom she didn't want to go back in the studio to dance. There was only a couple minutes left, so I didn't force her, but I'm wondering how she'll act next week.

We met up with Dad for lunch today. While we were waiting for him to finish up class, a man walked by and asked, "Is that an insulin pump?" This question, of course, began a discussion about diabetes. This man's sister was diagnosed with diabetes over 30 years ago. He shared with me, that in spite of her kidney transplant, she's led a full life and even has a couple of kids of her own. She was diagnosed at age 9 and, at that time, the doctors said she wouldn't live past the age of 17. Medicine has come a long way over the past 30 years, especially when it comes to diabetes. I have no doubt in my mind that Lainey will see a cure in her lifetime. As we were ending our conversation the man said, "All you need to do is just love her." What good advice; and I do. Lainey, I just love you.