So, obviously, I'm a newb to the world of 'sharps'. Needles are relatively a new thing for me and sure, I've gotten over my uncomfortable feeling about shoving one into anyone's arm (especially my squirming toddlers), however I finally had my first experience with Sharps DISPOSAL.
I'm sure to many, many people out there this is a pretty straight forward and obvious process. You get a sharps container, you fill it, you take it to a disposal spot or leave it out for the trash people. Right? Sure. Except I didn't know how(where) the heck to do that. I finally took the time to find out where I could take our container (local CVS, where we get her prescriptions filled - easy right? Score!). I was so proud, we finally ordered an 'official' sharps container because up until now we've just filled thick Tupperware containers and dumped them at our Clinic visits (we're only 4.5 months in, so bear with me). I filled the box, took it in to get it dumped - and stood there slack jawed when they took the whole thing and didn't come back.
Ooooooh, the light bulb goes on. See, here I figured they had some giant depository and they just crack the lid and tip it over and empty it then return the bin. I know, kind of naive right? Cut me some slack!! I was bummed. Goodbye new container... and then the realization 'wait...I have to buy a new fricking container just to be dumped every 1-2 months?! YUCK!'. Major yuck. Lucky for me someone in the checkout line overheard my dismay at the process and told me they accept milk jug containers as an option as long as you have the lid on.
WHEW. For some reason the idea of dumping a big ol' thing of plastic that was used specifically to collect more little plastic things really rubbed me the wrong way. At least we're already using milk jugs and now they get to be re-recycled in house before going out with the shots.
That's my goofy little tale of the day... on to more serious matters now that how to get rid of sharps is old hat for me *dusts knuckles on chest* yeaaah movin' on...
Sierra's numbers have still been pretty random. Unfortunately despite adjustments I've noticed she has an alarmingly RANDOM occurrence of daily lows (typically 1 - and by low I mean under 70, but usually in the 45-60 range lately). In a normal situation I would watch for a couple of days and fix as needed. The problem with these lows is that they NEVER OCCUR AT THE SAME TIME. Ever. Totally sporadic, totally unassociated with energy expense, totally and maddeningly hard to grasp. We test typically 8-10 times a day, so we see in between the lines and I am telling you this stuff doesn't make sense to me.
I like to think I'm a relatively smart, quick learning individual. I have to admit that diabetes makes me feel like a rube. I am struggling here because frankly none of it makes sense the way I think it should. When I think to myself one night "ok so according to xyz and everything pointing here as it has - she should be around 180-220 at the check tonight but back to 100-120 in the morning...", she's 61. WHAT? Trends don't seem to mean crap as far as diabetes is concerned and that really ticks me off.
Right now we're thinking of adding the pump in after Hawaii... and originally we were thinking CGM (continuous gluclose monitor) in a year or so after that. I'm not sure we'll make it that long. I can never guess whether she's going up or down at any given moment - and half of the time my assumptions are incorrect. Do all diabetics (or diabetic children) seem to go up from a normal range to about 200-300 roughly 1-2 hours after a meal then find themselves back in range by the following meal? I assume that's normal and not technically a spike - just the way it's delivered and how it all works through the system but it sure does throw me off. And then she doesn't get a carb snack because she's a little high - but then randomly she's low at lunch sometimes when I'd only checked an hour before and she was well over range.
IT IS DISCONCERTING! I can't keep up. I hope the call we plan on making to the endos clear some of this confusion up for me, I don't know if it's me or just the nature of the beast. It's hard to know when we're this new to the game. DH is baffled too, so at least I'm not dumb alone ;)
Our next clinic appointment is on the 14th and boy you can bet I'm going to squeeze every minute out of that team I can muster. Questions galore.
In October of 2011, our 3 year old daughter Sierra was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and spent three nights at the local PICU. These are our stories, experiences, and our life as a family of four moving forward.
That would frustrate me too that they don't return the sharps container! We have never bought one. We just use laundry detergent bottles since they are thick plastic and can't see through them. We throw them out with our regular trash. I called and they said that is what we are supposed to do...so okay!
ReplyDeleteAs for spiking to 200-300 1-2 hours after meals and coming back into range by the next meal....yes, very normal for kids with diabetes. To help prevent that you could give her the shot before she eats, but that can be difficult when you don't know if she is going to eat everything or if she will want something else. That has helped us to eliminate as high of a post meal speak for lunch and dinner. Not so much with breakfast though.
Thanks for the reply, that's really helpful! I was seriously for some reason dragging my feet on figuring this whole sharps thing out. I'm glad I know now, but what a pain. I was kind of bummed to see the container go :P
DeleteAnd actually we were taught only to do shots before meals - but literally we do them like 2 minutes before she starts shoveling food into her mouth, think it'd help to wait 10ish minutes before? It's definitely hard to estimate how much she's going to eat but for some reason it's mostly worked out... I'm anxious for a pump for this reason alone! (and the whole she can't have snacks now unless they're covered... and we're not going to do 2 more shots a day just for some crackers an hour before lunch or whatever... generally anyway). I'm glad to know the post-meal # situation is normal. I guess normally we're around the 170-230 range but still...
Hang in there, you're doing great. The high after the meal is typical
ReplyDeleteThank you <3
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