Answering an email I received...
Tuesday, August 21, 2007 at 5:40PM 
First, a thank you to the emailer for taking the time to share their experience with all of us! I want to let them know that we do approach Arden’s diabetes much in the way they describe. We don’t have her regimented to the point of paralysis. We’ve even informed our endo that we won’t be lording over Arden and making her feel different. (None of this is to say that we disagree with parents that follow a stricter regiment.) We believe that perception is key in many walks of life so we try to project a matter-of-fact vibe with Arden’s management. When we are in public we don’t hide testing or injections. We’re not going to ever make Arden feel like what she is doing is in any way embarrassing or shameful.
The emailer should know (as should the rest of you) that caring for a 24 pound person with diabetes does change the game. I have a friend that has Type 2 and when he talks about his insulin it’s, “I took 40 units at lunch”. If he took 39 or 41 his results wouldn’t change drastically. Arden however takes a half of a unit most times, one unit if she really eats and only in the morning (when as I’ve said she is harder to bring down) does she ever get more. A drop (I’ll post a picture of a “drop” asap) of insulin frequently is the difference between a good BG test and a low that needs treating. Additionally, keeping track of the time since an injection is of the utmost importance. Arden can’t tell me she is going low yet and her BG drops so fast as the insulin peaks that if she is on the verge of a low or already low the time before a seizure is short. Because of her age and the state-of-mind that a low produces it’s not as easy as, “here drink this, you’re a little low” as you may have seen in the video. I don’t want the blog to mis-lead people into thinking I’m a diabetes nazi as that is not nearly the case. But it’s just that touch and go right now. I believe that as Arden gets older and bigger her BG won’t be so volatile.
Three truths of diabetes management.
Too much insulin and you become altered, way too much and you have a seizure that you need another person to bring you back from to avoid death.
Too little insulin and you feel sick, further your body will suffer horrific effect as you get older, some can manifest as early as in your 30’s. A few days without insulin will put you in a coma.
And the the real kick in the ass: Proper blood glucose management does not guarantee that any of this won’t just happen anyway.
We’ll talk about the effects diabetes has on the body later when I’m feeling more up to dealing with it in writing.
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