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Finger Pricks, Insulin and Occasional Indulgences
Parenting a Diabetic Child
By Donna Verry Dee
Two of Melissa's blood tests happen during her school day. Melissa leaves her classroom and goes downstairs to the nurse's office to test. Although she has the option of performing the test in the classroom, she prefers to use the nurse's office. "She told me that she enjoys the attention she receives from the nurse and the secretary in the office," says Hagarty.
Since Zach is in a half-day kindergarten, he is only required to get his blood tested once during school, right before his class's snack time. Goin encourages Zach to eat snacks with his classmates, believing that this is an important social time for him. "I am a stickler for making sure my child has the most normal routine possible," says Goin.
Besides monitoring blood sugar levels and injecting insulin, people with diabetes must orchestrate their food intake with care and learn what effect different foods have on their blood sugar. Since the body converts all carbohydrates to sugar, eating too much rice, pasta, bread and fruit, as well as the usual sugar-laden troublemakers like cake and candy, will increase the blood sugar level.
The amount of carbohydrates consumed at each meal can be adjusted based on the child's pre-meal blood sugar reading. Depending on the reading, more or less carbohydrates may be eaten. Calculating "carbs" also allows the child to adjust the amount of insulin injected based on what he or she wants to eat.
"Zach has learned to count carbs, so he is pretty good about knowing what he can have or can't have," says Goin. While Zach is still allowed to indulge in cake and ice cream on special occasions, these treats must be compensated for with much higher doses of insulin.
Since physical activity can lower the blood sugar and improve the body's ability to use glucose, exercise is an important component in treating diabetes. Melissa almost always indulges her sweet tooth at parties. "Most of the time the parties include a form of exercise such as roller skating, so Melissa is able to work the additional sugar in quite nicely," says Hagarty.
