My youngest son had the opportunity to head out on the trails and enjoy a ride on his quad the other evening. He was with a responsible adult but "momma panic" still danced around the edges of my mind. The person he was with knows that my son has diabetes but knows nothing about the testing, etc that we go through. My son is old enough and responsible enough to handle these things. I had reminded him to have glucose and his meter with him. I know that he would bring them...not necessarily use them, but he would have them with him.
I had to have faith. He had been fine for a week when I had to go away unexpectedly. He survives each time he goes away on his own. He had been on a quad trip the previous weekend without his mother hovering and asking him if he had everything and he had done fine. He would be okay.
Just in case, I texted him a few reminders...
"Don't forget your meter and glucose"
"R u ok?"
"Set a reduced temporary basal"
It was the last text that created an entirely new level of stress for me. After him being gone for a few hours, my son called me. They were taking a break and the person he was with was making a call so he decided to check in with me (brownie point for the kid!). I asked him if he had set the temporary basal. He said yes, he had put on his travel basal.
WHAT!?!? That means MORE insulin. That is for the times when he is sitting in a car or on a plane for hours on end. It is not meant for days when he will be active, throwing his body around and pulling a machine out of mud. I could feel panic rising in my throat.
I tried to breathe as I told him to go in and stop it. He couldn't figure out how to do it! I continued to try to breathe as I tried to offer options over the phone. I finally headed to find his old pump. Perhaps the settings would still be the same and I could work it out while he was on the phone. In desperation I told him to shut down the pump and power it back up. It might then give us the option of stopping the temporary basal. It turns out that when you ask it to "stop delivery", the pump asks if you mean the entire pump or just the temporary basal. Victory! He hit turned off the higher basal and reset it with the lower rate. He was now good to go. Thank heavens!!
I worked on breathing again not daring to allow my mind to think about the "what ifs". My son continued to enjoy his day of mud and fun. Just another day in the life of a teen with diabetes!
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