Did I dominate diabetes? That’s a good question to ask. My wife was out of town at a 31 leadership retreat this weekend (Friday thru Saturday), so all the care of the kids fell totally on me, including the d-care. I posted many pictures of CGM’s on social media showing off the near straight lines. I got many responses, most were congratulations, many attaboys and a few saying I was being cocky. But I had a point to all my chest beating, let me elaborate.

My wife left for Toledo on Friday afternoon, with a hug and kiss she was gone for a few days of learning, relaxing and having fun. I was happy for her; she earned it and needed it. The first couple of hours were easy, the boy was asleep and I kicked back and planned out my all out assault on Type 1 Diabetes.

I picked up my girls from school and drove over to my accounts office and dropped off another tax document. After I got home I check the girls CGM’s (Dexcom G4 Platinum) and they had a great day at school. That helped me set things up. For dinner we breakfast food, easy for my limited cooking skills and the protein from the eggs was a bonus. Here’s the first picture I posted that night.

The next day, the girls woke up with BG’s of 130 and 124. I posted that to social media, announcing my conquest, I got a bunch of complements and comments.

We ate our breakfast, I got my cups of coffee and the morning was smooth sailing. I laid the boy down for his morning nap and I keep a close eye on the girls CGM’s, the trend was looking nice. The girls played upstairs and I got a little work done on my blog, checked email (cleaned out email) and other writing stuff.

Once little boy awoke from his nap we got everyone bundled up to head out. We had talked the night before about going out to the furniture store and looking at sectionals. With the kids in tow, the boy in his stroller and CGM’s in my coat pocket we most rigorously looked over sectional couches. The girls didn’t miss a thing and I keep a close eye on their blood sugars. They stayed level because I had them eat a quick carb snack before we left.

After we returned home I posted another CGM picture to social media, more spectacular lines.

I did over do Auds lunch bolus, because she dropped low, but I was all over that, I had my eyes glued to those Dexcoms. However, that did detract how good their numbers were. Next up, I had some spare time to myself as I waited for the Villanova GeorgeTown game to come on, I’m a huge Villanova men’s college basketball fan.

Around an hour or so later, I left the living room; I was quickly run down by my daughter telling me someone was knocking at the door. I had forgotten my dad and brother were coming to town. It was a surprise to see them, and they brought my brothers old buddy Glenn. We had a nice chat for a few hours. I gave Glenn one of my 60 minute IPA’s by Dogfish Head Brewing Company, he’s a fellow home brewer. However, in the midst of chatting with my dad, my brother and Glenn, I lost track of looking at the CGM’s every 5 minutes. The result, Aud started to trend high, it was really the first time I seen 200 numbers in the last 2 days.

My friends were on their way in after a few hours of chatting and I was back on intense d-duty. I corrected Aud and she was back in range. I posted this picture of twin blood sugars after dinner. Later, we settled in for a movie and ice-cream sandwiches. We watched Star Wars Attack of the Clones (I’m burned out watching Barbie movies) and bloused for 26 carbs. The night went well and I never had a CGM alarm all night. Little boy woke up a lot, but he is cutting another tooth. I could have used the sleep, but that happens.

The next day I posted this final picture declaring my weekend of dominating diabetes.

Here is my exact quote on social media, “My wife has been gone all weekend. I’ve watched the kids and I’ve kicked the crap out of Type 1 Diabetes. Domination continues. I got a bunch of comments; one was from a good friend and a long time veteran of Type 1 Diabetes. It was a humorous comment, but still slanted toward caution. I reassured her that I had a point to all this bragging I was doing. Let me explain my point.

Did I really dominate diabetes, or did it dominate my time? Fair question! I think it was a little of both to be frank. The girl’s numbers looked awesome most of the weekend, but they started going south when my wife got home around noon Sunday. Why? I no longer had the time to give such attention to managing their diabetes. Did their numbers get that bad, no, but we did have one 400 plus BG. I think it was due to undercounting some carbs for the afternoon snack. We corrected the high and moved one.

I guess d-parents could dominate Type 1 Diabetes, but you’ll spend a lot of time on it. The only thing you’ll do is look at CGM’s, count carbs and all the other d-duty stuff. You’ll have little time for other things. I did great for 2 and half days, but I did little else. The only other things I did were keep little boy feed and happy, made meals and that was it. Nothing else, watched a couple of movies with the girls, went to a furniture store. The rest of the time, I was chasing down numbers and I got some good numbers. This was a good time to do this, I was at home and no big things on the agenda other than watch the kids while my wife was gone.

In everyday life, we have a lot of things to do. If your child goes high, correct them, fix low and change sites, or whatever needs to be done. You have wives, husbands, non-d kids, jobs, pets, houses and the sorts to take care of too. Don’t lose track of life chasing perfect blood sugar; it’s not worth it and the return will only be a 6.8 A1C over a 7.5. Your life is more than diabetes. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a big part, but not all of it.  I dominated Type 1 Diabetes, but it dominated my time too.

Godspeed

Tim