My job just trensferred me to suddenly being responsible for managing the blood sugar levels of a diabetic 5-year-old. Not without instruction, and I have been doing fine so far, but this is absolutely terrifying because it is so important. I think I can do this, but it is so scary. I'm experiencing whatever the opposite of alienation from your work is right now. It's actually an amazing feeling. Still terrified though.
I have people to call if I have any questions, which I do very frequently now in the beginning. I actually have a good feeling about this, and can you imagine how great it feels having this kind of responsibility and also feeling like you can actually do it?
I know, but as soon as shit goes south you also feel it. And feel it hard. Be ready for something like that, just in case.
Luckily this is in the central part of a major city, so worst case - which is what I need to be prepared for - an ambulance is never far away. I would feel like shit if I failed like that, but it is a comfort to know.
Can't do that. My best needs to be within very clearly defined blood sugar levels or it is a disaster. I think I can do this, but it's not really a "don't worry, you did your best" kind of situation!
Good job! The only really scary one is hypoglycemia (<4 mmol/L blood glucose), since they're so young chances are they won't be able to compensate like adults can. We can get an adult in DKA, blood pH of 7.0 and they're still talking and walking like nothing is wrong lol. If it's consistently above 10 mmol/L, it's really not that big a deal for a few days or even months. It just makes them feel shitty and not sleep well, they should be okay otherwise
I'm sure you know all this, I dunno guess I'm just talking shop cause I'm a peds nurse. When we get new diabetics in DKA, after correcting pH, ketones and potassium, we leave them between 10 to 15 for a few days as the doctors and dieticians figure out the right insulin regime and carb count ratios.
I lucked out and got a lovely girl who will work with me, so I try to keep it between 4 and 8. She can easily get stuck on high levels where hormones and stuff raise the values further, so I can't leave her at 12, because she can work her way up to 17 from there without any encouragement from my part, but I never have to deal with the "I don't want to" problem, so I can just feed her dates and apple slices to keep things level without any problems.
NO SPOONFULS OF SUGAR PLEASE! That would make everything so much more difficult.
