Diaversary #5

Amy at the Lilly National Paediatric Team
Conference in May

Another year passes, another 122 insulin pump set changes, another 3500 blood glucose checks, another 2000 carbohydrate guesses and insulin doses and numerous daily Type 1 Diabetes management tasks.

I’m no longer feeling the ‘Meh‘ I felt this time last year but I’m glad I felt like that then as it’s spurred me on for this year.

Amy’s diabetes management has never looked so good. She has – and we have – put a lot of work into getting her levels within range, her glucose fluctuations smaller. As a result her HbA1c yearly average looks favourably against the new NICE target of 6.5%. It’s no small feat, it takes a lot of work and I hope it isn’t taking its toll on Amy’s soul. Some days it appears it’s done with ease, others it’s a struggle, some days fluctating levels seem minimal, but rarely.

Dexcom G4 CGM, Nightscout and xDrip have played a big part in this year’s reduced A1Cs. I built our first xDrip in early January and it’s been used on and off since then – we self fund so full time CGM use is out of the equation. It’s given us lots of data to enable us to pin-point insulin:carb ratios, insulin sensitivity factors and durations, all of which are necessary to help with the many insulin doses and corrections required. We’ve got better at altering her basal profile, a task we do together, and this too has made a difference. After a trial Amy requested her very own white pebble watch to view her glucose readings on, leading me into a world of smartwatch envy which I just couldn’t battle for long 🙂 My watch will easily – and silently – wake me if Amy’s glucose levels drifts into areas we’d rather it wasn’t, meaning I can get up and treat her levels before she drifts back off to sleep and wakes up within range in the morning. I believe this management is priceless in enabling Amy to progress into the top sets of most of her school classes.

With all this CGM data there is a price to pay in the name of there perhaps being too much data. You can be teased into a world of constant alterations, boluses and TBRs and often it’s a good idea to take a step back. It’s a very fine line which I’m not sure we’ve figured out properly yet. That’s a good thing about enforced CGM breaks, no alarms.

I’m so proud of Amy’s management of her Type 1, she doesn’t sing and dance about it, she doesn’t seek limelight nor sympathy, she just gets on with it no matter how much it may hurt her body or mind that day. We give her the encouragement – sometimes a lot – she needs but ultimately she calls the shots. As time moves on she will call more and more shots but for the time being this is a joint effort through and through.

2016 is possibly set to be a great advocacy year, particularly for Nightscout and I’m proud that Amy will be by my side for some of this.