Rear View Mirror

Today while driving in the car I heard one of the most dreadful sounds you can hear.....the sound of the LOW alarm on the CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) I grabbed the CGM out of J's backpack and turned on the screen.......89 slanted arrow down, which means he is dropping 1-2 points a minute! I would normally check his blood glucose but I obviously can't do that while driving! I'm good but not that good ;) So, I just had to treat the low based on that number and trend information because I am just not willing to take the chance and wait.

I can't even put into words the feeling that rushes over you when you notice that your T1D child has fallen asleep in the car or you hear that dreadful alarm. Life before the CGM alarms I would stare as hard as I could (while staying safe) into my rear view mirror looking for him to take breaths and watching for signs of worsening conditions all the while rushing as quickly and safely as possible to the nearest spot to pull over and check his finger. There is always the chance that he is not just asleep, that he has passed out from a low blood sugar! We have had to wake him on numerous occasions to treat lows and we have also had to wake him up when it was just simply an innocent nap and his blood sugar was fine. There is just no way to distinguish between the two!

I remember the days before T1D came crashing into our world and I would feel relief when the kids fell asleep in the car. I would just sit there enjoying the peace and quiet. These are the kind of days I took for granted, the carefree "easy" days. Now, that peace and quiet I once enjoyed is filled with panic, fear and awful thoughts.

Now, that we have the CGM it is not quiet as scary as before. However, we have seen the calibration be 100 points off, so there is always that chance that it could be wrong and the number could be substantially higher or lower than the reading on the screen.

Today, I believe that it was right on target and I was able to avoid a low blood sugar. Once we arrived to our destination I checked his BG and it was 110 with the 8g of carbs that I had given him in the car.....perfect! Whew! However, there are times that I am not that lucky and I cause a high blood sugar. I will always treat on the safe side because I would rather correct the rebound high later then have J pass out or have a seizure because I decided to wait until I could check his BG.

So, if you ever see a parent driving down the road staring in their rear view mirror, just remember they could be a D-Parent and they are just watching making sure their child is still breathing until they find a safe place to pull over and check their child's BG!!!

If you are not a D-Parent and you are reading this, then please don't take those days for granted. Soak in those moments of peace and quiet while you watch your child safely napping in their car seat because those are the little moments that I would give anything and everything to have back!!