Okay yall~ you don’t know me well yet, but you will I have confidence... I am not someone who HAS to have an order to things, you look in my closet and there are clothes everywhere, look in my bedroom and my husband has to ask is this basket clean or dirty, look in my Tupperware cabinet and you will be searching for matching pieces~ do you get my point? I don’t like clutter and an unorganized house that just seems to be what I have. Everything was okay pre Dx. I would "snap" as my husband called it every week and freak out throwing things away, donating and promising to sell it on Craig’s list. I would put a new "system" in place to help us make it easier... It would work for a day or 2 and then be back to normal life with 2 kids, 2 parents, dog, cat 2 jobs and life.
Fast Forward to 2/13/10 D day... I now MUST have order and need your help. I feel like I am running to stand still trying to catch up to the Diabetes.
1. What system do you have in place for making sure you have everything you need when walking out the door. What is in your packed bag for everyday trips to the store, to drop off brother to preschool. With a 13 month old I feel like I am packing the kitchen sink and I still find I am missing something...
2. Is there a bag you have fallen in love with that you would recommend to keep it all in?
3. What system have you put in place to communicate with your spouse and the dr about the carb intake and BS numbers and insulin consumed?? I have to fax a sheet in every week and I think I have missed the last 2 weeks because we can’t find where someone wrote it down and I don’t want to send in a 1/2 done sheet and they think I’m not giving him his meds. (Since he is so young we are on food first then cover and correct)
4. Do you stick to a strict time schedule or are you more flexible and roll with the punches?
5. What other tricks work for you to keep things rolling???
I am sure once I get this in place I will feel like I can kick D in the butt right?!?!?!?
Ha, you sound like me! Every so often I flip out and threaten to garage sale everything that is in my way. I'll try to answer as best I can:
ReplyDelete1. In Elise's diaper bag I keep a back-up meter (with lancet and test strips), alcohol pads, back-up glucagon, glucose tabs, a gerber baby apple juice in case of a low, ketostix, cotton balls, calculator, travel scale, and a not-so-perishable snack (like Aunt Annie's fruit bunnies, or a snack-sized pack of cheezits - all around 15g of carbs). That way, all I have to do is throw the main meter, her ketone meter and her sippy cup in the bag and I'm out the door.
If we are going to be eating while we're out, I also have a cooler bag that is already packed with syringes, alcohol pads, another calculator, notepad and pen (for keeping track of carbs). Then I just throw an ice pack and her insulin and whatever food she'll be eating inside.
2. I still use Elise's diaper bag, since Elise is still in diapers, it's okay. It's a backpack made by Columbia and it's pretty handy. It has a small section to keep stuff cool. The best thing is it has a lifetime warranty. I've replaced it twice now when the stitching on the cooler part came undone.
3. We have a clipboard with log sheets printed out on our kitchen counter, that way we write it down as we go. We don't email our logs in anymore, but it's still handy to write down so you can see trends. I can email you a pdf of our log sheet if you like.
4. We are on the insulin NPH, so we are pretty scheduled. But I like my life that way. It helps me to know what to expect. But most people hate it and I can understand why. Lantus or a pump will help if you want to become less restricted. I know some endos don't like Lantus or a pump for babies, but if you push, you could get your way. Or find an endo that will work with you.
Having said all that, we have relaxed A LOT since dx.
5. We have a 3-drawer small storage thing that sits on our counter. It doesn't take up a lot of space, and we keep all the day-to-day stuff in there (syringes, lancets, alcohol pads, ketostix). Also, give yourself a break and realize you cannot be perfect all the time. Try organizing one area every three days or so. I tried to have everything perfect all the time and nearly had a nervous breakdown trying to do it. Give yourself time, you'll get there.
Check out this post for some of my favourite D-things: http://www.deathofapancreas.com/2009/10/these-are-few-of-my-favourite-d-things.html
Joanne and Shannon,
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this! I am trying to figure out how to pack and what to bring as well. T is 13 so it is a lot easier than having to pack all the other baby/toddler essentials. We are still looking for the perfect bag- something practical that a 13 year old young guy will carry around and still look cool. We devoted a cupboard in the kitchen for all his supplies so we don't have to look at them all the time. We are doing NPH on school days so he doesn't have to dose at junior high.
He carries a meter, test strips, lancets, syringes, all 3 of his insulins (I am paranoid about natural disasters and lock downs), alcohol wipes, glucogon, log book, a list of carb counts for frequently eaten foods, juices, a couple of 15 carb snacks and a small sharps container.
I also made up insulated lunch boxes with test strips,syringes, keto sticks, alchohol wipes, juice, snack, glucogon, lancets and poker, and an extra meter and gave one to the school office, keep one in each of our vehicles, gave one to his Karate Sensei and keep a spare for anything else.
I had to make individual bags and keep them in places we frequent (like the truck, etc.) that I way I don't have to remember- and I have less to haul around. With two little ones, I am sure you do have to pack the kitchen sink!
We struggle with a schedule as well, our situation is a little different because of school and activities but it is a constant juggling act. We do NPH during the week so T doesn't have to dose at lunch at school. On weekends we often don't so we have more flexibility. We do make sure he gets his levemier every night at the same time. I can't imagine how challenging it is to have a little one with naps, eating, drop offs, pick ups etc. I think you just have to keep experimenting until you found out what works for you. With the NPH, it peaks 4-5 hours (approximate) after being given so the carbs must be covered at that time. I can see how that would be tough with a toddler.
I have never heard of a ketone meter but will definitely be checking it out. We haven't tackled travel yet, but it has only been 6 weeks.
As for organizing the rest of the house, I am giving up temporarily and have lowered the standards. As long as the smell from the fridge isn't funky and we all have clothes I am calling the household a success.
Right now it is one thing at a time, until I am more confident as a co-pancreas, I will ignore my messy house and enjoy my family and kids instead of stress about the chaos. As time goes by I will get reorganized and regrouped.
We have a note book that we log everything in for now- maybe a binder would work better for you so you can email your log. It has to be portable because part of the time T is in school and he is old enough to be part of the process.
Maybe tackle one area at a time and pace yourself. If anyone ever asks you "What can I do to help?" take them up on it. Have them come help you tackle an area and don't be embarrassed, let someone else do the drop off/pick up, have someone come play with the kids at your house so you can tackle an area and do it the way you want to, but you could still be available to check on little guy. Be gentle with yourself, we are learning and processing so much. You are doing great. Take care.
April
It's hard at 1st but somehow just becomes the norm to pack up the kitchen sink after a while! It reminds me a lot of having my 1st baby. It seemed overwhelming to pack everything up for this little newborn that needed so much while we were out and about. We are 6-months into Nate's dx and it seems a bit easier now.
ReplyDelete1 & 2) We received a backpack from the JDRF at dx and we still use it as a diaper bag/Diabetes bag. Like Joanne we keep an extra meter in the bag so it is always there. Now that we are pumping it is so much easier to just grab our PDM and go. We were on NPH and Humalog before pumping so I always had n the backpack, alcohol wipes, syringes, test strips, meter, lancet, Calorie King book, a cooler bag full of snacks for lows (things that are in little baggies with the carb calcs already on the bag), and at least 2 15g carb juice boxes. Oh yea and diapers, wipes and the kitchen sink!
3) We have a whiteboard on our fridge that is sectioned off into meal/snack times and we write Nate's bg info in each section after each check so that it is on there for everyone to see then at night I add the info to our log (on the computer) to easily email it to the endo.
here is a post from early on that has a picture of the whiteboard. It looks different now as we modified it to meet our needs - - -
http://thehoustonfive.blogspot.com/2009/10/599-sweeter-and-sweeter.html
4)Are you on NPH -if so it requires the strict schedule. When it peaks it peaks hard and can cause terrible lows. Before the pump we were VERY strict with our schedule. It kind of sucked! I am not a super scheduled kind of person - - - more of a roll with the punches kind of gal so it was hard for us to stay so scheduled. Now that we are pumping we don't have to be that strict but I find myself sticking pretty close to that original schedule. I guess it just grew me.
5) You will find what works best for you and your family. It is SO hard at 1st - just overwhelming. I was there just 6 months ago with my then 14-month old son so believe me when I say that I know how you are feeling.
Feel free to email me anytime - - - houstonwehaveaproblem@verizon.net
Let me know if I can help in any way!