Thursday, May 5, 2011

Mini-Glucagon Saves the Day

We got to crack open our first red box tonight. And thanks to Reyna, Hallie and the rest of the DOC, we knew what to do.

I'm not quite sure what happened. I know he was pretty active today and when my husband took him out for dinner, he ate about 100 carbs worth of food, so he dosed him for it.

Then came the impromptu dance party in the living room followed by a warm bath and a site change. Maybe the activity combined with the rapid insulin absorption from the warm bath made things crazy? Who knows.

Upon checking his blood sugar after the site change, I realized he was at 130 with 3 units on board.

My husband and I looked at each other with our "Oh Shit" faces. Of COURSE we were out of juice (bad diabetic mommy) so he ran to the store while I gave him 23 carbs worth of chocolate.

After that and one juice box, he was 82. It was way past his bedtime and he was falling asleep on us, so we forced one more juice box down him plus 2 glucose tabs. He refused to eat or drink any more after this.

Fifteen minutes later he was sound asleep and his blood sugar was 68.

Double Shit.

Thanks to the DOC, I knew that mini-glucagon dosing would probably be appropriate in this situation. (right? did I do the right thing?) He wasn't going to eat or drink anymore, he wouldn't wake up (not unconscious, just ridiculously tired) and his BG was going to keep dropping due to the insulin on board.

My husband got a syringe (and now like Hallie suggested, I'll always have a U-30 syringe rubber-banded to the box because I had to dig in our cabinet for the box of syringes) and I looked up the protocol for the mini-glucagon dosing. We swirled our powder, and drew up 5 units (since he's 5 years old) and went upstairs with Jason using my new flashlight app on my phone as light (thanks, Heidi!) and injected it into his leg. He said "ow" and stayed asleep.

Fifteen minutes later he was 141. And just now he was 208. Edited to add that it's 11pm now, and he's sitting at 200-ish. I am now very, very fond of the mini-glucagon protocol!

Whew.

Thank you, DOC. I don't know what we'd do without you. I seriously would have panicked and freaked out if it weren't for all of you and what you share with this community. ((Hugs))

11 comments:

  1. When I read the "3 units on board" I said, holy shit....like minds!! :)
    So glad the mini-gluc did the trick. Way to go super pancreas mama!
    Hope the rest of the night brings good numbers and all is back to rights in the morning.

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  2. This post gave me the chills! I'm so relieved Adam's okay!!!

    The DOC is amazing. Where would we be without each other?!

    Glad that flashlight app is working well for you, too! Such a great freebie app!

    Hugs and best wishes for good numbers!!

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  3. WOWZA!

    You're AWESOME!!!!!!! WAY TO GO TEAM ADAM!

    You guys did GREAT :) SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!!

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  4. Because of the DOC, I am no longer afraid of the little red box. Glucagon should be our friend :-) Sounds like you did just the right thing. Hoping for a good night for you guys!

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  5. WoHOOO for Mini Gluc. It has saved our "bacon" a couple of times. I honestly think the more people that know about it the better. I always have one in my Woodchuck. You never know when you may need one "on-the-go" :)

    xoxo.

    Glad Adam is OK.

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  6. I would say Mini Gluc is probably the best thing I've learned via doc. Haven't had to use it yet -- good thing -- but I'm happy I know what to do if necessary. Glad you knew what to do, too.

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  7. How scary, yet perfectly under control you seemed!!! Yeah for mini glucagon!! Sorry you had to do it, Stephanie, but it is a tool that packs a punch JUST when it is needed. Thanks for sharing how it happened so we can all take note.

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  8. wow...just wow!
    I am glad he is ok and i admire you for what you do every day. :)

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  9. Good job! You saved the day.... or Night! ;)

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  10. It has it's time and place indeed. Glad you were able to make it work for you guys. Great job!

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  11. Wow - I would say you kicked butt on this one!
    Great job! We haven't had to use glucagon in any way but I feel pretty confident thanks to the DOC I would be ok using it for the mini gluc. Awesome!!!

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