Topic 1: A day in the life....with diabetes

 - Wake up around 7:15am and do blood sugar test

 - Use sliding scale to figure out Novolog dose per Taylar's "set in stone" 50-55 grams of carbs breakfast; 2 units.  Mix, by syringe, along with 12 units of NPH and give her a shot.

 - Because we are on a saline trial for the OmniPod, Taylar and I then work together to give a saline bolus to cover her breakfast.

 - PUT PDM IN TAYLAR'S BACKPACK!

- 8am - Eat said breakfast consisting of a set amount of carbs using our digital kitchen scale to weigh and measure.  Get dressed, brush hair...all that other good stuff while I...

 - Make Taylar's lunch for school consisting of yet another "set in stone" 45-50 grams of carbs.  And, because of the pump trial, write down a big "50" on a slip of paper and put it in her lunch box so the school nurse will know how much of a saline bolus she'll get at lunch.  Otherwise, she usually does not get a shot at lunch because the morning NPH covers it.  However, if I go over the set 45-50 carbs at lunch it makes her sky high because the NPH can't handle it.  Oh yah, throw a morning snack in her bag also.

 - Attempt to make the bus before it drives by and ask Taylar to re-check her bag for the PDM and remind her to go right inside and give it to the nurse when she gets off the bus.  I also remind her to see the nurse at her morning snack time.

 - 10:30 Taylar has her snack with the rest of the class at morning recess. BUT before she goes outside she sees the nurse for another saline bolus per the carbs on her packaged snack.

 - 12:00 Taylar goes to lunch but leaves five minutes before her class to check in with the nurse.  She does a bg test and bolus covering her 45 g carbs is delivered with the PDM (that we remembered to pack! Yay!) 

 - Meanwhile, at home, I wait for the phone to ring between 12:00 and 12:15 for a "she's high" or "she's low" phone call.

 - At 2:00 Taylar grabs a snack from her afternoon snack stash and eats it in class because her morning NPH is about to peak and I don't want her to be low at 3:00 when she gets off the bus. She's the only one having a snack at this time. (She doesn't go down for a bolus this week because once we start the OmniPod for real this 2:00 snack will go away.)

 - 3:15 off the bus.  Check Taylar's backpack for the PDM!  Do homework and play outside (hopefully) and then she'll bug me for a snack around 4:00.  Because dinner is a whole hour away I have her test.  Depending on what it is she may have something small to hold her over until dinner is ready.

 - 5:00 is dinner time. Do a bg test and dose Novolog pen depending on how many carbs she is going to eat, usually around 55.  She usually gives herself the injections with the pen, so I just watch.

 - Grab the PDM and deliver a fake bolus based on her food.

 - 7:00 is bedtime snack time.  Do bg test and give her 14-18g carbs and shot of 4 units of NPH to cover her at night.

There's a lot of eating going on every 2 hours!  It's very difficult living by the carb count and by the clock but months ago we figured this is what worked best because we are fairly "routine" household.  (Don't ask me what her numbers look like on most weekends though!) 

Tomorrow will be our first day using the OmniPod with insulin and not saline!  I can't wait for Taylar to have more freedom to eat when she's hungry instead of because the clock tells her to.  I also can't wait until she has a 70 carb lunch!  Oh the horror! :)