The Last Word

It was bound to happen.  I’d been looking forward to a one day writing class when Henry’s kayak team trip came up for the same weekend.  My first thought was uncharitable. My second thought was ‘he can stay home’; after all I’ve spent a good chunk of the last six years chaperoning fieldtrips, camps and school events.  Henry had other ideas.

Problem:  A 12 boy with diabetes gets on a bus at Green Lake at 4am on Saturday for his first overnight trip to Canada with his kayak team without either of his parents. Calculate parental stress levels. Don’t forget to factor in: 1).Boy’s father is cub scout camping with son #2 same weekend and no cell phone signal and 2). No other child/parent attending the kayak event from his team is previously familiar with diabetes.

Rate parental stress on a scale of 1 to 10. Level One: What stress? I’m heading to the spa!

Level Ten:  My heartburn resembles the Icelandic volcano.

A teammate’s Dad chaperoning the trip offered to help out with Henry’s care.   There is a special place in heaven for brave souls like this.  This NDP (Non Diabetes Parent) was happy to do things outside of giving injections and drawing blood. We figured Henry needed someone to 1). Keep track of his diabetes bag since he tends to walk away from his supplies and 2). Remind him to check his blood sugar very frequently throughout the day.   Henry was highly motivated about this trip. The team was riding on a bus, staying with athletes at their homes overnight and spending 2 days racing on some lovely Canadian lake...important things for a 12 year old trying to lead a ‘normal’ life.

I lost a lot of sleep (but alas no weight) mulling this trip over. If everything went right, it would be a real turning point for all of us.  In case of disaster, we could gain some experience with the Canadian healthcare system. Henry and I talked a lot about how to do this.  He’ll be responsible for checking his blood sugar and drawing up/administering his insulin.  I would be available by phone the whole time (I checked out the cell phone coverage there first). Although Henry is on a pump, we decided he’d use lantus and novalog for this trip.  Losing the pump in the lake and dealing with the insurance company again added another level of unnecessary stress.

Things I had to consider: 1). with so much exercise his lantus would have to be reduced to prevent lows, 2). with checking his blood sugar every hour or so, he’d need a lot of carb snacks, 3). he’d be counting carbs all on his own, 4). adjusting his insulin to carb ratio  5). Unknowns like water and air temperature, adrenaline/excitement affecting his blood sugar 6). What would be his parameters for treating lows, treating highs and getting him on target pre-race?

Gosh, I sure wish he was ‘regulated’ that would really make things easier!

When the weekend finally arrived, I felt ill with anxiety.  I was upbeat about this great opportunity with Henry while at the same time encouraging him to call me with ANY questions, ANYTIME. 

After he left early in the am, I didn’t hear much from Henry during the day. I called a few times. NDP said he was checking, treating and racing. Henry was also having an awesome time.  That night, NDP, his son and Henry all stayed with the same family.  The host had grown up with a family member having diabetes. Henry told me this at 11pm when NDP woke him for a BS check, BS= 60 and “Mom I’m out of fast acting carbs”.  Bless this Mom for having orange juice!   I way over treated him out of anxiety. NDP would wake him again for a 3 am check and call me. I fretted for the next several hours while waiting for the 3am call. I made a cherry pie at 2am while waiting.  Naturally, his BS was 350 since I over treated him earlier. Arrgh but at least he hadn’t been at risk for a seizure.   A very sleepy Henry administered some insulin with quite a bit of back and forth between the two of us on the phone at 3am. I wanted to know he was awake enough to know what he was doing.

I didn’t hear from his again until the bus trip home. They stopped at a buffet restaurant for dinner and Henry was busy counting carbs.  He came home tired but full of stories about his teammates and his races. And wanting to go to Nationals (next year I suggested).  Our gratitude to NDP is beyond words.

My own anxiety from the weekend was significant but my pride at Henry outweighs it all.  

What our kids do to lead a normal life is pretty damn exceptional.