Two years ago on World Diabetes Day, with the help of my amazing mother and step-dad, Team Kure Kel hosted T1D1D or Type 1 Diabetes for 1 Day. The activity included live text messages throughout the day based on what a typical day can be like for someone with type 1. Nursing students at Saint Anselm College participated, as well as friends, family, and various members of the T1D community. It was a great success. I have pasted the texts below for anyone who is interested. Thank you for reading and if anyone has any questions or ever needs a friend who can potentially offer some T1D advice, I’m your gal!
8:00 am: Welcome to the T1D1D challenge! Ready to be a Type 1 for the day? Let’s go! PS: I am on an insulin pump, so messages will be sent accordingly. T1Ds taking injections would have the additional steps of dose calculations and multiple injections.
8:01 am: Morning blood sugar check. A normal glucose is between 80-120. Poke! 188. Give 3 units of insulin to correct.
8:48 am: Getting ready to go for the day. Make sure you have your meter; pump is connected to you; emergency kit with juice box, glucose tablets, extra battery, ketone strips, extra pump supplies; and glucagon emergency injection kit.
9:00 am: Breakfast. Blood is 114. Perfect! Yogurt 15g carb, wheat toast 22g. Put info into pump and give 4 units. Wait for insulin to kick in.
9:10 am: Insulin takes 10-15 minutes to begin to work! Bon appetite!
10:30 am: Sitting in class and feeling a little shaky and sweaty. Blood check. 61. Excuse yourself from class and drink a 15g juice box.
10:45 am: You’ve felt miserable for 15 minutes but you’ve been patient, good job! Blood check, 118. On the up. Eat 2 peanut butter crackers to stabilize blood sugar and go ahead back to class.
12:15 pm: Lunchtime! Turkey sandwich on wheat wrap 52g, medium sized apple 21g. Blood check 221. Perhaps you overcorrected for your low. Put info into pump and give 14 units. Wait for insulin to kick in.
12:30 pm: Insulin has begun to work! Bon appetite!
2:00 pm: You get back to your room to find your roommates sharing some leftover Halloween candy. You eat a KitKat, yum!
2:20 pm: Shoot! You forgot to bolus for that KitKat! Blood check. 191. Give a correction dose.
4:00 pm: You’re feeling fit and fun! Time to go to the gym! Blood check. 124. Eat a 15g granola bar to avoid going low during your workout. Keep your pump connected unless doing intense cardio.
5:30 pm: Dinner! Blood check. 87. Chicken 0g, 1 cup rice 43g, veggies 5g. Put info into pump. Suggested bolus 8 units. Reduce by 25% to avoid dropping low post workout. Give 6 units.
7:20 pm: Reservoir almost empty in your pump, time for a site change. This refills the insulin in your pump and replaces the site that connects the pump to your body. It takes about 10 minutes and involves one big POKE!
8:55 pm: Feeling very thirsty, urinating frequently, headache, and snapping at your roommates. Blood check. 299. Check for ketones, negative. Phew. Give injection with a syringe and change pump site again. Suspect it was an occluded site.
10:05 pm: Heading to bed. Nighttime blood check. 161. Good, coming down. Sweet dreams!
1:56 am: Wake up in a cold sweat. Were you dreaming about food or dreaming of an emergency? Sometimes that happens to me! Blood check. 56. Must’ve been the workout and maybe too much insulin with the syringe correction. Have a juice box and a couple skittles. Watch some late night T.V. to stay awake.
2:13 am: Check again. 98. On the up. Have a Reese’s cup to stabilize and head back to bed.
8:00 am: Good morning! Blood check, 123. Perfect! Great job correcting in the night.
You made it! Congratulations on finishing the T1D1D challenge! Were you annoyed by the texts? Surprised at the ups and downs? Are you relieved it is over?
Thank you so much for sticking it out. We hope you learned something! Remember, your day as a T1D is over, but for millions of us around the world, this is our life day after day, and it is not just text messages. It’s real time out of our days, it’s real worries, real feelings of shakiness or thirst. However, it also brings out real friends and real supporters like YOU! Thank you from all of us at team Kure Kel!! Let’s keep fighting for a Kure!!
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