Hospital times: lessons learned

  • The pancreas of a glucose-normal regulates the blood glucose well. The pancreas of a T1D doesn’t, and we have to do it all by hand
  • Our cells use glucose (carbs) for energy, and need insulin  for that. We T1Ds need to provide the insulin by injecting it
  • Our pancreas uses glucagon to cause BG to go up. WE T1Ds need to eat carbs for that
  • There are two types of insulin. One is long-acting “basal” insulin: we inject it once or twice per day. Another is short-acting “bolus”insulin: we inject it when we eat, or anytime we are high
  • We need to constantly test to track our BG, in order to make the corrections we need so as to properly regulate it
  • Ketones in our blood can be dangerous: whenever we have been high for a several hours we need to test ketones, to make sure that we are not close to DKA
  • Hydration is more critical to T1Ds [than to glucose-normals], and needs a high priority
  • T1Ds don’t have a choice about injections: we need to get accustomed to them willy-nilly.
  • The know-how we acquire from nurses is critical to being able to go home with a good basis on treating diabetes the first few weeks.
  • In my opinion, the most important thing for a T1D to do is to decide that we are unlimited by diabetes. Anything a glucose-normal can do we can do. It just takes us more work, sometimes a lot more—-but we can do it all.

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