Tessa was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when she was 18 mos old. From then until a few mos before she turned 3yo, she got 5 injections/day and anywhere from 6-10 finger sticks (still does) to check her blood sugar. Once she started using an insulin pump, instead of injections, the insulin is administered through a catheter that stays under the skin. We change the pump site every 48 hours, so it's less needles but involves a pretty big needle that inserts the catheter. In the pic above, she's showing off her new pump site right after I changed it. We use numbing cream when possible to make the site change more comfortable. The needle is shown below.
The pic below is our diabetes cabinet, with all of her pump supplies, extra glucose test strips, lancets, alcohol and tacky wipes, a blood ketone meter and strips to check for ketones when her blood sugar is very high, all of her paperwork, insulin syringes and needles in case of pump failure, numbing cream and the clear plastic adhesive that holds it in place, spare glucometers and more. We keep her insulin in the refrigerator.
Below is her diabetes drawer. This has the supplies we need daily, such as lancets, some wipes, emergency glucagon, spare lancet device, and the insulin vial we are currently using. Insulin can stay at room temp for a month when the vial has been used.
Below is Tessa's "kit" that she carries everywhere she goes....school (to every class, playground and lunch room), soccer fields, anytime we leave the house, it comes with us. It has her glucometer which is also a remote to her insulin pump, juices and skittles for treating hypoglycemia, and the laminated tag has her emergency information on one side. She also wears a MedicAlert bracelet that never comes off of her wrist.
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