Hello friends,
I have been out of the blogging loop since well before Thanksgiving, due to wonderful adventures and holiday celebrations and winter break, and a broken computer, and the list goes on and on. So I have no idea how you all have been for the last couple of months, but I hope this finds you well.
And I realize it is poor form to post asking for advice when I've been MIA for weeks upon weeks but that is just what I am here to do. I hope to catch up with your lives as soon as I can, but I have a rather pressing question in the meantime.
L is going on a school ski trip next weekend. John and I volunteered to be chaperons, but there are no parents allowed, so as to foster independence and responsibility amongst the 5th graders. Which is awesome. Except for the fact that the ski lodge is 6 hours away from here. And she will be skiing all day Saturday and Sunday, AND going to an indoor water park on Saturday night, not to mention the 7 meals she'll have while she's away.
So, the ski trip organizers have bent the rules and graciously allowed us to come along to serve as a safety net, tucked away in case of emergency. L and the chaperons know we'll be there, but her classmates do not. And if all goes well, we will not see her at all over the weekend. But if something does happen that requires our immediate attention, we will be nearby and not 6 hours away. This is a tremendous relief to us, as you can imagine.
So what I'd like to know from you guys is, have you ever sent your kid away on a trip like this? A couple of days and nights away from home with a very intense amount of physical activity occurring for much of that time? If so, do you have any helpful hints?
We plan to tell her to program a temp basal while she's on the slopes. But we're wondering if it should be 20%? 25%? 50%? (I realize this is a very personalized decision and of course we're consulting her endo as well.) The school nurse suggested that she carry her glucagon on her person, but we're not sold on the idea. What if she falls on top of it and crushes it/it bruises her (she's never skied before). Also, even if she has it in her pocket if she passes out, will a ski resort medic know what to do? There will be a chaperon acting as a nurse on the trip who is trained in glucagon administration, but she will not be by L's side every moment of every day, nor do we want her to be.
Basically, I'm interested in hearing if your child has done anything similar and if so, what precautions you took or what you learned from the experience that you may not have thought about beforehand.
Thanks for taking the time to read all of this. I hope to get back to posting and reading regularly sooner rather than later. And as I said, I hope the new year is treating you well. :)
Hey Shannon. I believe Meri has sent one (or two) of her boys away on camping w/e's with the boyscouts.
ReplyDeleteI do know that Joe tends to go low while doing activities in the cold. The decreased basal and free snacks sound great...I don't know what you use for lows. We usually use Starbursts, but they get very solid in the cold...so I recommend Glucose tabs. For a more "fatty" snack to keep Joe up I use individually wrapped Lindt Truffles (yes, he is spoiled) or individually wrapped Reeses PB Minis...I believe both to be around 5gs per truffle/mini.
Pack double of everything and whatever you use to secure her site during the swimming.
Good luck and I hope she has fun...and I hope you and your hubby can get in a little fun and relaxation while she hits the slopes!
shannon,
ReplyDeletewhat type of altitude change will you be dealing with? at what elevations are your home, the accommodations for the trip, and the ski mountain? i can share our experiences....we ski every spring break....we have a son with type 1, 11 y.o. i'm clueless with this URL, sorry! you can email me at hobbrx@aol.com & i'd be happy to share info!
kim hobbs
Hi Reyna! Thanks so much for your tips, I hadn't thought about the cold affecting her fast acting carbs, but duh!
ReplyDeleteI think we're probably gonna end up packing triple of everything, just because we're neurotic like that!
And thanks, we hope if we do enough pre-worrying, we can try to relax a little bit while we're up there. I expect the nights to be fraught with the most anxiety. But the CGM will hopefully give us a small measure of comfort overnight.
Thanks again! :)
I've sent J away to camp a couple times...but never in the snow. My rules for my boys are: a blood sugar monitor clipped to them at all times. Fast acting sugar in their pocket, and a cell phone in their other pocket. But with snow?? This changes so many things. Go with your gut. Make sure she has what she needs at an arms reach at all times...and close your eyes and jump in! You have a great attitude...you guys will do great! (Lowering basals is a great idea...but how much? Uhg! I'm of no help there...it is just too personal a decision!)
ReplyDeleteHi Meri, thanks for your expertise! She's gonna have all that with her for sure, and I just hope she'll get cell reception on the mountain. I talked to her NP today and she said especially on the first day, there won't be very much skiing going on, mostly just lessons and a few runs, which makes sense. She gave us some tips about keeping the pump in working order (keep it close to the body for warmth, make sure the screen is facing her body, so in case she falls on it, it won't get cracked), and she told us a percentage she thought would work best as a starting point for her basal. I feel much better after speaking with her, and after hearing from you ladies here. So thanks so much for chiming in! :)
ReplyDeleteCRAZY DISEASE!
ReplyDeleteI'll be paying attention to see how things go. We have practically ZERO experience with D and snow...we live in the desert. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, but I'll be cheering you guys on!
Yep, I've sent mine away...but we don't pump so can't help you with specifics. I just usually plan to back off of the insulin. For us we back off of the ratio. I have found though that excitement also keeps the kids high, so it's a weird balancing act you play between knowing what's right and what's not. But I find that letting them go a bit high on the first day is easier to correct the second day because nerves are gone too. I made the mistake of not backing off enough for Kelsey when she was younger and she was horribly low the first day away. It only caused her embarrasment because the teachers wouldn't let her participate in anything after that.So with Marty's first camp away, I tried to aim for him being a little elevated but it worked out perfectly. Don't know if any of that helps. Sorry...
ReplyDeleteOH and Sean Busby (pro snowboarder and Diabetic) has hints on his website for diabetics and the snow. He recommends using small packets of honey tucked into your snow coat for a quick pick up. It's still edible and dissolves in the cold in the need of a fix. But find his website and he is on Facebook.
Snow doesn't always mean low! A had 3 ski lessons for 1½ hours each day - high every time!! One thing we did note was making sure the pump and tubing were well tucked in so no frozen insulin. Also we made sure the insertion site for the tubing (or CGM sensors too)was in a place not too affected when A fell over( and landed on his backside). Twice we had to change quicksets from sledging and skiing trauma - i.e falling on your bum!! Phone in pocket, glucose tabs and snacks in other pockets. If carrying a glucose monitor/strips again make sure it is in an inside pocket - they don't work well if too cold. Finally have a great time!!
ReplyDeleteWendy - thanks for your support.
ReplyDeleteRenata - thanks for the tips!! I am so sorry to hear that Kelsey had such a bad experience due to her teachers freaking out. We did the same as you did for Marty, kept her a bit high, and it worked out well. And we loved the idea of honey packets, but couldn't find any before she left. No worries, she did just fine with Smarties, which didn't freeze.
FF - Luckily L didn't have any trauma to her sites from falling, though she did have a twisted ankle! As you mentioned, our NP also told us to keep her pump and tubing tucked in (plastic front facing her body, in case she fell on it, so as to not shatter the screen), and she carried carbs and monitor in her inside pockets to keep from freezing. All excellent advice, and I appreciate it so much!