Eleanor wanted me to send a photo of her Dexcom showing her BG in range for 24-hours-straight to her endocrinologist, so I did. Here's the email letter and the photo we sent to Dr. Ham:
Dear Dr. Ham
Eleanor McCalpin (7) requested that I send this photo to Dr. Ham. She was very proud of herself because her BG stayed in range for 24 hours straight. That really doesn't happen all that often, although we do strive for it and reach it from time to time. But furthermore, what was special about this particular day was that it was during the holidays and Eleanor had eaten cookies with frosting and had hot chocolate to drink. Because of the CGM we've gotten better at knowing how her BG will respond to certain foods. The more practice we have, the more we are able to plan ahead. So, for the treats we were able to pre-bolus and superbolus, and prevent a BG spike.
Always trying to Improve
We are not always able to do that, there are days when there's just no way to plan ahead, or wait 15 minutes between bolusing and eating, but we keep learning and we keep making an effort to improve.
It's all coming from Eleanor
What's exciting is that Eleanor herself suggested to me that we pre-bolus for the cookie. Then, she went and got a book to read to pass the time while she waited for the timer to signal she could finally eat. I'm proud of her awareness and her self motivation. I think the visual feedback she gets CGM really helps give her ownership of her diabetes management. She can see immediately what happens if she eats a cookie or a cupcake… and she can see what a difference it makes if she waits just 15 minutes before she eats it instead of eating it right away. She says cupcakes even taste better when she has to wait for them.
Trying Whole Milk
We've also found that putting whole milk on her cereal instead of skim mitigates her post breakfast spike tremendously. We decided to try this because her Daddy, who is also wearing a CGM now, discovered that he had a dramatic difference in his post breakfast spike depending on wether he put real cream in his coffee or non-fat non-dairy creamer. Even if the carb content of their breakfast is identical… the fat content completely changes how fast their BG rises.
Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitors Make a Difference!
The CGMs have become invaluable tools for both of them. Michael (her daddy) has had diabetes for 14 years, and he's always had good control, but in the first four months since he started wearing a Dexcom, his HbA1c dropped an entire point.
Hot Chocolate Mustache - She can eat Anything with enough planning
Anyway, I'll wrap this up. Eleanor wanted Dr. Ham to see the photo of her Dexcom in range for 24 hours straight, so here it is (I hope you can also see her hot chocolate mustache), along with a photo of her reading on her Kindle while she waits to eat the cookie, and a photo of the Santa cookie (with lots of extra icing).
Just feeling Proud
We don't have any questions or need any feedback from the CDEs,
Eleanor just felt proud and pleased, and wanted to share some good news.
Thank you, and Happy New Year!Julie, Michael & Eleanor McCalpin
