To most people a juice box is a treat for the lunch box or packed as a team snack for the big game. For my family having a juice box on hand at all times is imperative. Since my son’s Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosis we have learned a lot of things which I plan to continually share. Today I want to share how a juice box saved my Type 1 Diabetic son’s life!
Eldest is 12 years old and loves playing video games, building with Lego’s, and running around at the park like any kid his age. The difference is his constant battle each and every day with Type 1 Diabetes. It’s an autoimmune disease which many people think is like Type 2 but I will tell you it’s not!
Type 2 Diabetics have the “luxury” to manage their illness with diet and exercise much easier then a Type 1. Our son could eat exactly the same thing and play in the same way each and every day but that doesn’t always equal the same amount of insulin. His blood glucose levels can go up and down at the drop of a hat. Type 1 Diabetics are affected by the slightest amount of stress, hormone changes, increase of activity or decrease of activity. “Stress” can be temperature change, a challenging school assignment, more sleep, less sleep, or a fight with a sibling. So you can see the challenges facing a Type 1 Diabetic are numerous!
We were at the park with our homeschool co-op playing when Eldest didn’t feel quite right. He does wear a Dexcom CGM but when you are running around playing with friends you might not hear the alerts. His low alert went off and the next thing we know he was checking his sugar and reaching for a juice box! His blood sugar had been above 200 but dropped to mid 60’s after being dosed for lunch and playing. Without that juice box to increase his blood sugar levels he could have passed out, had a seizure, or went into a coma!
Very real, very scary situations that happen each and every day for Type 1 Diabetics.
So you see having cases of juice boxes on hand are a much needed pantry item for our family. When I was at Aldi over the Summer they had juice boxes on clearance and I ended up buying 216 in all. That seems a little excessive but we have used them for low’s in the middle of the night or while at the park or when spending the night on a blog trip. We used two juice boxes last night to get his blood sugar up from the 70’s since a Type 1 Diabetic shouldn’t go to sleep alone without a BG of 120 or higher unless you are checking every couple of hours!
Our T1D journey began on a cold December day with Eldest being diagnosed 12/13/14 and being in DKA! We have had many ups and downs through our journey with a T1D entering puberty and hormones and insulin colliding. Join us as we share tips to cope with T1D through our monthly newsletter.
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Something very close to my heart.
Praise be to fruit juice!
#brilliantblogposts
Wow go aldi, 216!! So good that it’s so easy for him to do for himself.
You’re a very strong person, to be able to deal with such stress and still smile for a photo 🙂 as is your son. I’ve gotten to know my distant cousin in the last fews years, she’s an adult suffering from Type 1 and has such a handle on it, it’s easy to forget she’s keeping an eye on her blood sugars constantly.
Thank you so much for sharing,
Georgee xx
How scary!! I can see why you’d want to have those juice boxes on hand!!
Hubby said he needed another one in the middle of the night last night! Type 1 Diabetes is worse then having a newborn!
Sarah,
Yes, it is scary even though he is 12 years old. We are still getting used to the idea of him being a T1D! It’s almost his 1 year diagnosis anniversary. Time has flown by.
Just an incredible post…. I give it up for you and you kid… you are strong and your kid for know his symptoms and what he needs…
thanks for linkup with us and sharing this great post.. #Alittlebitofeverything
ONLY down to mid 60’s and saying it “saved his life???”
My Type 1 was diagnosed in September 1991 and I’ve only had ONCE where I had EMT’s respond or been transported to Hospital due to hypoglycemia… The EMT’s absolutely REFUSED to tell me what my BG was when they arrived at my place, but before insisting on taking me to the Hospital, they called the Hospital and told them “His Blood Glucose is finally UP TO 40… He’s safe to transport now.”
And I’ve remained fully conscious, alert, and able to self-treat with blood glucose too low for the BG meter to register… And that with a meter rated as able to accurately register BG levels from 10 – 600. My LOWEST BG level while awake happened while I was working on top of a 40 foot extension ladder and when I checked my BG after getting off the ladder, my BG at the time was down to 12!!! YES, you read that right… just TWO higher than TEN!!!
Dont let others steal your joy! Do most meters read down to 12? Ours will only read 20 to 500. Below or over reads LO or HI. I think the guy is stretching the truth. Thaleia I agree juice and other fast acting carbs help get our children out of danger. And yes each person does react somewhat differently even within what is considered a norm!
My daughter has been able to run around while her bg is in the 30’s. Other times she can feel like she’s going to pass out when her bg is around 60. This disease is never that cut and dry.
We all struggle to maintain healthy numbers, and every T1 is different. I could feed my daughter the exact same food every day, with the exact same basal and bolus settings … and her blood sugars would never be the same.
Actually, I remember one time when she was reading around 120, she felt so miserable she was shaking and crying. Her bg was just dropping very fast.
Childrens’ growth patterns and hormone levels are such a huge factor in maintaining consistent numbers.
To Mark, I assume you’re probably past the puberty years.
I’ve actually never thought to use juice boxes! My T1 is 10 now, dx at 7. We get the sugar glucose tabs to have on hand. Problem is, my 6 year old keeps getting into them and eating them as candy! :/
The cheapest place I’ve found them is Meijer – they have the large 100 tab bottles for a bit over four bucks. Sometimes CVS has them buy one get one free, and that’s a good deal as well.
Praying for your guy. T1D is the scariest thing we’ve ever had to deal with as a family.
I can’t even imagine a young child having to deal with Diabetes. Those juice boxes are so convenient to carry with you when you aren’t going to be home for hours. Thank you for sharing this story so others can be prepared. I never feel bad with my diabetes until my blood sugar drops really low and can be scary.
WOW, I never thought a juice box would help. Although me ex was diagnosed with diabetes at 4 and when his would drop he would ask for juice or a candy box. So the next time juice boxes go on sale I am going to stock up just encase one of Charlies friends comes over and has diabetes as you can never be to sure.