Sleepover Meltdown

Yesterday was an eventful day, and I am on the fence about sleepovers. Blakely had a sleepover and was very excited. Since being diagnosed, this was her third sleepover. The second with this family, so we were James Bond cool about it all. We dropped her off at her friend’s house in the afternoon with her fully packed bag of supplies and anything else we could think of to help the friend’s parents if there were an emergency.

Now, for the day that was a rollercoaster, she started off with pancakes or breakfast. Blakely LOVES pancakes and can’t say no. I do low-carb versions and have a love for banana and egg pancakes. She knows she is supposed to limit, and I thought the mom would try to have a different option available, but it was her daughter’s birthday and her request.

Sidenote: If you have never dealt with pancakes for breakfast, I will tell you they are not worth it for your diabetic child or family member. They will screw with your sugars all day.

Moving on in the day they arrived at the city pool, the one with a diving board and slide. We prepared for this. We knew the pool activities would probably loosen the devices because of placement, so we packed extra devices and insulin. Her sugar dropped twice at the pool and, at the lowest, hit 58. They handled it with sweets and soda. Things we never do because of how her sugars react afterward. I later learned Blakely was panicked and didn’t want to argue with the adults trying to help her. I get it. It was tough in that moment.

Blakely had to change her pod after the pool, which was expected, but they had cake and pizza for lunch, so again, her sugars were still all over the place. I could just imagine her panic throughout the day growing with every alarm, but she was handling it without a phone call to me. The parents were handling it without a phone call to me. I was trying to handle it, but the activity on the Dexcom follow app would tell a different story.

The party people went to the park after and played as well as went shopping at some local boutiques. Her Dexcom went off quite a few times, but it wasn’t anything water, the restroom, and time couldn’t handle.

Then I get a phone call, and Blakely is crying hysterically. She deactivated the pod! It has happened before, but not like this. Not on a day that has been stressful for her and not when her sugars had been so high they messed with her emotions. They were at Dairy Queen. The mom gets on the phone and translates the hysteria. We worked it all out, and I hung up, knowing she would be dropped off at home within the hour so we could fix her all up.

At the time of this call, my husband, son, and I were coming into town and wanted to stop at our local Dairy Queen because Blakely was having a DQ treat. We don’t do it often, and we prepare when we do when it’s all of us together. Our son wanted a small dip cone because he was jealous of his sister. We caved. I had thought Blakely was in a different DQ in a different city. We walked in that door, and I was immediately met with sobbing uncontrollable tears. She couldn’t stop. The mom felt horrible but was so happy I had walked in the door. I calmed Blakely down and asked if she wanted to come home with us, which she did, so we brought her home. The mom texted that she was so sorry, and I reassured her that it was bound to happen, but at least we know what not to do and how to handle the situation if it happens again.

Sidenote: My goal with Blakely and monitoring her sugars has always been to remain calm even when I am freaking out. I remain calm for her. I figure if I remain calm, then she will learn to remain calm so she can help herself when I am not around.

We took Blakely home, got her a new pod, made sure she had water, and a low-carb snack of almonds and a small can of low-sodium V-8. Then snuggled on the couch and watched a movie until bedtime. She was exhausted, and so was I. I know she had it worse, but she learned a lot that day. It wasn’t stuff she wanted to learn, but she needed to.

I may be on the fence about sleepovers, but it may just be because parents of kids without diabetes have no clue how food can screw up your kid. That family had a big wakeup call to what my kiddo goes through in a day and I think they and Blakely will be better for it. I know the next sleepover will be better.