This season of colds and sickness has been making its rounds through our city, affecting friends, family, and the entire community. It feels like everywhere I turn; someone is sick. Over a month ago, Kay and our family battled the norovirus, and just when we thought we were in the clear, she started feeling under the weather again—right after her birthday party on Saturday night. She developed a cough, a runny nose, and overall, just felt miserable, struggling to get any consistent sleep.
After a rough night, I called her pediatrician first thing Sunday morning, hoping to get her checked out. Thankfully, their office is open seven days a week and always does their best to squeeze us in when needed. At the appointment, it was confirmed that Kay had an ear infection, which explained her congestion and persistent cough from all the drainage.
But while we were waiting to see the doctor, something unexpected happened—her blood sugar started dropping at a rate I had never seen before. Lately, I’ve noticed that Kay has been a bit insulin resistant, which can happen even without an illness. With Type 1 Diabetes, you never really know how a cold will impact blood sugar. Sometimes, it stays high for hours; other times, it drops dangerously low with barely any insulin given.
As soon as I saw the rapid decline, I gave her a fruit snack in the waiting room, hoping to slow the drop. Shortly after, we were called back to a room, but her numbers continued to fall. I gave her another pack of fruit snacks, but despite eating, her glucose monitor showed a fast and steady decline. Within minutes, the monitor displayed “LOW,” meaning her blood sugar had dropped below 40—an extremely dangerous level.
Too low, and Kay could have a seizure or pass out.
Sitting in the exam room, I felt the weight of the moment, watching her pediatrician grow increasingly concerned. Kay’s numbers weren’t improving, so we were advised to stay put until her blood sugar stabilized. It took an extra 20 minutes before her numbers finally started to rise, and only then were we cleared to leave.
Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated incident. Though not always this severe, I’ve noticed Kay’s blood sugar dropping quickly and unpredictably. The past few nights, I’ve been up multiple times, waking her just to give her sugar and keep her levels stable. Right now, we don’t know exactly what’s causing these extreme lows, but I’m hopeful that once she recovers from this ear infection, her blood sugar will become more manageable. Until then, it’s just one day at a time.