Spring Soccer

Saturday, we attempted to do it all. We all got up early for Riley's spring soccer game at 8:30 am, he had to be there at 8:15. Everyone was dressed in their wedding attire for the wedding we would be attending an hour and a half south of our home at 11 am. 

We were rushing so Riley had a cereal bar, some fruit and chocolate almond milk on the way to the game along with his morning Novolog injection of 2 units. He played the entire game except for the last five minutes, we couldn't be late for a wedding! He jumped in the the 3rd row of seats so he could wash up and dress during the trip with some privacy.

We walked into the wedding with the program hander-outers right behind us and then the matron of honor right behind the hander-outers, then of course the bride, my aunt -who looked so wonderful walking next to her son dressed in his military uniform, I could barely stifle the tears.

I don't think the wedding was very long, but it started right on time. 11 am. The kids popped up as soon as the wedding was over to see cousins once or twice removed. Ten seconds later, Riley said, "I think I'm low...I'm dizzy."  Do you have your kit? Of course not! Not when we really need it. But when we arrived at the wedding, I grabbed the pack of Sprees my husband had bought right after dropping Riley and I off at the soccer game.  He also picked up a Gatorade for Riley to drink during half-time to keep his glucose from plummeting. Tim, spouse, ran to the car to get the glucose monitor ("the kit") and I gave Riley 7 Sprees. He was still shaky, so they headed down to find some additional food and test his bg. He was 65 mg/dL. I wondered if that was with some Spree sugar, had it been lower?

All sugared up

We're a little rusty with organized sports and diabetes. Riley was diagnosed during his school's fall soccer season. That was a Tuesday, he was back at practice on Friday. In the beginning, he was getting a lot of long-acting Lantus and way more fast acting Novolog (compared to now). The lows were tough. Each time, I was grateful that we were home together and could experience it together. We would learn how to handle them and be just fine.

We followed the under 70 mg/dL plan: test, 15 g fast acting carb, 15 minute wait, test again. Repeat if necessary. I'll never forget the first one. It was the first Saturday after being diagnosed. We were outside in the backyard kicking the soccer ball back and forth. When I kicked it out of his reach, I wouldn't let him run and get the ball (Our CDE's had a good laugh). I was so worried about how exercise would effect his glucose.  After ten minutes of playing and me asking how he felt ten times, Riley felt weird, sweaty and then hungry. So he tested. He was 45.

The second time was also very memorable. It was the following Friday. Riley had a game after school, then we all met at our favorite Mexican restaurant to celebrate something, I can't remember what. My husband's parents, my mom and brother. 8 of us squeezed into the round corner booth-my usual favorite spot. We stayed an hour after eating, just chatting. When we got home, Riley was running around wrestling with his uncle. Hootin and hollerin in his skivvies. About 5 minutes into this ridiculously funny moment, Riley said, "Woooo, I'm dizzy." My husband and I looked at each other. The light had already gone off. This is what LOW looks like. He laid on his bed and tested - 34 mg/dL. This was at the same moment one of the scariest and funniest moments of my life. Riley was talking to the dog (begging Reuben to bring him a snack), he was talking to his pancreas (congratulating it for producing some insulin), he was chewing Skittles. My husband was calling the CDE-triage number. We had been instructed to notify them anytime his number was below 50 in these first few weeks.

The lesson had been learned. He tested before each practice or game, ate a 15 g snack if his number was below 120. Then after the game (during, if necessary), he tested again. But the most important glucose test would always be about two hours after soccer. That was when his glucose would bottom out.

So...Spring soccer is requiring us to dust off our lessons learned. Decreasing his Novolog by a unit at breakfast is the first change we will make this Saturday for the double header soccer game. Additional testing between games, too. And Gatorade/snacks as needed.