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Out without testing gear/glucose

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T

Tina63

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
So today I find my son has gone off to work (3.30-8pm) on his bike, without any of his testing gear (not that he is using it at the moment) but at least with it he would have some dextrose tablets and cereal bars, and of course the ability to test if he needed to. His wallet is at home too so he won't even have any ID on him (not that he carries any diabetes ID, but ANY would be a bit helpful in an emergency I would have thought).

I can't/won't take it to him, he would go absolutely ballistic if I did, but we are going out for a meal tonight before he gets home. Needless to say I will be taking his spare meter and dextrose tablets in my handbag just in case I get a call.....

He came to Tesco with me this morning and I realised he had left his bag at home when we were halfway round, so I think this is his latest bit of rebellion rather than truly accidentally leaving it. At some point he will get one heck of a wake up call.

On the up side, he is definitely injecting the Humilin M3 each morning, and Lantus at night, and his use of Novorapid is sporadic, but at least something is going in.

One day at a time!
 
Hopefully he will have some sweets and / or cereal bars in a pocket somewhere? If he feels hypo then he can eat something, even without testing. However, having some money with him would make life easier in case he needs to buy food / bike spares (although no need if he has a spare tube and / or pump and / or puncture kit) / bus ticket etc.

By the way, I've recently discovered a "medic alert" product that I find acceptable - Up & Running (running shop with physical shops & online sales, but it's not listed online) sell a set of 2 reflective strips (velcro fix, not "snap" round) for ?4.50, with plastic pocket for paper on which to write name, phone number, medical info etc - I got a set for my partner, so he can attach to laces of his running shoes and I have one strip attached to my rucksack which has reflective strips for use in twilight / dark, with the other in my orienteering shoe bag, ready for when I can go running again. My partner wondered if "medic alert" on my set was to announce that I'm a medic or that I have a medical condition. He's a good first aider and has no medical conditions, and generally reluctant to carry ID, although recognises the value of reflective kit when running in low light / dark conditions.

Just wondered if that would be acceptable to your son?
 
Thanks, I will certainly look into it, but he won't entertain anything that makes him 'different' at the moment.

Again, I must sound awful, but I think if he does have an 'incident' whilst out sometime soon, it may give him the wake-up call he needs. We won't be far from him, and I can always get a taxi or neighbour in an emergency, so as long as I carry the necessary stuff I can be of some use. Will be interesting to see if it is a one-off, or if he has genuinely forgotten. He works for 4 hours tomorrow too, so that will be the time I can truly tell.
 
That's why the reflective strips suit me (and my partner) - I don't want anything that declares my diabetes, but am happy to have reflective kit, so something that does both is fine - it's possible to have "Up & Running" uppermost, instead of "Medic Alert".

You may well be right about him needing a wake up call, however tough that sounds.

Hope he took his bike lights, though!
 
Gonna be fun when he applies for his provisional licence. If he doesn't take it seriously then, he can say goodbye to any hope of driving.

I'm afraid you're right that he needs to see for himself how diabetes can bite back. And that any problems impact on a wide circle of family, friends and people who have to mop up afterwards.

Rob
 
Leading up to his 17th birthday he was adamant he didn't want to learn to drive. As his best mates turned 17 Sept/Oct and have started lessons, he has suddenly started mentioning it, though stating he will wait until he's 18 - maybe because I have told him before he needs 12 months good control before he will get granted a licence. He only turned 17 last week, so has the rest of this year to get his act together. Let's wait and see......
 
That's one thing Carol still does on occasion.
She'll take her handbag, but doesn't check first if she has everything in it. The other day, we went out and when it was time to test, she found that there was no monitor in her bag. And on another day, she was hypo, but had no glucose!! She went to Boots and bought some Dextroenergy. As she couldn't find it, she was quite a while in Boots. Fiona got very worried that she maybe collapsed. I told Fiona she should have gone and let Carol sit and wait.
 
Nah Monica - let her do it herself. Although I know why you'd say that. Thing is, if she had difficulty completing that little task it may make her realise she needs to be sure she has all her junk with her!

And ditto your son Tina, I must admit I sometimes think giving em a little scare is no bad thing, whether it works or not is anyone's guess though!
 
Glad to report my son did text us at 8.30 to tell us he was home - and asked how long we would be - ahhhh!

Is absolutely fine, so whether it was an accidental forgetting of his stuff or intentional - tomorrow is when I will find out I guess if the same happens again.
 
Tina63 said:
Glad to report my son did text us at 8.30 to tell us he was home - and asked how long we would be - ahhhh!

Is absolutely fine, so whether it was an accidental forgetting of his stuff or intentional - tomorrow is when I will find out I guess if the same happens again.
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Glad he was safe Tina.
Just a thought, if he starts to leave without his kit just say something like hang on you have forgotten your hypo kit, best get it as will save embarrassment if you go hypo and need help. 🙂
 
Exactly, Sue - carrying emergency food, a meter etc is less embarassing than having a hypo and not being able to sort it - or even worse, as a teenager, a parent turning up.

A bit like why I prefer to have bike kit when cycling, rather than causing an accident by not having lights & reflective kit, or having to push a bike with a flat tyre a long way. As mentioned in post #2.
 
trophywench said:
Nah Monica - let her do it herself. Although I know why you'd say that. Thing is, if she had difficulty completing that little task it may make her realise she needs to be sure she has all her junk with her!

!
Click to expand...

That's the thing, Carol didn't have any problems completing that task. The problem was that it was an unfamiliar Boots, so she had to ask where the glucose was. It didn't occur to her to buy jelly babies, because it's not something we normally do.
 
Well the fact he has again left it all behind again today when he left for work tells me everything I need to know - it's intentional.

Without letting on I knew, I did just say "Have you got a snack with you?" to which he promptly went to the kitchen cupboard and put a cereal bar in his bag - but not clever.

So do I now challenge him about it, or carry on pretending I don't know? It will be interesting to see if he takes it to school tomorrow.
 
I'd write him a letter and leave it with his meter.

You're between a rock and a hard place (as is he) and neither can really back down without losing something. He would lose his independance by complying (maybe his machismo as he sees it?) and obviously you would lose your marbles with worry.

Maybe you can explain it in rational terms from your POV, acknowledging how it must be for him and you can understand his reluctance to do what he should but he can't run away from it and the sooner her does the right thing, the less problems he'll have cope with in 5 years time, etc.

But say nothing and let him soak it up for a while.

Rob
 
Hi Tina

Personally, and my daughter is just coming up to 13 so much younger, I would have said (casually) 'o I put you a snack and some glucose tabs on the table ready in case you ran out of time to find them yourself' (or similar excuse) and then just tried to look all innocent 🙂

It doesn't matter so much if he doesn't take his meter as long as he has hypo treatment for an emergency. Hopefully (as he is used to being high I gather) he is hypo aware and so he would treat himself if he felt low.

Can't really get my head round why anyone would intentionally leave there testing kit behind, it's only small and you don't have to use it even if you have got it . He isn't sp'osed to inject for lunch at the moment is he? So don't worry too much about lack of meter, and at least he had a snack. Bet somebody had some sweets he could have had or something.

It's like eveything else, IMHO, they don't really learn unless they make the mistake/have the experience themselves. Doesn't stop us worrying tho' I'm afraid. (least he's having insulin a bit more now so keep up the good work 🙂 )
 
When I was that age the testing machine was so big that it wasn't practical to take it most places. As far as I can remember I didn't always have hypo treatment with me........it was a time that if you had a hypo you just learnt to deal with it......the hypo symptoms soon prompted you into action. It wasn't ideal but as a teenager it was normal.....l.i survived and went on to do marvellous things which I'm still doing after 40 years of diabetes. Although that was another time having this freedom taught me how to deal with my diabetes which I'm glad about. I know that it must be incredibly difficult worrying about your son but, although it may be difficult at times, believe that he should learn How to deal with it.
 
Thanks for all of your replies. I don't think the size of the meter is the problem, he still took his backpack with him. All that would have contained was his uniform jacket (not cool to be seen out in it as a teenager!) and his drink. Plenty of room for the pencil case he carries his meter, dextrose tablets and cereal bars in.

I have considered many a time writing a letter to him. When I do try and talk to him he very quickly gets irate and walks out on me or tells me to shut-up, so I think I have exhausted the talking bit. Paranoid or not I am making sure I am carrying a spare meter and dextrose/cereal bars on me at all times, so if I get a call to go dashing anywhere after him, I am prepared.

Yes, MM, he is now taking more insulin on board than he was, which is good, but of course to my mind that makes hypos all the more likely. He hasn't had one since July so I don't know at what level he would recognise symptoms. He did come home from school last Wednesday saying he felt 'a bit funny' towards the end of the day but had saved his crisps so ate those.

His meter wouldn't be much use anyway at the moment as the cassette in it (Accu-chek mobile) says it has expired anyway, and his spares of those are at home. Not sure what that means exactly, as it says it has 24 tests left. Not sure if it has reached its actual expiry date or if they only stay 'live' for 3 months or something after first use. Will have to look into that. If it is the actual expiry date that isn't good, he hasn't had it very long, it's quite new out I believe, so the cassettes were only issued in the past 6 months. Something else to get my teeth into!

So I will wait and see what happens tomorrow, then maybe draft a letter up and leave it in his room on Tuesday.

Thanks for all your advice.
Tina
 
Ring the Tech Help guys at Roche - it's one of those multiple choice lines, press 1 if you want this, 2 if you want that etc. And they are actually - very helpful !! LOL
 
Sorry I am coming into this without knowing the full details, what age is your son? Sounds a heartbreaking situation as a Mum :(

Has he had/been offered any counselling about dealing with his diagnosis?

I truly feel for you - must be so hard xxx
 
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