The Cursed Common Cold

Well, the adventure continues. A cold virus has entered our home and our lives. (Cue the ominous and foreboding music...)

Jazmine, my oldest daughter, came down with the symptoms late Saturday. By Sunday morning it was a full-blown cold in all it's mucus-y glory.

Now, my girls are still learning the concept of sharing. They are reluctant to share toys, food or even a spot on my lap at story time. However, as sure as I'm typing this they will no doubt share this amoeba.

As any parent of a child with type 1 will tell you, a cold or flu, normally innocuous in most healthy children, is somewhat of a nightmare for children with type 1 diabetes. Blood sugars soar and it is incredibly challenging to maintain the upper hand. I had to deal with a virus not too long after Jenna's initial diagnosis. At the time she was on multiple daily injections and I found it unbelievably stressful to manage the sudden increase in insulin needs. The fear of giving too much insulin is well-grounded and yet she constantly needed more and more as evidenced by her repeated high blood sugar readings.

Well, now Jenna is on the pump and I'm certain this is going to be at least a little easier to handle this time around. But it's another 'first' and I always stress with firsts.

The question now is when? It's a little like seeing the flash of lightening and waiting for the window-rattling clap of thunder that you know is imminent.

Best I can estimate, it took Jaz about 6 days to incubate this little bug, since I figure her exposure took place last Sunday when the neighbours visited with their little toddler who was in constant need of a tissue. If Jenna's exposure took place this Saturday, then she is due to become symptomatic by about Friday of this week.

Perhaps a better analogy would be awaiting the land-fall of a hurricane, in keeping with my weather theme. You know it is out there, gaining strength and momentum and moving ever closer toward shore. You have enough time to board up the windows, gather some emergency supplies then hunker down.

So I'm assigning myself some preparatory reading from my well worn, dog-eared copy of Pumping Insulin and I plan to replenish my stock of children's Tylenol. I may even place a preemptive call to my daughter's endocrinologist to obtain some council on how to change Jenna's basals in the event of a virus. Then we'll all hunker down and wait out the storm in hopes that it passes quickly.