Layers (And I'm not talking chickens)

"LOW, LOW, LOW!" I pop from bed already walking towards my son's room on hearing the WAH-WAH-WAH alert and seeing LOW ↓↓ on his continuous glucose monitor (CGM). Two years ago perhaps, I would have been shaking. Now, experience under my belt, I walk calmly but with purpose. Sleeping the sleep of a teen, he's laying on the CGM attached to his leg. Though still growing,  he's man-sized. His weight compresses the area, slowing blood flow and any glucose in the blood, and making the sensor think he is low when he is not. He puts out his hand without waking. I test to make sure. 85 mg/dL.

While that is is perfectly good number during the day, and one I would like to maintain at night, I know from experience he will roll over again and again from side to side. Each time he lays on the sensor, it will wake me. Intellectually, I know he isn't low, but I can't take a chance by ignoring it and I will get up again.

I shoot for higher numbers at night, maybe 120 or 130, so that the sensor thinks he's only 75 when he lays on it, not setting off my low alert setting. I mutter to myself about urging him again to put the CGM on the back of his arm, but for now....I bring up his BG with a short reduction in insulin and go back to bed.

Before the low alarm last night, I got a different alarm: "NO DATA". I tested, and went back to bed. the alarm would go off every half hour. Somewhat confident that he was stable, I turned off the "no data" alarm, taking a chance to gain a bit of peace for the household. Sometimes, the CGM, confused by a compression or sudden drop or because the cat walked by (who knows?), will "lose" him. Either the sensor is trying to straighten itself out or the Bluetooth connection was lost.

This is one snapshot of one night in answer to the oft asked question: "Why an alert dog? Don't you have great technology?" Don't misunderstand: we have freaking awesome technology. And though the word is overused, I DO mean awesome and unbelievably magic compared to just a decade ago, heck compared to three years ago when we entered the game. But like all technology, it can fail and isn't perfect. Neither is a dog, who might sleep right through a low.

The dog will be another layer, another possibility of catching a problem. It's going to be time consuming, it's going to be hard, it's a very real risk of not working out. It's going to happen.

p.s. William's cat Luna, sometimes will watch me in the night check his BG. I've even seen her bite him when he was low to wake him. Like most cats, she does this when she feels like it, which isn't very often. So, she, in punishment for her lack of motivation, gets to share her boy with a dog.

Note: I am not a medical professional. Anything you read on this blog is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your own doctors if you have questions or concerns.