Baby Steps

We just returned home from visiting Kalahari Waterpark Resort in Ohio.  We all had a blast!  Best of all, diabetes behaved and there was an extensive gluten free menu available for Andrew.

I really needed to take this mini vacation to help me realize that diabetes CAN be managed from outside of our home.  The celiac disease really puts a damper on things since a lot of restaurants cannot guarantee safety with cross contamination.  It would really make me sad if he ended up with severe stomach cramps and diarrhea due to one little tiny speck of a wheat crumb.  

This was the first time when I had to "eye ball" carbs.  I have to say that I did a good job!  We ate at the Reserve Restaurant and Andrew wanted the pizza.  The manager was kind enough to bring the exact frozen pizza crust to me so I could see the carb count. It ended up being 16 g carb per piece which ended up being 4 total carb servings (64g carbs) for the whole pizza.  He also ordered a side of steamed broccoli.  Andrew usually only eats 30g total per meal, but I was willing to make an exception.  His ratio right now is 1:30 since we're honeymooning.  He got his pizza and I dosed him for 2 units of insulin.  After eating his normal 2 servings of carbs (30g), he was getting full.  I'm so impressed with how in tune he is now with his body.  So, he has a 1/2 pizza to go, is full, and has an extra unit of insulin lingering around in his body.

What is an artificial pancreas to do?  ORDER DESSERT, of course!

I couldn't believe it but this restaurant offered gluten free dessert too.  We ordered the gluten free chocolate cake.  When it arrived, it was huge!  I ended up giving him around a 2" X 1" piece to cover the extra unit of insulin (30g carb for him).  It worked because he was 144 two hours later.  Granted, that's high for him, but still within a good range for eyeballing things.  He was soooo happy!!!!!

An interesting thing I realized is that I think the higher temperatures make his sugars higher.  He usually dips into the 50's before lunch and he was 111 when we were there.  That was also after walking 100's of steps, swimming, climbing across the lilly pads, etc....  I had visions of him getting up several levels of steps and start feeling low.   This same thing happened a couple of weeks ago when he was playing tennis in the heat.  He ended up higher than what he was before he started.

I can definitely say that I'm thankful for our Frio bag!  When I went into the first aid station to run cold water over our bag the next day there, there were diabetic coolers all lined up filled with ice to keep their insulin cold.  I just wet my Frio bag and off I went again.  It kept the insulin PERFECT even in the 85+ humid temperature inside.

After packing all the extra gluten free foods for breakfast and snacks, I can say that Andrew got to eat like a king and enjoy his food.  His diabetes behaved and we all had a wonderful time together.

This mini vacation gave me a little confidence that even though it can be a daunting task to travel with diabetes, it can be done.

The only downfall to the trip was coming home in a mini van packed with 6 people and NO AIR CONDITION!  I could not believe it!  As soon as we revved up on the turnpike, it went kaput.  My husband literally had sweat pouring down his face the whole way home.  I'm just glad we weren't driving home from Florida!