Hopefully Never

Studies have shown depression symptoms in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes are nearly double that of the highest estimate of depression in youth in general.

So...

Today we were at our quarterly Endocrine appointment.  This one started off a bit differently.  We, Joe and I, were each given a folder with a depression-y/anxiety self assessment to complete.  Mine was a couple of pages long with a bunch of statements followed by "yes" and "no" check boxes to check.  I had checked most of the "no" boxes; I had not experienced negative feelings about certain aspects of caring for Joe in the past week.  Furthermore, the questions addressed obtaining supplies, insurance coverage, etc...things we don't currently struggle with.

Joe's questionnaire looked fairly simple.  It was a single page.  He had to rate his feelings from something like "never"....all the way to...something like "frequently; all the time".  I took a quick glimpse at his sheet and he checked the "never" box for each statement or question.  One statement was in essence "I feel bad about myself."  Joe's answer was"never"... this was the gist of the questioning and Joe's answers were consistently positive.

At Endo Today

I handed in our completed forms and then entered the exam room and plopped down next to Joe.  Joe gave me the side eye.  His voice was hushed when he said "I feel bad for those people."

It was my turn to give him the side eye and then a whispered ... "For who?"

"The people that feel bad about themselves or their lives."

"Joe, you know why they had us complete that form...right?"

Joe's expression was blank.

"Joe, people with diabetes tend to be a little more depressed than other people."

"Oh.."

Not depressed by the day-in-the-life...yet.

The Toe Is A No Go

Perhaps I shoulda warned him before doing it.

Maybe a little heads-up woulda been the appropriate thing to do?

I'm not sure what good toe poking etiquette entails.  In hind sight, initializing a toe-poking-protocol on a sleeping subject is probably not the proper procedure.

Yesterday morning around 6:57-ish, the house was still sleeping; well everyone, but me.  I was headed out for my morning run.  Joe's Dexcom was showing a 67 and diagonal-downing.  A check was warranted on the sleeping Joe.

I entered his room and readied the glucometer with the test strip.  While wielding the lancing device, I assessed the target situation.  Joe was dead asleep with both hands tucked under his head, making his finger tips unavailable.  I noted his toes, peeking out from under his blanket, were easily accessible.

Pry fingers from under his head...wake him up?

Poke toe...maybe he sleeps?

Fingers?

Toes?

Welp, I haven't tried to poke his toes since he was like 4.  Let's just say I tried to yesterday morning...and... he did not sleep through it and as his leg briskly recoiled, he might have said something like "for the love of all that is good and holy..!" (but with different nouns and verbs).

I wanted him to sleep in.  He's growing.  He's tired.  He was up late the previous night.  He's up, due to diabetes nonsense, more often than not these days.  Note to self:  poking his toes will not help him sleep in.

I then poked the kinda-awake-and-kinda-annoyed-Joe's finger. A 99 was obtained.  The basal rate was decreased by 40% x 1 hour.  I ran.  Once I arrived home, a smooth 122 graced the Dexcom screen.

Waking Joe, via the toe, while simply trying to manage the day-in-the-life.