The main objective of successful diabetes control involved keeping your blood sugar levels within range. Jason's ideal range sits between 4-8. Dangerously low BGL's can result in coma, and at the very worst, death. Dangerously high BGL's can result in ketones and if consistently high, can result in long term health complications.
Keeping Jason's BGL's within range is a constant balancing act and our DAD plays a very important role in helping us to achieve that.
When Bailey alerts me to a low, I expect him to offer this alert when Jason's BGL's are in the 4's. This means he is picking up an impending drop before it happens and allows me to correct this by stabilising Jason's BGL's. Sometimes Bailey will alert when Jason is in the 5's, and this is usually when he senses a dramatic drop in BGL's. In this instance, I tell Bailey that 'we'll watch' and re-test every 20 minutes. If Jason's BGL's start to trend downwards, he is rewarded straight away. Sometimes Bailey will be so insistent and frantic that he will continue to alert constantly, in which case, I will offer a small reward to settle him and continue to monitor Jason's BGL's. Bailey will alert to any BGL's over 8, so Jason's range thresholds are quite tight. There will be infrequent instances where Bailey will alert when Jason is already experiencing a low or high. The main reasons for this are tiredness, distraction or if Jason has just returned from school and already out of his target range. I have found that by still rewarding Bailey in these instances, helps to strengthen and improve future alerting.
Keeping Jason's BGL's within range is a constant balancing act and our DAD plays a very important role in helping us to achieve that.
When Bailey alerts me to a low, I expect him to offer this alert when Jason's BGL's are in the 4's. This means he is picking up an impending drop before it happens and allows me to correct this by stabilising Jason's BGL's. Sometimes Bailey will alert when Jason is in the 5's, and this is usually when he senses a dramatic drop in BGL's. In this instance, I tell Bailey that 'we'll watch' and re-test every 20 minutes. If Jason's BGL's start to trend downwards, he is rewarded straight away. Sometimes Bailey will be so insistent and frantic that he will continue to alert constantly, in which case, I will offer a small reward to settle him and continue to monitor Jason's BGL's. Bailey will alert to any BGL's over 8, so Jason's range thresholds are quite tight. There will be infrequent instances where Bailey will alert when Jason is already experiencing a low or high. The main reasons for this are tiredness, distraction or if Jason has just returned from school and already out of his target range. I have found that by still rewarding Bailey in these instances, helps to strengthen and improve future alerting.