Thursday, August 30, 2012

1st Post Diagnosis Clinic

Today my son and I went off to the Toronto Sick Kids Hospital for the first post diagnosis Clinic. These are usually held every 3 months, but this one was scheduled for August 30, so that he would be seen at the end of summer before school starts again.

We were in and out early. Got to the hospital at 0815, got the blood work done, was at the clinic by 0830, seen by the doctor before 9 AM and then by the diabetes nurse at 0930 and were on our way home by 10. We had left home at 0730 and we were back home by 1030. 

Just for the Record.
Today is Thursday August 30, 2012.
School starts next week on Tuesday September 4, 2012

I had 2 things I needed to find out for sure. One was the H1AC and the other was the anti-bodies issue. Does he or does he not have antibodies?

OK well about the antibodies issue. There were 2 antibodies tests done and one of them was positive and the other was negative. BUT, the doctor said that if you combine the positive antibodies test with the low level of insulin production he was measured at, then they are fairly sure that yes he has Type 1 Diabetes. The level of insulin, his body is producing is low enough to be normal for Type 1 Diabetes, and not high enough to be "normal" for Type 2.

Now the H1AC number. Back in mid June when my son was diagnosed, his H1AC was 13%.
I am very please to announce that today - just 2 and a half months after diagnosis - his H1AC is now 8.1%.
The doctor and the diabetes nurse were extremely impressed!!!!  They said this was an excellent result.

Hopefully in another 3 months, his H1AC will be down to 7%, and if we are very good, it may even be down to 6 point something.

Next Appointment is set for mid December - exactly 6 months after diagnosis.






Saturday, August 4, 2012

The A1C

What is the A1C test?

The A1C test is the best way to measure how controlled someone's diabetes is. It measures an average of Glygated Hemoglobin in the blood. Glygated Hemoglobin is the product after hemoglobin in the blood has combined with glucose. Since on average, blood cells last for 3 months, this gives an average level of glucose in the blood over the previous 3 months. It is now regarded as an excellent means of measure diabetes control.

My sons A1C in June was 13%. This is very high. It means that the average amount of blood sugar over the previous 3 months was 18 mmol/L.

In early March his blood sugar was measured at 5 mmol/L. (I saw that in his file - the doctor showed me).
And when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes less than 3 months later, his blood sugar was 25mmol/L.

In a non diabetic person, the normal blood sugar level would be between 4 and 6 mmol/L  The A1C would be around 5 to 6%.

In a diabetic with their blood sugar under control, the aim is to get your A1C down to 7%.

Last week, my husband (who has Type 2 diabetes but is also on insulin) told me that his A1C was 6% - which means he is keeping his diabetes under very good control.

My sons first post-diagnosis clinic is set for August 30, so we will get a new A1C number at that time. I hope it will it will be at least below 10%.  But if it's not then I will just have to try harder to keep my sons diabetes and blood sugar levels under better control.