The Science fiction author, Arthur C Clarke famously wrote :"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." I think I know what he meant. There is a specific blood test that - magically/ scientifically - can give a measure of the average blood glucose level during the last three months. The science part is that it measures how much glucose binds to the red blood cells, and red blood cells circulate around your body for about three months. The magic part is that you can prick your finger, take a blood sample and three minutes later a magic box prints the information for you on a sticker. This is called the HbA1c test.
TD visits her endocrinologist about every three months and this is one of the tests and checks that keep her safe. People like me who are lucky enough to have a functioning pancreas, should have a three month average of of blood glucose of between 4.5 -6.5 mmol/l. And that is a yardstick for diabetic control too. But it is not that simple. TD's last HbA1c result was 6.6. This is good - it means that high sugars are not doing long term damage to kidneys, eyes and nerves. But the endocrinologist was a bit nervous, as some of TD's daily readings had been quite high (exams, feeling ill, teenage hormones - the usual culprits of high sugars!!), so where were the lows to give such a satisfactory average? Because TD is not wearing a CGM, we only have the information from her finger prick tests to work from - all the times inbetween are a blank page. Undetected lows are a problem. They are scary. Could TD be going low in the middle of the night, and if so - how low is she going? We need to know.
The options were either to wear a CGM for a few weeks, or for us parents to do the 2am tests for a while. TD chose the latter. So far, so good - no middle of the night lows (a 5.6 last night which meant she could have nighttime chocolate to see her through to morning...). But this method of testing does not give the full picture. For that, TD will have to let go of her fear and dislike of technology and wear a monitor for a while.
Science and magic is not such a strange combination. I think one sparks the other, creating an environment where imagination triumphs. We need both in our lives - solid facts to ground us and tell us our boundaries, and a little magic to enable us to dream of different futures and keep us company on the 2am shifts.
PS: Arthur C Clarke also said "The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible". Doesn't that sound like a T1 journey?
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