Glucometers are easily available and a must have thing for all people who suffer from diabetes, but its indispensable and a survival need for someone who has type 1 diabetes.

People with type 1 diabetes cannot make their own insulin. In the absence of insulin, their bodies lose the ability to use “glucose” from food to give them the necessary energy. In the absence of insulin, they would gradually waste away and perish.

When these patients take insulin, they thrive and now thanks to careful regulation of blood glucose levels thay can live a normal life and avoid premature death.

Careful regulation of glucose levels in blood is the key to this: not too high and not too low. That fine balance needs first and foremost checking glucose levels in blood regularly. This is the part of management which is most difficult in most people with type 1 diabetes.

Sometimes they do monitor blood glucose randomly, at different times and are not able to tabulate those values.

Today after long discussions and repeated explanation over several months, I received two glucose charts: one self made by a 16 year old boy and the other made by mother of a 6 year old. I was thrilled to look at a nicely and neatly made chart and can’t help sharing the image here…

The log contains all the data that is needed to read the glucose pattern and adjust insulin. It has glucose values, insulin doses and food from which we can roughly estimate carbs.

There are some very meticulous people with type 1 diabetes, they are able to journal this data easily but for others data logging is difficult. It is a skill which needs patient training. This chart is special because she has come a long way from a scribbled sheet to a long explanations of what is happening with sugar and insulin and diet, without being able to write any log.

This small sheet of paper is a sign of hope, that not only the glucose management will improve in short term, her daughter is subconsciously imbibing this process. And that will go a long way!

“Numbers have an important story to tell. They rely on you to give them a clear and convincing voice.” Stephen Few.