What's That Beeping Noise?

Oh, pardon me. That beeping noise would be me.

I haven’t worn a watch in over ten years. It’s kind of ironic, because I’m pretty compulsive about time, and being on time, and scheduling time. At some point, prompted by a skin sensitivity to metals, I decided to “let go” of my time compulsion and stop wearing a watch. The watch went, but the compulsion remained.

So, now that T-Bear is out of Honeymoon Phase, his diabetes management needs to be stepped up to the next level. Not that it was lax before, but his BS (that’s blood sugar) has been “easy” to keep on-target (“easy” being an extraordinarily relative term in this case). Now that his body is no longer producing any insulin at all, we’re going to have to be even more precise with calculations and doses, everything he eats over 10 grams of carbs will have to be covered with insulin (before snacks were okay without insulin), and we’re adding at least one test per day in the afternoon. The timing of all of this has become just tight enough now that I’m going to be more comfortable having a beeping buddy keeping me on track.

Yesterday I researched watches on-line (so love the internet) and had pretty much settled on the Timex Expedition as the watch for me. Today I had to run down to Target to get storage bins (that’s another story entirely), and popped in to the watch department to see if they had the watch I wanted. They did, in the right color and everything (pink and mauve), and a few bucks cheaper than Amazon or REI, so I picked it up. Only took about ten minutes to program, and I’m all set. Here’s what my new watch does for me.

At 4:00 pm an alarm sounds to remind me of T-Bear’s added afternoon test, and that it’s the last-chance opportunity for snacking before supper. At 7:00 pm an alarm sounds to remind me he needs to take his Lantus. At 8:30 pm an alarm sounds to remind me to send the neighbor kid home (that’s another story, too). And, two hours after T-Bear’s last meal, if I remember to set it, the timer goes off to let me know it’s safe to test and he might be getting hungry. Oh yeah, it also tells me the date and time.

So far so good. The sounds it makes are a little timid compared to the relative noise level of our house. And Brother Bear has had to point out to me a few times that my wrist is beeping. I haven’t had an outbreak of rash yet, and am oddly comfortable with this new, foreign object clinging to my arm.

Next high-tech gadget: the Salter 1400 nutrition scale, which should be arriving any day now. I’m so excited. I'm not a dork, am I?