Leukemia - High Blood Sugar

On Tuesday morning I was thrilled because Jemma ate a big bowl of oatmeal with apples and followed it up with an orange. Unfortunately, the breakfast may have been the cause of her high blood sugar test results. Normal blood sugar is 120 and her's was up to 200 when we arrived and still 200 an hour or so later. Luckily there was no sugar in her urine as that would indicate the high blood sugar was an issue for a longer period of time.

Since L'asparaginase can inhibit the body's insulin production, her sugar level had to be tested again today. It was 78 - normal. If her sugar had tested high again today she would have required insulin through her catheter over a 24 hour period and her participation in the study would have stopped. She has two more scheduled doses of L'asparaginase.

Normally we eat whole grains, and cook everything from scratch. Vegetables are consumed with every meal and we never eat sweets. Our diet would meet the recommendations for patients with blood sugar issues. Despite this fact, Jemma is on an even further restricted diet which includes no juice and very little fruit. Her blood sugar will continue to be monitored and hopefully it will stay within the normal range.

On a better note, Jemma's immune system is holding steady at the desired depressed level. Yesterday we went on our first outing in nine months. The Roman Fort had several old wells that the kids liked looking down.