When Two (or More) People have Type 1 Diabetes in your Home

How to organize diabetes management when two or more family members have Type 1 Diabetes in your home

All parents know the chaos, or at least the ongoing, never-ending, ever-changing, relentless pace of parenting. 

Adulting, parenting, being a responsible and caring adult child of aging parents, being an attentive spouse, working, staying up on the sports and music-related schedules of your children, AND managing your own T1D, plus overseeing or supporting the  T1D management in one or more of your children can be “a bit much.”

*Note: This is an UNDERSTATEMENT in case you missed the sarcasm.

1. We have different insurance plans. I can refill for 3 months at a time. His diabetes meds and supplies can only be filled 1 “month” (25 days) at a time.  My policy allows auto-payment. His policy requires me to log on to the payment website and pay the monthly fee.
2. Our small, local, pharmacy does not offer auto-refills.  A larger pharmacy farther away does.
3. It can be challenging to know who’s supplies belong to whom.
4. It is difficult to remember when to reach out, and to which pharmacy or 3rd party diabetes supplies company, to ensure timely refills on meds and supplies.
5. It is hard to remember to pay attention to expiration dates on our glucagon supplies, especially since we have glucagon stashed in various places!
6. For ease of day-to-day flow, we need an easy-to-access storage area for our non-insulin supplies.

Use a calendar.  I program reminders to refill my and my son’s insulin, sensors, and pump supplies.  I set a reminder to check expiration dates on glucagon and ketone strips when the time changes twice each year.

Use auto-refill options, if available.

Use storage containers that keep items separated and organized.  Do not remove items from their original boxes, unless each individually wrapped item includes the expiration date AND the lot number information on each item.

Use color coding or other visual clues. My son likes lime green. I keep his items in lime green containers. I keep my items in white containers. Shared items, such as Skin Tac, Tac Away, and alcohol swabs are stored in baskets.

Taking some time to get better-organized cut down on wasted time and frustration for me, personally.

We are able to avoid running out of supplies, needing to make last second phone calls and rushed trips to the pharmacy, or calling around to find a place that carries something we need.

It is still time-consuming since there are plenty of phone calls, texts, and e-mails to keep tabs on regarding appointments, meds, and supplies, but having a good system in place that works for our family has decreased frustration and increased safety in our home.

Happy Organizing!!

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