Questions to Ask the Medical Team

In the first days you will not remember what you meant to ask. Writing questions down beforehand, and writing the answers next to them, is worth doing from the start.

The one that matters most, above all others:

Then, in roughly this order:

• Which laboratory is the sample going to, and how will we be told the result?
• Is my baby's diabetes likely to be the transient or the permanent form, and will the test tell us?
• What insulin is my baby on, at what dose, and how is it diluted?
• What blood sugar range are we aiming for, and why that range?
• What are the signs of a low that I should watch for, and what do I do?
• Who do I call at night after we go home, and what number?
• Will my baby be able to breastfeed, and how do feeds fit with the insulin?
• When can we go home, and what has to be in place first?

Two practical habits help. Bring someone with you when important conversations are expected, because two people remember more than one. And ask for anything you did not follow to be repeated — nobody in the team will mind, and a misunderstanding about doses is far more costly than a repeated question.