Magic Numbers

There are some number I absolutely love to see.

Do you see the time stamp on that? 2:01 am When I see that number at that time, it starts a whole bunch of questions.  Is she dropping? Should I set a temp basal reduction? Should I give her a little something to hold her over?  Do I just let it go? 


Last night I chose to just let it go.  This morning we woke up to this

Woo Hoo!  Diabetes win for us!

A Special Thank You for a Very Special Person

In our family we have had a Mother's Day tradition where my mother, sister and I go to the movies while the men in the family stay home with the kids and prepare dinner for us.  Last year, was my first Mother's Day after Julia's diagnosis.  In fact it was exactly 6 months since Julia's diagnosis.  Everyone came to our house and I left Julia here with Bubba and the rest of the family.
This year, Bubba had to work and I wasn't exactly sure how it would all work out.  Those who know me know I don't like to ask for help.  I am also not a big fan of giving up control.  There has been a family member who has looked out for Julia since her diagnosis.  He has stepped in and asked to be shown how to care for her with out me ever asking if he wanted to.  In fact he is the only person besides Bubba or myself to give Julia an injection.  He is my brother who also happens to be Julia's godfather and I appreciate him very much.

Julia & Uncle Tony at the JDRF walk in November

Usually if I am leaving Julia with someone, I also leave very detailed directions including carb counts for any food that may be eaten,.  On Sunday, I went to the movies with my sister and my mom and he took care of everything.  I told him where her supply bag was and that was it.  He measured food.  He checked her blood sugar.  He bolused her snack.  He even handled a low.  It was the best Mother's Day gift I ever could have asked for if I would have asked.  Thanks Tony, you are the best!

Just Checking In...

First of all, I can't believe it has been so long since I have written a post!  I guess that is a good thing.  We are living our lives with diabetes without letting diabetes run our lives.

Joe catching

Our family has been busy lately in the midst of softball/baseball season.  Practices and games take up most of our time.  Bubba is managing Julia's team, The Heartbreakers, and assisting for Joe's team, The Reds.

Julia up to bat 

We are spending a lot of time at the ball park.  Both kids are enjoying it so much and Bubba and I are too.

Last Easter was our first holiday pumping.  That was a huge relief for us.  Most of our family holidays involve a whole lot of food and while Julia was on shots, it was a struggle to work that out.  This year we have more experience on our side and am happy to report that not only was it a great day with family, Julia's numbers during our celebrations were between 72 - 131!  Trust me I was shocked too.  Those are great numbers and most of our "regular" days don't look anything like that.  

Relaxing with cousins

I love how her hair in flying in this picture!

Joe hunting for eggs

Our Family

Our spring break was full of fun as well.  One of the things we got to do was meet Charlie Kimball and hear him speak about living and racing with diabetes.  He is a driver on the IndyCar circuit and was so great.  I promise to write a post soon just about that.  

On a personal note, I am becoming more involved with our JDRF chapter.  I am now a peer mentor to recently diagnosed families.   I decided to help because after diagnosis, for our family,  it was so great to have someone we could talk to who completely understood what we were going through.

So there you have it...we are doing well,  just busy.  Taking our Type 1 trip one day at a time.  Luckily our trip lately has been pretty darn good.

Let's Play Diabetes

About a month ago a fellow blogger wrote a post about her daughter's stuffed animals that have diabetes.  I was inspired by her post (because all of my daughter's stuffed animals have diabetes) to look for a play pump for Julia to put on her toys.  I found T & J Designs and ordered two for Julia.  One for her stuffed bunny & one for her Fancy Nancy doll.

Yesterday they arrived.  She is so happy.  She has pretended her dolls and animals have diabetes since her diagnosis.  She used a play syringe and a spare meter that we never had strips for to test and treat them.  Seeing how happy she is to see her dolls be like her does my heart good.  

Fancy Nancy from the book may not have diabetes, but in our house she does.  There was even a spot on the order form where you can put the type of pump used so they both have Medtronic pumps just like Julia.  It is nothing fancy, just some foam with a sticker and tubing with a simple round band aid for the site.  

There is a mom on Facebook trying to get Mattel's attention so they can make a "Diabetic Barbie" .  Her daughter brought it up after the media coverage about making a "Bald Barbie". Will they do it?  Who knows.  Maybe they can just make some accessories like pumps, meters & kits that are Barbie sized so those who want them can order them.  Some say that play time can be an escape from the day to day of diabetes.  I think pretend play can be therapeutic.  Seeing Julia's smiling face as she takes out their pump or tucks their pump belt under their clothes shows me that this was just what she needed.   

Rough Patch

I am beaten. These high numbers are too much for me to bear. I am not talking about a random high here or there. I am talking about higher than are healthy that I can't budge. I am talking about constant tweaks and emails with her doctor to try to bring them down.  It is not working.  We have upped basals, tightened insulin carb ratios, still not working. 


There aren't ketones so that is good. It is not constant. She has been under 100 pretty regularly at the 2 am check.  Yes, you read that correctly. We struggle with the highs during the day and avoid the lows all night.


I am tired and angry and frustrated. I fear the 10:30 am snack text knowing that she will be out of range and I am on edge until the lunch time check hoping that she will be back in range. (She isn't).


I am distracted. I have forgotten appointments. I am not fulfilling my commitments.  I am hurting because I know this is hurting her.  I think about the long term consequences of high blood sugars and my stomach turns upside down.  


They say it is always darkest before the dawn.  I need to see the sun.
    

1 Year of Blogging

One year ago today I started this blog because I felt lost.  My daughter had been diagnosed with diabetes and I was overwhelmed.  Then, she got sick for the first time since diagnosis.  I had all of these thoughts and feelings flying around in my head and I knew if I didn't get them out, I would go crazy.  So I wrote about those scary 24 hours and I felt better.
Things have come a long way in a year.  We have come a long way in a year.  Are there times I still feel overwhelmed by diabetes? Of course.  But now I have found a whole community of people who understand what I am going through and help me to see we are not alone.  I have also gained confidence in my ability to care for my daughter.  Are there times that I feel confused? Of course.  But now I know that is how it will be with diabetes.  Diabetes doesn't always make sense and the more I accept that the easier my road is.
Thank you for being a part of our journey so far and I hope you continue with us on Our Type 1 Trip...

A1C How Great a Change Can Be?

We had our 2nd visit with our new endocrinologist.  I was hopeful after we met with him the last time that we would see an improvement in her A1C.  An A1C test measures Julia's average blood sugar over the last two to three months.  The higher her result the greater risk she has for diabetes complications in the future.  At her initial visit with him in September, her A1C had gone up from 7.4 to 7.8.  So I was hoping that we would be at least back to the 7.4.  I was blown away when he ran her blood and we came up with a 6.6!

I was so pleased and so was he.  He was also very kind and said he knew that a change like that could not have come without a lot of hard work and dedication on our part.

I knew after our first appointment with him that making the change was the right thing to do but my heart still felt heavy.  Not anymore.  Now I have real concrete proof that this change was the right thing to do.