Celebrating the Holidays With Food Allergies

I don’t know about you, but I am very excited for what the holiday’s will bring. The holiday’s are about spending time with family and friends that you typically do not get, celebrating whatever traditions you and your family have, and sharing gifts and wisdom with one another.

The holiday meal is one of the things I most look forward to (Eating it, not cooking it of course!) However when you are a family that has diabetes and multiple food allergies in the mix it can be an interesting time to say the least. I’ve learned a few tips and tricks on cooking gluten free/ dairy free so that we all can enjoy the holiday’s without added issues or discomfort. So in the spirit of sharing I’d love to share with others what we do so that it may help you and your family should you be looking at your first holiday Gluten Free.

The Meal

It took a bit of learning and research on my part to figure out how to cook gluten free for the turkey and main staples for our meal. What I‘ve learned in cooking the turkey is you want to use chicken stock instead of the traditional chicken broth if you use this to cook your turkey in. Since we are dairy free as well, we have to watch out for the butter used in cooking the turkey. I use olive oil butter in replace of the traditional butters.

Potatoes are naturally gluten free, which being Irish myself, we LOVE potatoes so that was a blessing. However if you are making homemade mashed potatoes and needing to be dairy/ lactose free there are a few changes you may wish to make. This includes the milk used in the process of making your potatoes. I opt to use Almond milk, and olive oil butter. And honestly the potatoes taste all around much better than they would with regular milk, you will be surprised.

Now gravy can be tricky but it can be made gluten free and still oh so yummy. Instead of your regular wheat based flours, you can use either cornstarch (which is GF), White Rice Flour, or even All Purpose Gluten Free flour. I usually use white rice flour and the gravy still comes out delicious.

As for sides, don’t forget your veggies, they are gluten free and good for you. In addition I love to make a corn casserole that is Gluten Free as well. The ingredients include, corn muffin mix, corn (both kernel and creamed), eggs (which if you need to substitute for eggs, let me know, I can help you with that as well), butter (again olive oil here), cheddar cheese (Shredded) Again for Dairy or lactose free Vegetable cheese tastes just as delicious. In the one recipe sour cream is included but I omit this for dairy purposes and it comes out just as good. Here is a link to the recipe I use and just tweak it to become Dairy free.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/corn-casserole-recipe/index.html

Biscuits! Everyone loves biscuits, but being gluten free it can be tricky. However by following the recipe on the box of GLUTEN FREE Bisquick, you can have some delicious gluten free biscuits in no time at all. I like to include garlic and flax seeds into ours for added flavor.

I haven’t really gotten too much in the line of yummy gluten free treats as this will be our first Christmas gluten free and I haven’t made up much in the line of treats other than our Gluten Free Brownies. I am going to try my hand at Gluten Free sugar cookies this week using almond flour and I will let you all know how those turned out!

Diabetes Burnout

I haven’t had a post lately, and considering Diabetes Awareness Month is coming to an end, I thought it fitting to get one more in this month. It may come as a shock to you all, but I don’t feel like “talking” Diabetes all the time. Once in awhile I get burnout from all the diabetes lingo, carbs, bolus, basal, ketones, you know the lingo. These are the times that I may not have a post every single day. I just don’t feel like talking about it.

However, while I don’t feel like talking about it on here, we still have to live it. We still have to deal with the high blood sugars, the crappy attitude (whether that’s D, or him just being a kid ) The lows during the night, and everything else that comes along with it. That’s because while we may get burnout in talking about Diabetes, Diabetes doesn’t get burnout, it’s the freaking energizer bunny, and keeps on going and going, and pushing you harder and harder.

So if you see there are times I’m ‘quiet’ well, just know that even though I’m not talking about Diabetes with you all, I’m still out there living it.

Thanksgiving: Carbs, Carbs, and More Carbs

When it comes to Thanksgiving it can be a bit overwhelming and frustrating especially in the beginning when tossing Diabetes into the mix. All those foods, all those carbs, what are you to do?  Below are a few tested tips and tricks that can help make Thanksgiving a fun and enjoyable holiday all around, without sacrificing the chance to indulge in all the homemade goodness around you.

Check More Frequently

The most important tip of all for when it comes to Thanksgiving and Diabetes is to check more frequently. This can help prevent those highs that you may normally see later after largely carbohydrate based meals. Check 1 hour after eating ( I know your # will still be high at this time), however it can give you an idea of where you are headed. Usually 1 hour post meal if enough insulin is given Clifford won’t be much higher than in the 200s. But if we check and he’s rocking in the 300 and 400s then we know that a little more insulin is needed to help combat those after meal highs.

Smaller Portions

If you want to enjoy all the goodies around you, feel free to, you can. However it may be more beneficial to take those goodies in much smaller portions than you would normally like. This gives you the chance to try more than one dessert, or have more than one or two sides with your main meal, and not suffer from the additional carbs.

Increase Your Activity Levels

Adding in a few extra minutes of activity can help greatly in balancing out those blood sugar numbers. It can be something as simple as going for a walk after a large Thanksgiving meal.

Remember No Carb (Freebies).

When you know you will be eating a ton of extra Carbs in the afternoon with your meal, why not opt for no carb freebies such as cheese, meats, etc, etc in the earlier portion of the holiday.

The bottom line is, enjoy the holiday’s as you would normally. This time you just happen to have Diabetes in tow and need to pay attention a wee bit more. Overall it’s that time of year to have a great time with friends and family, so go do that and enjoy!

Passing the Torch

When you have a child with diabetes you understand that one day they will become an adult with diabetes. All of the issues that you are dealing with now, the care, the management, the diligence with meals, etc, etc will be their responsibility. Honestly this whole thinking scares the crap outta me, but I do what I can daily to give Clifford a bit more responsibility in caring for himself.

It started slowly with testing himself, when he got the pump, he learned to bolus himself for meals, now he’s learning to count his carbs, add everything up and do that. However I didn’t know just how much we were teaching him until this morning. I knew that little by little we were passing the D torch over to him to care for himself when he was older, but it wasn’t until this morning just how much we’ve shown him had become apparent.

At 6:30 he woke up to let me know that my overnight “D” bag needs to have a new juicebox replaced in it, because he had woken up at 4:30 due to being dizzy, but when he tested himself he was 160 something. He said he tried to go back to sleep but still felt dizzy, so at 4:50 am he tested himself again and was 75, he then grabbed the juicebox, and treated himself, tested again and was in range. All the while he did this without waking anyone up.

I have a little bag that I carry with me to do overnight checks, in it I have his meter, his B Ketone meter, alcohol wipes, the dreaded glucagon, and a juicebox, everything that is needed. When I have to go back and retest at 2am which I had to do last night, I leave the bag by his bed, however this particular night I forgot to put it back downstairs, and it turns out that was a good call, as he didn’t even have to leave bed to test and treat.

He managed to handle one of the more scarier situations, overnight lows, with nothing but ease, and took care of it like a champ on his on. It’s that moment that let’s me not be so scared in my thinking of him out on his own as an adult in caring for himself and his diabetes.

Clifford’s Pancreas: You’re FIRED!

 

Okay, so it’s been 2 years 7 months and 26 days since Clifford’s pancreas decided it didn’t want the position of taking care of his insulin need’s anymore. But during those 2 long years I’ve never once let it know exactly where it stands with me.  So today is the OFFICIAL firing of his pancreas day when I let it know YOU’RE FIRED.

I’ve taken on your job for over two years now, and you do nothing but cause problems, so your gone, we’re finished, we no longer have a relationship with you. We’ll be accepting applications for a new pancreas to take you position….. (Don’t you wish it was that easy??????) Until the day of a cure the job of Clifford’s pancreas will be done by his family, and himself.

This is not a huge post for today but just my way of making light of the situation and letting the organ that has caused all these issues know where it stands.  Peace out Mr. Pancreas…..

The business of Diabetes

You know we’ve all thought it at one point or another while injecting our kids with life saving insulin, or testing their blood 15 + times a day with those pricey little $1 a pop strips. How about ketone testing with $5 strips (each)…..

How bad is is when flu season hits it scares me to my core. Why? One because the flu for those with Diabetes can be downright deadly. Two because I think of all the money that those in the business of diabetes will be making this year alone. Each day when Clifford is sick with the flu we go through at least 25 test strips ($25) 10 ketone strips ($50) not to mention the fast acting carbs to keep those #’s from dropping too fast. Testing alone costs $75 a day (at least).

I remember not to long ago adding up exactly how much it costs right now with the treatment method we’ve chosen for Clifford of being on the pump, blood ketone testing, testing blood sugar’s around 15 x a day, etc, etc. This total was well over $20,000 per year! Add onto that the cost of using a continuous glucose monitor, you’re looking at more than a full time job at minimum wage could pay for in one years time, all to keep this child healthy and alive.

As parents we will do whatever we can to ensure the safety of our children. It just seems depressing and downright pisses me off sometimes the amount of money those in the “business” are making off our children’s lives! I no longer can see a test strip as a test strip, I see it as a $ symbol. I surely hope and pray long and hard that one day their will be a cure for this gold awful disease, but deep down inside part of me thinks why would they do it when they are making loads of money, living the dream life and sipping drinks on the beach all the while our children suffer…….

Let them be a kid…..

Diabetes has already taken away their carefree childhood so aren’t they entitled to just “be a kid”?

Of course the answer to this is yes, but what happens when “being a kid” threatens their life?

For most parents you have to worry about your children getting older and experimenting with different things, dangerous activities, etc for it to really threaten their life.

Unfortunately for parents of children with diabetes every day “kid” activities can threaten their life. Activities like

• Getting an extra cupcake at a birthday party
• Eating all their Halloween Candy in one sitting
• Running around outside playing kickball from sun up to sun down
• The occasional “sneaking of a treat”…..

I am in no way saying children with diabetes cannot eat these things, because they can. These items just require insulin to cover the carbs in them. But what happens if the kids sneak them because you know they are just “being a kid” and do not give themselves insulin for them? Well their blood sugar goes through the roof! That’s what happens, it’s now to the point of endangering their life.

It’s just all part of the territory of raising a child with diabetes. You have to let them be a kid, but still somehow manage to magically protect them from every possible thing they can get their little hands on to. And sometimes, just sometimes it’s overwhelming!

Take a moment…..

When life with D kicks you down

Wipe yourself off, get back up off the ground,

and take a moment and ponder where you are,

just how far you’ve come from life so bizarre.

High blood sugars, low blood sugars, the rollercoaster of D

Hang on for the ride, don’t let time slip by, or you may not see

exactly where your headed, down the path of life,

full of love, hope, success, and perhaps a little strife.

But take a moment and review just what you’ve learned,

all those sleepless nights, full of fear and worry, badges of honor are what you’ve earned.

Stand tall, and walk with pride,

as you are among the special few that will survive.

There may be times D tries to trip you up,

but remember to take a moment, and tell it to shut up!

The Special Ones

 

They fight to keep their children alive in the wee hours of the night.

They go with no sleep, and hope with all their might.

That one day their child will be free from pain.

That a normal life they will again regain.

They go throughout their day with little to no sleep.

Always waiting for that next meter beep.

It’s the special ones who look at their children and try not to cry.

The ones that always want to ask “why”.

Why does their child suffer from an invisible disease so bad,

that at any moment can strip them of the life they had.

You never know how precious life is until you’ve almost lost your child

All the issues that were so big before, now seem so mild.

These special ones you may not know exactly who they are.

Because they wear their pain in their heart, and hide their battle scars.

These special ones are the mothers and fathers of children with diabetes.

No D Day: The other side of life

 

Today is No D Day. This is a blog prompt from : http://www.ninjabetic.com/

And the basic idea is:

That people with diabetes have a lot more going on besides diabetes. Let’s talk about, share, and mention other stuff in our lives instead of that disease that never lets us rest.

Stuff like hobbies, family, movies you like, new music, the weather, sports, favorite stuff, things that bug you, whatever!

JUST NO DIABETES TALK!!! (unless of course there is an emergency)

The other side of life for us is quite spectacular. We have 7 children, and two dogs. Our twins turn 2 years old tomorrow, and it seems like time has flown right by. There are no more babies in the house but toddlers, a preschooler, kindergartener, first , second, and third grader.  It’s crazy because we are venturing onto our 30th birthday’s (Both Chad and I, we’re pretty close in age, although I tell him he’s older than me by 1 month and 3 days), after that Abigale turns 7 and Clifford turns 9!! His last year in the single digits I told him.

Life just flies by when you least expect it if you’re having fun and living it. I like to act like turning 30 bothers me a lot. When in fact the truth is it really doesn’t sting too much. So what I’m not longer 20, but my 20s were not the greatest, (at least the early 20s, later 20s rocked). So I’m looking forward to a new decade and legendary 30s. And while the twins are no longer babies, and I miss the baby days from time to time, I will cherish the milestones of my niece who will be turning 8 months old later this month. And like the fact that my body can be all mine during my 30’s instead of spending it pregnant, or having babies like in my 20s!

So the other side of life for us is just family. We live our life the way we want, happy and healthy. Every day is a battle in some sense but we make it through. We have a large family, sometimes it’s chaotic, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Best part of it all is we are alive, and that is surely something to celebrate.

Choose to LIVE!!!!

 

The unfortunate part of diabetes is we have accepted mortality. We do not wish for it to happen, we hope with all our being we can keep it from showing up too soon, but we have accepted it. Why? Because with Diabetes it’s just always that underlying fear. I talked about previously not letting your fear become your enemy, instead submit to knowing that fear is there and work instead to defeat that fear. Mortality is that fear, at least for me.

We’ve faced mortality, told it to take a back seat, and accepted that one day it will come, but not too son. So in accepting this fear, it has opened up a new world, a whole new way of thinking. When you accept mortality you can now choose to LIVE.

Instead of worrying, and giving into your fear, choose to live your life to the fullest. Choose to fill each waking minute with memories. Choose to love those around you with all that you are. Choose to slow down and soak in all that life has to offer. Choose to freaking live instead of fear.

.

Remember at some point we all struggle, we all battle that fear. I have moments that the fear tries to creep back in, I have moments where I just want to cry and let the fear consume me. Instead I muster up all the strength that I can to put that fear away to take and show it that instead of submitting to it, instead of letting it in, I am going to win, if even for one day. Take it one day at a time but choose to live!

Diabetes is already here, and right now it’s not going anywhere. Take it by the neck, lead it in the direction that YOU want and LIVE!

Never Let Your Fear Be Your Enemy

~To fear is one thing.  To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.  ~Katherine Paterson~

We all get afraid, we all have fear, but it’s when you let fear become your enemy that it consumes you.  When you deal with or live with diabetes you cannot let your fear, that fear of the “Unknown” be your enemy. Instead learn how to coexist with your fear and move forward. When you make the decision to co-exist, rather than submit to the fear, you will start to learn an important lesson in life with a chronic illness.

That lesson is that in fact you can live your life to the fullest, and be just like everyone else. While living with diabetes you have to be more attentive and pay more attention to detail, you don’t have to live with the fear that something will go wrong. Living your life with constant worry is not a way to live. Instead learn to co-exist rather than submit to your fear and above all else, celebrate the small victories.

Did you wake up with a bg of 100 today, freaking celebrate the crap outta that. Celebrate a drop in your a1c, celebrate you completed the race, celebrate you woke up freaking alive today! That is one celebration everyone should participate in daily.

Bottom line, co-exist, do not submit and celebrate the crap outta everything!

The Scariest Journey I Make

Have you ever had a scary moment in life, that made you think to yourself “Whew glad that’s over”. Well that moment in the life of a D Parent happens more often than not, except we don’t get to say “Whew Glad that’s over”, because it never is. The scariest journey I make is during the mornings that Clifford doesn’t wake up early on his own like the rest of the kids. Instead he’s quiet, in his room, hopefully sleeping.

That journey I had to relive again this morning. I walked up the stairs, said a little prayer, slowly made my way to his room. At that moment I felt like I wanted to peek out with only one eye open to see if he was in fact sleeping or even breathing for that matter. Good news, this morning he was just tired, and slept in, and woke up with a BG of 116!

But it was in those few short moments on my walk to his room, that I felt my heart pounding right out of my chest in fear of the “What if”, “What if I didn’t test him enough during the night”, “What if the decisions made during the night weren’t right”, and “What if despite all my efforts D decided to take him from us”….

I cannot explain that fear, it’s one that I live with daily, and just really try to bury inside telling D that it will not win, it will not succeed. Instead of giving into the fear, we go about our day like any one else would. But it’s in those few short moments during a walk to his room, because he slept a little later, that the fear creeps up again once more without my permission.

How Do You Get Through Your Day?

When it comes to diabetes the one thing that is always a constant is making it through the day without much hassle from the big D. I don’t know about everyone else, but sending a T1D kid to school can be a bit overwhelming, and scary experience. In addition to the daily work needed to be done just to manage the disease and keep it at bay, it’s surprising that all of us aren’t in the hospital hooked up to caffeine IVs just to keep us running.

Diabetes takes a lot out of you as the T1D, and as the family members and caregivers to a T1D. We make it through our day with the normal daily routine in tack, come home from school, homework, dinner, playtime, bedtime snack and bed. Then starts the wonderful process of overnight testing, second guessing, correcting, treating, sleep drinking, sleep eating, hoping the ants don’t come from crumbs or juice spills, cleaning blood off of sleeping fingers, and the fight to get the blood sample on a strip when your T1D kid is low. I don’t know about you all but when Clifford is low he tends to pull away and fight me in his sleep. 9 times out of 10 when he fights he’s low.  Next we wake up and do it all over again.

With D in the mix, how do you manage to get through your day and still look pretty doing so????

Invisible Illness Week!

What is an invisible illness? It is an illness that you do not see on the outside. Everyday many people all around the world live with an invisible illness. You wouldn’t be able to tell they are suffering from their outward appearance, but on the inside their illness is trying it’s hardest to reek havoc on their body.

This week started invisible illness week. It’s one week a year to spread the word about those living with an invisible illness. Type 1 diabetes just happens to be one of the many invisible illnesses that many suffer from on a daily basis. On the outside you cannot tell that Clifford suffers from a chronic/invisible illness that will never go away.

On the inside however, well that’s a different story. His illness is trying it’s very best to take over his body, but we’re fighting back every step of the way. I am happy to report we are doing our very best in that fight, his newest A1c, 6 months after pumping was 6.3%! Clifford and I took a moment to have a brief high five for a job well done in the Endo’s office and moved on. We live with the attitude of bolus and move on, so the same goes for A1c. I’d love to say it’s just a number and I don’t let that define me as a parent to a D child. But to me it’s my D mom report card, and this time I passed!  But I’m trying to turn over a new leaf, Stay Calm, A1c and move on!

Using Personalized Books to Get Kids to Read

 

*Guest Post from HB Redbird on how to get your kids more interested in reading. Even though my blog is focused around Type 1, reading is very important in children’s lives. We encourage it greatly in our home and I thought it would be beneficial to get the word out there with this beautifully written guest post.

Next to math, getting a child to read is becoming increasingly difficult. Attention spans are getting shorter, and the desire to play video games is getting greater. One of the best ways to encourage a child to read is to cater to their desire for everything to be about them. Personalized books are a sure fire way to do that.

 

What are Personalized Books?

Books that include a child’s name, their age, where they live, and even their friends are what set personalized books apart from other books. They take characters that children love, such as Sesame Street, and put the child into the story. You fill out a form for the company to enter the information into the book while printing. The books can be entertaining or they can be educational. Some companies will even put a dedication to the child at the front of the book.

Places to Buy

One of the best places to purchase personalized books is at Flatten Me. Flatten Me takes personalized books to a whole new level. They include the child’s name, but also family photos can be added to the characters. Children enjoy seeing their name in stories; however, they also are drawn into the illustrations in the book. Seeing your parent as a superhero in a book, or see themselves as a pirate, their imagination is drawn to the book. The company has books geared for all ages so you can encourage all children, or adults, to read with this company.

Other Products

Along with personalized books, another way to get a child interested in reading is having them write. Writing takes what they have learned while reading, and makes them practice making the same sounds. Flatten Me takes your child’s picture and puts it on the cover of a journal. If you have a child who likes horses, gift them the Just Horsin’ Around journal. Then you can gift them a personalized book where they can write down their thoughts about the book. This can be made into a lesson by having them write how they would change the story.

Another creative product that Flatten Me provides is personalized wall art that you can create personalized reading spaces. Your child that enjoys horses, use the Just Horsin’ Around wall art. Throw in some horse pillows and a fuzzy rug, and your child will be dying to read in their spot daily.

Children are naturally inquisitive and have short attention spans. It is imperative to cater teaching them to their learning style. If your child is fighting you on learning to read, go to their natural desire to be the center of the world and get them a story that stars them. You know your child the best, so chose a style of book that will keep their attention. At the beginning, do not worry if they only want to read personalized comic books or personalized books on fighting dragons. They are still learning letter sounds and blends. Before you know it, they will want to read longer books and the personalization can be a treat for birthdays or special holidays.

WEGO: Advocating for Another Day #3

 

Day #3: Challenge Accepted! Post

Parenting isn’t all sunshine and ice cream – it’s hard. Write a post that delves into 3 challenges that you face as a parent

Parenting is one of those things you really go into without knowing exactly what to do or how to handle all situations. There are many challenges we face on a daily basis parents to a child with a chronic health condition, like keeping them alive. But instead I choose to write 3 challenges we face just as parents, not as parents to a child with Type 1 diabetes.

1. Dividing time: When you have more than one child, the challenge becomes dividing your time and attention to all children, and making sure not to favor one child over another. It’s a delicate balance, that some days doesn’t always work out the way we want. What I’ve learned is that your children want your undivided attention, even if that is for 10 mins a day. Playing a simple video game with them, or running around shooting up monsters, painting nails, and doing make up helps to keep them feeling good, and loved.

2. Being the enforcer: Parenting isn’t about being your child’s best friend. Although that would be a great outcome when they are older, now wouldn’t it? It’s about stepping up and being the bad guy from time to time. You cannot hand your children everything they want, or let them walk all over you. What kind of adults would they become if you always did everything they said?

3.Teaching responsibility: As a parent it’s your job to take this little life and transform it into a responsible adult. That is a HUGE responsibility on your shoulders. During their different ages you introduce new responsibilities to them. It’s important to not let day to day busy life get in the way. It can be easy some days after a long day to put things on the back burner and let them slide on chores or other things. However that is not painting the right picture for them or teaching them responsibility at all. Consistency is key when it comes to children.

Advocating for Another Day #2

August 22 • Day 2: These are A Few of My Favorite Things Post

List time! Write 5 of your favorite things about your loved one. Celebrate their uniqueness and be sure to tell us why
those are your favorite things.

 

1. Strength- Strong throughout everything, never once complains about the pain

2 Loving big brother- Loves his little sisters and brothers and even though they bicker from time to time, he’d rather sit and play with them than alone

3. Big helper – Does his chores without “MUCH” complaints.

4. Good student- He receives great grades in school, and actually loves going to school (for now)

5. Involved in his care- He has wanted to learn about his care from the beginning and knows quite a bit when it comes to the day to day management of his diabetes.

Advocating for Another Carnival–August 2012

 

I am participating in WEGO Health’s Advocating for Another Carnival. With 8 days of specific posts about advocating for another. Today’s prompt is below.

August 21st: Day 1: Portrait Post

Write a descriptive portrait of your child/ren. Share qualities that make them, them – and include an image! (A photo or
creative work of them!)

 

The one that I advocate for, many of you know is my son Clifford. Clifford is 8 years old and at the age of 6 he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. It has been a long over 2 year journey of learning to live our new life with Diabetes, but through it all he battled it, and learned it like a champ. He is very smart, and involved in many aspects of his day to day care. For over 2 years he was on 6 injections a day, and never once complained of the pain. In March of 2012, he moved forward in his journey with Diabetes and went on an insulin pump. While managing his condition has become a bit easier it is still a daily battle and a delicate balance of food, exercise, insulin, and a numerous amount of other factors to keep him alive.

Despite diabetes Clifford has done many things, including playing basketball for his school, participating in Cub Scouts, and winning the spelling bee at his elementary school! He loves to read, play video games, and harass his sisters (like any other 8 year old boy). He is very active and loves to play outside. His imagination is large, and leads him to wonderful journeys as a military man, super hero, or anyone else he can think of.

Diabetes definitely doesn’t have this little boy, he just happens to have it and lives life to the fullest despite it.

Don’t let the numbers rule you..

 

One thing you will want to learn early on when dealing with Diabetes is you will never “ALWAYS” hit those perfect numbers. You shouldn’t live your life number to number trying to strive for excellence, and getting disappointed when it doesn’t happen. This is just letting the numbers rule you.

We test, either correct, or treat and move on. Obviously when there is a high after high, it really starts to get to you, but you have to try to bolus, correct, move on. Change site, inject, move on. IT’s your new part of your everyday normal, don’t let it control every aspect of your life, because in no time at all it will begin to feel like you have no life other than working around the numbers.

I say this from experience. We have days where we have great numbers, and we celebrate small victories, you have to in this life. Then there are days when we are hit with highs out of no where. We rule out quickly all the possible culprits, (bubbles in tubing, site coming out, ketones, etc.) then we bolus and move on. Just today after 2 great days with no numbers higher than 170, we were hit with a 305. Only 0.1 ketones, so we corrected, dual bolused for breakfast, and he was 123 at his 2 hr. check.

Diabetes already takes up so much of your life that you can’t let it take complete control over it. Try the bolus, treat and move on method, and see how this works for you.

Upcoming-Keep a lookout

Keep a look out for my upcoming post on “Back to school with Diabetes”. There is a lot of work even before school starts. If you are just starting out and need a bit of advice it may be helpful. If you happen to have any questions you’d like to have addressed ahead of time, let me know and I’ll do my best to get them answered for you. In the mean time check out “Back to School with Disabilities” this is an article I wrote that helps discuss a little bit of heading back to school with diabetes. Look for another one soon in further detail.

Diabetes has….

There are many things that diabetes has done, some good, some well mostly bad. But here is a compiled list to let those who may  not have experience with the disease know just what Diabetes has done.

• Stripped my son of a normal childhood
• Turned our world upside down
• Taken away his freedom to do what he wants, or eat what he wants
• Made him grow up way to fast
• Become the center of our universe
• Taken the energy right out of me
• Made me fearful that when I put my son to sleep at night he won’t wake up in the morning ( I just wish someone would tell me that he is going to live until he’s 85 despite this disease, that would take so much worry away.) No one should have to put their child to bed at night fearing that might be the last time you see them.
• Made doctor’s appointments more frequent ( gone are the days of yearly check ups), instead it’s a visit every 3 months to see how we’re doing as his new pancreas.
• Made us human calculators (calculating carbs, activity levels, insulin active, etc, to try to figure out the correct dosage,yeah pretty much impossible)

 

In all of this there is one positive that diabetes has brought into our lives

The diabetic online community (DOC) when I found others that KNEW what we were going through it changed my entire outlook on the disease and has helped tremendously.

So there you have it. I’m sure there are more things that could be added, and other’s have different ones as well. This is just my opinion on what diabetes has brought into our lives.

The Good with the bad….

 

As with life in the Diabetes world you have your good days, your funny days, and your not so good days. One thing I have learned in 2+ years of Clifford’s dx with Type 1 diabetes is you cannot dwell on the numbers, it sucks, he’s high, he’s low. The concern in lies figuring out why they happened and move on. The majority of the time you may never be able to pinpoint why they happened. There are 800 different things that affect your blood sugar, and only 3 are within your control (basal, bolus, and carb counting). You can’t take in account for hormones, moods, weather, stress, illness, etc) If you are constantly in worry mode you will stress yourself out beyond belief. So as with life, we must learn to accept the good with the bad. We’ve handled it and moved on, now time to kick more Diabetes butt.

For those of you who may not be familiar with what the above picture is, it is Clifford’s infusion set, this is what gives him insulin all day long. You can see that near the adhesive (white part) it is raised up. The little tiny tube that gives him his insulin (the cannula) is underneath there, when the adhesive raised up it pulled out the cannula causing no insulin to be delivered resulting in a blood sugar of over 400. Thankfully we caught it before ketones had a chance to rear their ugly heads, and it was site change day!

Point to this all is. If you are new to the D world, it may take some time, but try to not get too worked up and learn to take the good with the bad. You will have your moments, and it’s important to not let those moments become you. Not to let the whole issue with Diabetes take over every aspect of your being. Doesn’t Diabetes already take over our lives enough?

Diabetes is a family disease

 

It all begins and ends with family. No matter what when you are faced with a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes it becomes a disease the whole family has. You may not realize it at first with one parent taking on the brunt of the responsibility (In the case of a child being dx’d) But little by little your eyes open up to how much Diabetes affects the whole family.

I can only imagine the fear from Abigale who at 4 years old found her brother passed out from a low blood sugar and came to tell me. She still remembers it to this day and talks about it like it was yesterday. She then had to experience me holding her brother this past month, quickly trying to squirt icing into his mouth to recover from a low blood sugar.

Just today our 4 year old asked if she was supposed to squirt icing into Clifford’s mouth if he were laying down and not talking. She has never been talked to about this, it’s just what she has picked up from living in a family with D.

Eric on two occasions has shown how much he has learned as well. When grocery shopping he asked about the carb count in fruit snacks to make sure Clifford could eat them. And recently I heard them playing and he stopped and asked Clifford “Are you okay, because you’re talking really fast” Which prompted me to have him test himself and low and behold he was in the 60s.

It’s little by little you see how Diabetes affects the entire family. It’s not just a disease that one has to suffer with on their own. In our family we are there helping each other along the way. The way I see the kids caring about how Clifford is feeling, and Eric waiting to eat until Clifford boluses, I can tell as they grow up together it will be a united team in helping to make sure he’s safe and healthy everywhere he goes.

And to go even a step further when you are a member of the DOC (Diabetic Online Community) you have a family there to support and help you at all hours. All around the world, it’s a family disease.

D Victory Day

Ever have that Day in D land where you just rocked bg#’s. Well today was that day for us. After some unfortunate highs the previous two days, 1st day due to a bent tip of the cannula (didn’t find this until changing the site for a scheduled change), took a few hours bug bg’s finally came down. Next day highs, here and there, thought it was bubbles in the tubing, so changed the tubing out, still a bit higher than I liked. Told Clifford, in my gut I just had a feeling we had to change the site. So we changed it AGAIN, and the cannula was bent :/. Overnight well that was no fun. New site was definitely working, however delayed lows from all the activity during the day hit us hard, 73, 57, finally got a 92, 130 at 3am, only for him to wake up at 51! Usually a day starting like that doesn’t seem to work out. However that was not the case, all day long no numbers over 136, and only one other low other than the 51 at wake up and it wasn’t even super low at 67! I would like to say that is a D victory day! Have to celebrate them when you get them. I’m hoping our luck continues to keep on going for the remainder of this site. Here’s hoping delayed lows don’t hit us again tonight. But one things for sure if they do I will be up to catch them…. Where’s the caffeine???

Overnight….

Do you remember that feeling in your stomach as a child afraid of the dark, or monsters in your closet, when night time rolled around? Well that same feeling lives in the stomachs of all D parents when they put their child to sleep at night. Overnights plan and simple SUCK. The fear of the unknown, or nocturnal hypoglycemia. After a scary morning with a low and possible seizure situation with Clifford, night time has become even more unsettling to my tummy!  I made a big step in putting that fear aside last night. He was 104 at 12:30 and well honestly that # can go either way. Typically would treat him up a small amount, but NOPE didn’t want to run the risk of running him high, so I let it ride. But just for a peace of mind I tested an hr later at 1:30 .. Rocking a 154 now, YES! I can sleep easy now at least for another hour and a half for a test at 3am. 130 at 3am, and back to sleep it was for me. Morning rolls around and I did my typical checking to ensure the kid was in fact breathing. Good to go. 79 at breakfast (not too shabby I might add) definitely happy with the night’s turn out, thanking God he woke up once again. Now to a day full of fun, running, playing, being a kid and hopefully good BG#’s until night time rolls around again and I’m and at it, kicking D in the butt.

How to prevent summertime “Lows”

 

With summer time here, and an increase in outside activity, one thing is certain with diabetes. LOWS. Kids tend to need less insulin in the summer than they do in the winter season. This is because activity/exercise, whatever you refer to it as helps to drop that blood sugar. Preventing summer time lows can be difficult. And it’s important to remember not to view yourself as failure because you or your child is still experiencing lows. It’s going to happen, it’s diabetes, and it’s inevitable! But from my experience in having an active summertime child with Type 1 diabetes, I have figured out a few tips and tricks to help prevent lows from occurring.

Check more frequently

(when they are active it helps to check before they begin, during, and after, and even more if you feel the urge to)

Checking more frequently can help you get an idea of where your, or their blood sugar is and what you can do about it. As an example, Clifford is on the insulin pump, and one of the benefits of an insulin pump is knowing how much Insulin is on board (IOB), or active. This is a useful tool for us at least in helping to prevent lows from occurring. If he tests and he’s 100 or less with IOB, we make a decision to treat, and with how many carbs. In doing this, we’ve helped to prevent some lows from occurring.

Temp basals

If you are on an insulin pump, or your child is, temp basals can be your best friend. We typically set a temp basal anywhere from 30-50% for an hours time. The percentage basically is reflecting off of what his numbers were like during the day, if he ran lower, then we run it lower.

Frequent snacks

For those on an insulin pump or MDI’s frequent small snacks after checking your blood sugar can help to give you the little boost you need to keep your blood sugar up without dropping low during activities.

Water

Well water will not exactly help prevent lows, but for anyone it’s beneficial to make sure you stay hydrated during activity, and for those with diabetes it’s even more important.

It’s really not a huge list, but these are the few tricks / tools we pull out of our hat during the summer time to help prevent lows from occurring.

There’s no “particular” number

The one thing about Diabetes is there is no certainty. There is no consistency. There is no “ONE” number to let you know when things will go bad, either High or Low.

Take this morning for example, tested Clifford before he woke up to find him at 55. Woke him up, he drank a juice box, however something didn’t seem right, something was just “off”. His eyes were as if he was not really with me. He was only talking to me intermittently. Answering a question here and there, and between pauses just looking “not there”. Something told me to go grab more sugar, more something, I grabbed the icing and the glucagon, yes it was that “not there” that I thought we were going to need gluc.

I kept asking him questions, trying to get him to talk to me. The stupid icing didn’t have a hole poked into it, so I ran as fast as I could downstairs to stick a knife in it and back up to give it to him. In that short period of time he had crawled himself to our playroom and was just laying there. I ran in grabbed him up and had to hold him and pour icing into his mouth. Thankfully he was with me enough he was instinctively taking it in. But still something was “off”

I got in front of him and this is when the “twitching” started. I thought for certain we were on the verge of a seizure but he was 55! He has been lower with nothing like this ever happening. He would twitch with that crazed not there look in his eyes, then answer me. Then he just collapsed into my arms, he was still “with me” The icing was starting to take affect and he was coming back around, he was again answering me. I walked with him to his room and I could tell he had come to even more when he started crying at the sight of the glucagon needle in my hand ready to go.

No seizures, but on the verge of something bad. Thankfully I caught the low at 8am, and got him moving along in the right direction. He doesn’t remember it. He doesn’t remember me shaking as I was holding him and pouring icing into his mouth, fearing that something “BAD” was about to happen. He doesn’t remember just not being “with me”… He’s off playing and happy as can be. A bit high but that’s given from the treating that needed done to bring him back around. Good news, he doesn’t remember.

Bad news… I do.

Welcome back to D Care!

 

Clifford is back home now, and Diabetes decided to welcome me back into day to day D care by throwing a 67 at me at 3:45 am. He wasn’t scheduled to be checked at this time, so thankfully his sister woke up which prompted me to test him. In the darkness of his room however I thought the meter said ‘37’. Which means I ran like a crazy lady through the house to get a juice box.

Not really the way I’d like to be welcomed back, but we all know how welcoming Diabetes can be :/

Signs and symptoms of Type 1 diabetes in children

 

I know I have posted this a few times in the past, but it’s always nice to give a refresher, especially to those who may be new to my blog. It’s always a good thing to have the correct information out there and helping others to recognize the signs and symptoms. Instead of writing it all out here this time. I would love to link you to my recent article on Signs and Symptoms of Type 1 on ALL Parents Talk. A new parenting site with a lot of useful and great information plus, I’m helping to add content there so I would love if my readers took a look over there as well. I had my first article be something that is near and dear to my heart. I’m so excited to get the signs and symptoms out there and help spread the word about type 1.

 

http://www.allparentstalk.com/signs-symptoms-type-1-diabetes-children/parenting-tips-2/

The cost of living with diabetes

 

We all know the ultimate cost that living with Diabetes places on the PWD and their families. The mental burden of living with D and caring for someone that lives with D can become overwhelming, if you let it.

 

The one thing that has always bugged me about this disease other than the most common reasons, is the financial cost it takes to keep someone with D alive!  Thankfully we have insurance that pays for the majority of this, but I know there are others out there that are not so lucky. It’s important to get the word out of what it really costs for someone with Diabetes just to stay alive. As an example I will use Clifford’s costs for a month.

 

• 650 Testing Strips = $650.00
• 10 Infusion sets & reservoirs = $178.00
• Alcohol wipes, IV 3000,IV prep, and Uni Solve= $60.00
• 600 Lancets= $70.00
• 4 vials humalog insulin =$480.00
• 1 vial Lantus insulin (just in case) =$120.00
• Batteries, Juice boxes, glucose tablets= $50.00

Now we also have his supplies that we get 2x a year

• Blood Ketone Strips 350 a year = $1750.00

Every month it roughly costs $1754.00 just to keep Clifford alive. If we look at it yearly the cost is $21,046.. You need a full time job just to be able to afford your supplies that keep you alive YEARLY without insurance. This is a bit ridiculous, and the one thing that has bothered me. In addition Clifford also takes Synthroid to help regulate his thyroid levels because of Hashimotos. There are many other PWD’s living with other conditions that cost even more $$ as well. This is why we push so hard for a cure! It’s way to expensive to have diabetes!

D Mom without a D child in the house…..

Clifford’s been away now on summer visitation since last Friday… I feel the need oddly to test someone’s blood sugar, count carbs still, etc, etc, etc. As bad as it is I get to sleep in and not wake up in the middle of the night to test him (although the twins are still keeping me on my regular sleep schedule), however for some reason I feel guilty that I’m not doing it.

I’m still doing the day to day up keep of living with D. I have been communicating with his doctors and educators to schedule bloodwork to test his thyroid levels because he’s complaining of being more sleepy than normal. I have been keeping up to date with the schedule of getting prescripts shipped out to us on time. I even took a few about 40 minutes yesterday to reorganize the D shelf of supplies (main shelf), and the other shelves that are around the house, and restocked them.

Point to this all is even though he’s not here it’s still hardwired in my brain on how we live with Diabetes. And I do catch myself counting carbs, and trying to weigh out food. Even though I’m not doing the day to day upkeep right now I’m still doing the behind the scenes work that I always do.

And honestly it doesn’t differ too much from our day to day. Since Clifford is on the verge of turning 9, he’s been giving a bit more responsibility with his D  care. He tests himself, he puts in the carbs that I tell him, and confirms the bolus with me before bolusing himself. There are days I just monitor and watch, count carbs, and confirm boluses without touching the pump. However nighttime is still on me. I get up, test, bolus if needed, etc, etc.

I am getting a “small” glimpse of what it will be like when he’s old enough to be out on his own. I will still worry, I will still keep updated (as much as he’ll want me to), and I will still always revert to counting carbs, and weighing food, it’s just the new “norm”…

Hi! It’s me… Diabetes

Hi it’s me, the incurable disease located on the inside of your or your loved ones body. I’m sure you think you got me all figured out. But I’m like a ninja and when you least expect it I’m on to something new! Just when you think you have a handle on me and have me under control in my little cage, I break out and let loose and reek havoc all over. HA! And you thought you could control me. There is something here that you need to learn about me, I don’t take orders from anyone. I do what I want, when I want and there is nothing you can do about it. You’re definitely NOT the boss of me.

I don’t play games fairly, in fact when I can I make sure to cheat to get my own way. I am also a very sore loser, so when you think you’re winning and have everything under control, I will get my revenge. I don’t let you sleep at night, because I don’t need sleep so why should you. I don’t really care if you are going to a birthday party today or have plans to go swimming, I’m going to do my best to mix things up and rock your world. Oh that’s so cute that you think I’m no big deal… Because sorry about your luck I’m a big “F’ing” Deal and I’m making sure you know it and everyone else knows it to! I really cannot sit still too long either. I have to get up and move around and see just what trouble I can get myself into. Sorry if that disrupts your work, or that big game, or even your SATs, don’t care it’s fun to me to take control and be in charge. Yeah there are times I seem to play nice, but those times I’m pretty much sitting and plotting revenge and how to kick things up a notch. Don’t get too comfortable for too long, you might want to stay on your toes, and invest in numerous amounts of caffeine because I’m not going anywhere.

Only time will tell……

I’ve pretty much given up on the idea of a full night’s sleep. It’s not that I don’t like to sleep, or that I don’t want to sleep. It’s that sleep has become pretty much an unknown to me at this point. Pretty much since around the time Clifford was born 8+ years ago sleep has been a thing of the past, just as one child would start to sleep through the night, another was born. And then there’s a whole different type of “no sleep” when it refers to diabetes. I’m going to be open and honest in the fact that in the beginning they wanted us testing nightly at 12 and 3 am, for about the first 2 to 3 weeks after diagnosis. I was beat, a zombie you might say and looking forward to any bit of relief. Then we were told you only had to test 2 nights a week. PHEW what a relief. And that’s what we did… I think back now. OMG I cannot believe we only tested 2 nights a week, what in the hell were we thinking. But it’s what the endo told us to do, you know a trained professional, a doctor who went to school for quite sometime to get where they are today, so I trusted them. We are very lucky that thankfully those nights, God took over and was watching over Clifford as he slept, there’s not other reasoning for nothing bad happening overnight.

But now, I test before I go to bed at night, I have to, it’s my little reassurance. If he’s good, I say thank you, and set my alarm for midnight, or 2 hrs after the testing time, whatever that might be. Then here is the tricky part, if he’s good still and in range and not too lower on the “in range” side, then I make a decision whether or not I’m going to get up 2 hrs later and test, or let him go. However if a correction is made that is a no brainer, I get back up and test to make sure he didn’t drop too low.  Now tonight as I sit here on the crazy time we’re having, I miss those nights where I still slept some in between testing. He’s high 440 at last check, 476 the one before that. Ketones are pretty much none at all 01., 0.2, but he’s high! I’m correcting like crazy and he’s not budging. So I made the decision that I was going to switch out the insulin, I just had this feeling it was the insulin. I corrected, and set a temp basal of 115% for an hr. Now was that the right decision. I don’t know, only time will tell. Will I be able to go to sleep at 1:30am, I don’t know only time will tell.

The best question in all of this is will there be a cure for this damned disease in the future? I don’t know only time will tell. But I “HOPE” so hard that I don’t think I can hope anymore that there will be. Or a better way of treating it then we have now. Only time will tell if sometime I will revisit sleep once again. I do definitely miss it.

It’s always there… The fear….

What can I say, it’s always in the back of my head, the fear that one of my other children will have to get dealt the same cards that Clifford has. And while I tell myself, we’re better prepared, we’ll catch it earlier, we’ll be able to handle this all so much better, it doesn’t really make things easier, it doesn’t make the fear go away.

Something as simple as a growth spurt and out of the blue flu scares the crap outta me. I may not show it on the outside but on the inside I’m screaming. Abby became sick on Monday night, and Tuesday she couldn’t keep anything down. At one point I decided to test her, and test ketones to see just how much a non D can spill, and you know just to check. Well the ketone meter beeped before the BG meter and it read 6.2… Thankfully the BG meter only read 84. But then there’s the growth spurt. It’s made her look soo much skinner than before and well when Clifford was dx’d he lost some weight and look so skinny.

So unfortunately she got a brief look into the testing like he goes through tested and got a number much higher than I’d like a 239, retested thinking food was still in there working around and still higher than I’d like 2 hrs post meal of 155. But the fasting number revealed a 93! That doesn’t mean the fear will go away it’s always going to be there, and more than likely she’ll be tested again in the future. It’s just part of the territory I guess, having one child with T1, you just get concerned another dx will be around the corner… Nothing can prepare you for that, no matter how much you think you will be prepared or better prepared than the first time around… nothing.

Diabetes and Summertime!

Well it’s official, summer vacation has started! I’m actually pretty excited for the kids to be home for the summer. Summertime is absolutely wonderful for the most part on Clifford’s blood sugars! A short trip on the trampoline will dip his numbers like crazy, so it’s great for unexplained highs, and we must boost him up if he’s running normal so he can get on and enjoy himself like everyone else.

Basal’s have been increased as of last week all across the board, and I have a feeling by this time next week we’ll be decreasing those said basals again. From sun up to sun down those kids are outside playing or doing some sort of activity, and exercise/activity works wonders on blood sugars. But can also be dangerous if it drops too low too fast. So when it comes to diabetes and summertime it’s always important to remember to test more frequently and be aware of how your body is feeling, or how your loved one is acting to ensure you have a safe and healthy summer!

D Blog Week: Day #5 What they should know…

Today's D-Blog Prompt: "Let’s borrow a topic from a #dsma chat held last September.  The tweet asked “What is one thing you would tell someone that doesn’t have diabetes about living with diabetes?”.  Let’s do a little advocating and post what we wish people knew about diabetes.  Have more than one thing you wish people knew?  Go ahead and tell us everything."

 

In short the one thing I would like everyone living without diabetes to know is this…………….We didn’t cause this……

Clifford wasn’t force fed sugar, he didn’t go to McDonalds daily, he didn’t eat candy, cake, or other sugary treats for breakfast. No matter what we did there was no way to prevent the attack of diabetes.

Plain and simple, I know I could tell you literally hundreds of things on what it’s like to live with diabetes, what it’s like to care for a child with diabetes, but the one misconception of diabetes I want to address is

WE DIDN”T CAUSE THIS!!

D Blog Week: Day #4 Fantasy Device

 

When I envision a fantasy D device I think about KITT from Knight Rider. I don’t know why but I imagine a device with the same voice that can be transferred into the car when it comes time to drive.

This device will alert you of highs and lows 1 hr before they are set to occur. This device will talk to your pump let it know exactly what your blood sugar is, what the carb amount is and tell it to give you an exact amount of insulin. No more finger pricks, no carb counting, somehow this machine / device will just KNOW what to do.

Or we can just have The Rock come and scare/will your pancreas into kick starting and working again, because well he’s The Rock. I perhaps would say Chuck Norris, but not really a Chuck Norris fan, besides the The Rock is a much scarier pancreas re-starter….

D Blog Week: Day #3 One thing to improve….

Well that’s really quite simple now isn’t is…. Clifford’s pancreas!!!! I’d definitely improve that… Ah but we are speaking “realistically” what we can improve. And since we all know no amount home remedies, or moss on trees in Africa, can cure diabetes, then there’s no chance of realistically improving his pancreas…..

So “realistically” speaking I’d improve my ability to wake myself up in the middle of the night. I hear my alarm that I set on my phone for the most part, but there are days that I wake up in the morning freaking because my phone is off. I turn it back on to realize, no the battery did not die, somehow in my sleep deprived subconscious state I completely turned off my phone. I try, I really, really try to get up, and sometimes my body just shuts itself off completely until morning.

So if I could improve anything it would be my ability to wake up. I’m not a super hero although I do think I’d look really good in a cape, so all I can do until I sport my new cape and superhuman powers is to hope I hear the many alarms I have set for the night to help keep Clifford alive and safe!

D Blog Week Day #2: One Great Thing

Living with Diabetes, (or caring for someone who lives with it) sure does take a lot of work, and it’s easy to be hard on ourselves if we aren’t “perfect”. But today it’s time to give ourselves some much deserved credit. Tell us about one diabetes thing you (or your loved one) does spectacularly!

I definitely never like to toot my own horn that’s for sure. But one thing I think in “D” life that I do pretty decently is being the math portion of Clifford’s pancreas. There are times when he’s lower (not necessarily low, low) but still has Insulin on board (Active insulin still working) well this requires math my friends. His sensitivity is 120 which means for every 1 unit of insulin his blood sugar is lowered on average by 120. So I’ve done the math that is about 12 for every .1 units. If he’s say 79 (like last night) and has 0.4 active, that doesn’t seem too good. However there’s the other part of me that takes into consideration he had white chocolate pretzels for a snack about 40 mins ago and the chocolate likes to come to the party and cause his blood sugar to peek at a much later time than normal foods . So Now instead of just doing the math with the 0.4 units active, his blood sugar number you have to take into consideration the chocolate. This means figuring out how many carbs it is going to take to prevent him from dropping low and keep him from going to high. Oy vey it makes my head hurt now! For the most part I don’t do too bad with this I will go with 8 out of 10 times we’re pretty spot on with the guestimates.

This math factor comes into play all day long he was 113 @ 2:30 am. Okay so now I’m sitting here half awake trying to figure out if I give him something to boost him or let him ride. Seeing as between 4 and 5 he “typically” goes higher due to the growth hormone being more active and partying! However in this incident to me it was only 2:30, 3, to 3:30 he tends to dip. Plus his basal is still running at a higher rate between 12 and 3am. So I gave him 3 pixie sticks, which btw only have 15 grams of carbs per seven small sticks, so roughly a little over 2grams each, yes I did this math in my head at 2:30 am. I have to, it’s what keeps him alive. Just shy of 7 grams of carbs kept him riding good until morning! He woke up at 6:15 at 107, but didn’t technically get up till 7am to eat when he was 132!

I like to brag about these “good days” but as you know there are not so good days like the other night. Unfortunately for us I believe it was either a site issue or insulin issue as I changed out the insulin when we changed his site. Either way he’s back to having good #’s.

D Blog Week: DAY 1 Find a Friend

So this year I am participating in the 3rd Annual D Blog week. This is my 2nd year participating and I really enjoy it.

Today is Day 1, and with Day 1 today’s topic is Find a Friend. We’re kicking off D blog week by making new connections.

The one blog that I read pretty much daily is Meri’s Blog at: Our Diabetic Life. If you are looking for some honest, open and real reading about life with Diabetes you definitely will be pleased.

So I know we’re supposed to list just one, but I really think this whole list is perfect for everyone to find a friend. Click here for the list of 192 participants in this years D blog week.

Diabetes doesn’t sleep

Diabetes doesn’t sleep and because diabetes doesn’t sleep, neither do I.

So typically I would NOT Post my morning (up all night with D picture) but w/e it’s that type of morning. Diabetes does NOT sleep. I know we’ve said this many times before but it doesn’t care what time of day it is. It doesn’t need to rest and take a break for it’s next attack, it has unlimited energy! And unfortunately I do not, but I try. A typical night with Diabetes is NOT always like the one I’m about to describe, but unfortunately they do happen from time to time. A typical night with Diabetes is overnight testing, getting up to an alarm at 12 or 12:30, either correcting, leaving him be, or having to shove a juice box in his face if he’s low. If you correct or treat which honestly it’s about 70/30 that you have to do one of those other than leave him be, then you are back up in an hour to another alarm to retest, treating you want to wait 15 mins, retest, then back up in an hour just to be sure. From there it’s another alarm at 3am. Again the whole cycle begins, treat, correct, let him be. If one of the 2 then an hour once more.  I really, honestly LOVE those let him be sort of nights! Because I get to sleep!

And then you have days like last night. It was mother’s day and he got to indulge in a treat, besides, he’s a kid first right? He had chocolate cake, peanut butter icing with Resse pieces…. Yum to the max! However to my confusion he dropped like a rock to 59 before bed?!?!?!? Okay so we treated, waited and he was 90 in 30 mins, however here’s the kicker he still had 0.9 insulin on board (IOB) so what do I do, I treat again, but not as much as I was thinking to. Retest, he’s 269 (Oy vey! No winning, so I correct 0.9 units) back up at 12:30 (alarm time) and he’s 342 :/ so now I’m thinking we have a pump issue, a site issue one of them, retested after washing his fingers and it says 424! Really? One sigh of relief, no ketones, so I correct AGAIN! and retest in an hour. Well no more alarms for the night for me because Miss Annie decided to have a party from 1am to 4am with Hayleigh waking up in between, at this point I’m convinced I’m never sleeping again. Retest in an hour 363 Grrrrr. I wait another hour at 3:30ish he’s still 368, but no ketones, so I decided instead of waking him up to change a site at 3:30 seeing as he had no ketones, that I would correct and move on my way. I tested once more before finally getting back to bed close to 4:30 and he’s still riding in the lower 300s, so I had decided I would recheck at 5am when Chad’s alarm went off.

One problem , when you don’t sleep and your exhausted you sleep right through that alarm and even him leaving for work, and instead wake up at 6:50 to Clifford up for the day. Well best part, he’s ALIVE!! But really kid 6:50???? He really needs dark curtains for his windows…. Kicker of it all he’s 348! You’ve got to be kidding me. I said a few choice words, then checked ketones, NONE! So confused at this point but decided to change his site anyways so he’s not skyrocketing at school. Here’s hoping his day goes better, he got 4.5 units for breakfast so crossing fingers, saying prayers that’s enough to bring him down.

Diabetes doesn’t sleep and because diabetes doesn’t sleep, neither do I.

Diabetes doesn't want to let you just be a kid......

Field Trip Day! One of the funniest things you can remember from being a child, especially when the field trip lasts all day long. The memo went out to Diabetes to act calm, cool, and collective on field trip day, but apparently it doesn't follow memos, or any rules for that matter.

Today Clifford had his Safety Day field trip at our County Fairgrounds. It was a nice set up and everything was fun and educational. Diabetes didn't get our memo to remain cool, calm, collective, and most importantly OUT of the way. Diabetes however doesn't really care if it's field trip day and you just want to be a kid. Diabetes could care less about what you want, it's main concern is about what it wants, and that is to wreak havoc over your body. Here we were 9:30 am sitting in the barn at our Fairgrounds about to watch a high voltage demonstration and I decided to do a "check" you know just to be sure. He was 409! I mean in comparison to what I was thinking, I guess Diabetes played a little nice. Grabbed his ketone meter was sure the site went bad, and this just depressed the crap outta me. Thankfully no ketones, time to correct. One hour later another "check" to see if he was coming down. He was still 345! "Facepalm".

So what did I do then? Well I've had my experience with the infamous rage bolusing now you can say that much. I wasn't about to let diabetes keep rearing it's ugly head and ruin field trip day. He was already feeling some effects from the high you could tell, rubbing his eyes, blinking like crazy, which tells me his eyes were not feeling too hot, or rather they were feeling really HOT. Even though if you'd ask him how he was feeling he'd tell you "I'm fine". So we corrected again, more aggressively than normal that's for sure. Fast forward to lunch time. Aside from the wicked cold temperatures, frozen hands and fingers we couldn't feel, we were having a good time. And Diabetes well it decided to play nice finally as he was 145. When he arrived home he was 147! This pancreas was patting herself on the back.  Two lows (77 and 63) later he was back with a 130 for dinner time, and an ending note of 109 for bedtime. Here's hoping that Diabetes got the bedtime memo that this pancreas is tired, has to work all night and is in need of her beauty sleep (as you can tell from the above picture).

Point to this post is, Diabetes could care less what you have planned. When you have Diabetes it's always there with you, no matter what you do to try to maintain it, it's always going to be there, some days it will play nice and others it will decide to be a huge pain in the rear end. But one fact remains constant it's always going to be there. It's going to be there when Clifford learns to drive, it's going to be there when he graduates from high school, it will be there when he get's married, it will be there at the birth of his first child (whom I pray so hard will not have to experience what their Daddy has to), it will be there throughout every monumental milestone in his life! However so will I, battling back (for as long as God allows), so will Clifford battling back, as pushing and fighting back to keep it in its place!

You think you know, but you have no idea…….

di.a.be.tes noun  : any of various abnormal conditions characterized by the secretion and excretion of excessive amounts of urine;

Sorry Webster’s dictionary but I’m going to change your definition of the big D up a bit

di.a.be.tes noun a monster that feasts on the bodies of unsuspecting victims, wreaking havoc throughout their lives, never permitting a full night’s sleep,always awake, always feasting, never takes a vacation, and so dangerous that the sound/word (DIE) is in it, and that is very well what it can do to you.

Today is True Life Tuesday for WEGO health. So let’s start this post with all the truthfulness of diabetes and what it brings

You think you know but you have no idea…… When it hits you or in our case, hits your child, you are not prepared. You are not prepared to watch your child laying in a hospital bed unconscious because high blood sugars are running rampant through his body. You are not prepared to hear the doctor’s explain to you that your son has “Type 1 diabetes”, and you are definitely not prepared to hear them explain it in a way like it’s no big deal. I’m here to say unfortunately it is a HUGE deal, and I wish they would have explained it that way to me in the beginning other than it’s no big deal! Oh yes and guess what no practice, here’s a needle stick it in his arm and give him this life saving medicine, and you have to now do this 6 times a day! I for one was not a fan of needles from the get go. I never could look at them when I was getting a shot. But now I have to do this to my son!!!!!

Fast forward, you are not prepared for a low blood sugar that causes him to pass out. Oh yes and you’re definitely not prepared to give a glucagon injection with your hands shaking trying to stay calm because there are two other kids watching on, trying to act like “it’s no big deal” while on the inside you are freaking thinking you are watching your son die before your eyes.  You definitely are not prepared to watch him have a seizure again because of “DIABETES” which remember is NO BIG DEAL! Thankfully these events are not something we experience on a daily basis, however the things we do experience on a daily basis are almost as scary.

*making sure to count and weight food/carbs diligently so that we don’t have one of the incidents above from too much insulin

*keeping him alive throughout the day. Doing this by giving again this “insulin” that could also at the same time kill him if given too much

*NIGHTS! Don’t even get me started on nights. I hate nights. I love sleep, and well those two just don’t’ go together anymore. It’s either a battle to keep blood sugars down, or a battle to keep them up. Or like one incident in the morning from blood in the cannula a battle to bring numbers down while getting rid of those deadly ketones!

I’m so tired of blood and everything else that comes with diabetes that my head hurts! I’m just tired of diabetes in general which you can read about here.

So here’s the true life according to this post. Diabetes sucks! Our life however is wonderful, I wouldn’t change a thing, well except maybe give Clifford a “WORKING” pancreas! Stupid pancreas and Damn Diabetes” For now I’m his working pancreas, until he’s given the duty of being his full time pancreas. Oh and case I forgot to mention it Diabetes You SUCK!