God and Diabetes..

Let me start by stating, I believe in God. However, when Cliffy was first diagnosed, I questioned why he was chosen, why did God have to make it so my son's life changed forever. It's just the nature of the beast to wonder why, and ask "why me". But let me tell you what I've learned from this experience.

Let's start with a snippet of a book I've been reading. In the future when I am tempted to ask the question "Why me?" I will immediately counter with the answer: "Why not me". Challenges are gifts, opportunities to learn. Problems are the common thread running through the lives of great men and women. In times of adversity, I will not have a problem to deal with, I will have a choice to make. Clifford's diabetes is NOT a problem. We have a choice daily and that choice is to live! I have learned from my past that I can handle a lot that is put on my plate. So if God chose my son to have diabetes, he chose him because he knew Cliffy and I could handle it. He knew that I would care for him to the fullest that I possibly can. He also knew not a day would go by that I wouldn't be educating myself about the disease, and learning as much as I possibly can so one day we could find a cure!

For me personally, Cliffy's diagnosis forced me to slow down in life. To take it one day at a time and cherish every moment I had with him and my kids. It showed me just how precious life is and that at any moment everything could change. He was diagnosed in DKA, and many of you know that is not something you would want your worst enemy to experience with their child. I cried the whole first day as it looked like something was taking over my son's tiny body. But with prayers and hope, things turned around for the better. Yes our lives have changed, yes he is no longer a normal child. But we can handle it, and we can move forward and make a difference.

If you are questioning why your son or daughter or yourself was given this fate, then take a step back and think, God knows you are really strong and you could handle it. He needs strong advocates in his corner to not only care for these special children and adults, but to fight to find a cure! Everytime when I would think about questioning why in the beginning, I would go back to a poem I read shortly after diagnosis.

How God Selects the Mother of a Diabetic Child
by Erma Bombeck Modified a great deal by me.

Some women become mothers by accident, most by choice, a few by social pressures and a couple by habit. Did you ever wonder how mothers of children with diabetes are chosen? Somehow I visualize God hovering over earth selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to make notes in a giant ledger.

"Armstrong, Beth, son. Patron Saint Matthew."

"Forrest, Marjorie, daughter, Patron Saint Cecilia."

"Rutledge, Carrie, twins. Patron Saint Gerard. He's used to profanity."

Finally, He passes a name to an angel and smiles, "Give her a child with diabetes." The angel is curious. "Why this one, God? She's so happy."

"Exactly", smiles God. "Could I give a child with diabetes to a mother who does not know laughter?"

"She has the patience?" the Angel agrees.

"Once the shock wears off, she'll handle it. I watched her today. She is strong. You see, the child I am going to give her will require great care. It's not going to be easy."

"But, Lord, could this make her stop believing."

God smiles. "No. This one is perfect. She has a strong faith in me."God nods. "Yes, this is the woman whom I will bless with this child. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work."

So if you remember anything from this posting, when you are tempted to ask "Why me", counter it with "Why not me". God obviously knows you and your child are strong, but the most important question is "Do you know"?.

Ketones.......

I'm going to start by saying Ketones are scary. Just uttering the word can be frightful. Normally we test for Ketones once a day every morning with our KetoDiastix's. But on occasion when Cliffy's blood sugar runs higher, or if he is sick we test more frequently. Yesterday was one of those days.

Let me back track a bit for those that might not know what Ketones really are.

What are ketones?

Ketones are produced when the body burns fat for energy or fuel. They are also produced when you lose weight or if there is not enough insulin to help your body use sugar for energy. Without enough insulin, glucose builds up in the blood. Since the body is unable to use glucose for energy, it breaks down fat instead. When this occurs, ketones form in the blood and spill into the urine. These ketones can make you very sick

When should I test for ketones?

• Anytime your blood glucose is over 250 mg/dl for two tests in a row.
• When you are ill. Often illness, infections, or injuries will cause sudden high blood glucose and this is an especially important time to check for ketones.
• When you are planning to exercise and the blood glucose is over 250 mg/dl.

If ketones are positive, what does this mean?

There are situations when you might have ketones without the blood glucose being too high. Positive ketones are not a problem when blood glucose levels are within range and you are trying to lose weight.

It is a problem if blood glucose levels are high and left untreated. Untreated high blood glucose with positive ketones can lead to a life-threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).

What should I do if the ketone test is positive?

Call your diabetes educator or physician, as you may need additional insulin. Drink plenty of water and fluids containing no calories to "wash out" the ketones. Continue testing your blood glucose every 3 - 4 hours, testing for ketones if the blood glucose is over 250 mg/dl. Do not exercise if your blood glucose is over 250 mg/dl and ketones are present.

I'm usually quite confident when Cliffy has Ketones that we can drink some water, get some insulin in him and flush them out. I can usually handle caring for him at home when he is sick, and feel confident we don't have to run to the hospital. However yesterday by confidence took a nose dive. First off he was the darkest level you see in that picture "Large" ketones. The strip turned right away. Okay I thought let's get some water in you, the insulin was already in, made no sense as I increased his breakfast, and lunch dose because his blood sugar had been crazy high all morning. After lunch he got sick. (Not a good combination with ketones), however I knew it wasn't really from what was making him ill, but rather his belly was feeling icky from the ketones, and he tried to down the water like a crazy man. Come 2pm we were still sitting at "Large" ketones, and this concerned me. But what concerned me more was when I went to check on him while he was napping. I put my hand on his chest to see if he seemed congested when he was breathing. No congestion, yay, but he was at rest and his heart was racing, his breathing was increased. The only thing I could think about was those stupid ketones, and DKA!. Yes, my mind went there, how could it not, he was sitting with large ketones, rapid breathing, and a racing heart. I called his endo team, and she assured me I was doing a great job with increasing the insulin to get them out and bring him down. But we just needed to up the insulin a little more, and still encourage him to drink the water.

Ever have a conversation with your sick child that involves you telling them we need to drink this water or they would end up in the hospital with an iv in them or worse? That is the reality of every time Cliffy is sick and has ketones. It's not please drink some water to stay hydrated. It's you NEED to or your going to the hospital. Cliffy has too many times after diagnosis been in the hospital with IV's and he is not a fan of them at all. He'd rather stay home and rest. So after the scary part of our conversation, I told him as long as he does his part, and with me doing mine we'll kick it like a team. So he asks, "What is my part". I told him "To listen to me" .. "Drink the water when I tell you, eat when I tell you, pee in the cup when I tell you, and rest". Then he asked "What is your part". to which I replied "Everything else". We shook hands, made a deal we would work as a team and kick it. Bedtime rolled around and we tested for ketones , and there were none!! And even more importantly his blood sugar had gone down to 116! This was a huge victory for us so we celebrated with a high five! Now another day starts, and it's time to see where we sit with these dreaded invaders once again, but I'm going into it this time feeling more confident we can kick it as a team.

This Pancreas is stumped....

Since Cliffy's pancreas went on strike, and stopped producing insulin and we're officially out of the honeymooning phase with Type 1, I have been appointed "Official Pancreas of Clifford". For the most part I kind of have an idea of what is going on, and what I should and shouldn't be doing. However this pancreas is officially stumped..

He out of the blue has a fever at school, then get's sent home with said fever. Okay fine no vomiting (thank you god!), that is a whole mess on it's own when being a Pancreas. Just a slight temp and a slight cough. Okay we can work with this. No ketones, again (Thank you god). But one thing that just will not go down is his blood sugar. Consistently the numbers have been 220-280. It seems no matter what this pancreas does, (Adjusting insulin, etc), she just can't seem to get the number under 200. That is until Snack time... Oh yes my friends, this pancreas did it. He had a Meal Bar with 11gs of sugar, and 26 gs of Carbs. So being the official pancreas that I am, I adjusted his insulin based on the extra sugar, and 5 extra carbs, and at the 2 hr mark we were sitting at 174! Yay, celebrate, well that was until dinner time when we were back up to 202.

I swear D is giving me a run for my money today. I'm tired, but still racking my pancreatic brain to figure out how to battle D for the rest of the night, and hopefully keep it at bay for bedtime..

Never a brain break with D

It's not enough that I eat, sleep, breath, and even dream of D. Nope, I have to have a 24/7 fear for my family. We all know the symptoms. Hayleigh started waking in the middle of the night for a drink, my heart sunk and it worried me to no end. Abby was sick and looking like she was losing weight, oh dear lord not again my mind thought. Now with the birth of the twins, I'm constantly watching, are they wetting too many diapers, are they eating enough. My mind really needs to take a break sometimes.

Now a fun game Cliffy wanted to play. Well I guess if you can call having a sharp needle hurling at your finger to get blood fun. He wanted me to test my bg# to see what it was when he did his. I felt like crap, headache, eyes hurt, kids just woke up (All 5) so needless to say it was crazy breakfast time but I obliged him. His beeps 160! Woo hoo awesome number. Mine beeps ... 239!! WHA???? to me that seemed incredibly high.

This sent my mind working into overdrive yet again, DAMN IT D!. I began to think well I washed my hands, it can't be that. What did I eat, drink? I only had about 5-6 sips of tea with oh yes a incredible amount of sugar! And perhaps the added craziness of the house sent my bg into hyperdrive. Decided to do some testing later and test my fasting bg#, a nice pretty 73 went across the meter, whew!

Before dinner yet again Cliffy wanted to play our "fun" game. Okay last time because honestly I don't know how he does it 10+ times a day but my fingers were killing me and I only put the lancing device on 1! This time Cliffy's was 227 and mine was 76, no wonder I felt a wee bit dizzy. I swear Diabetes is on my mind way too much, I wish for once it would cooperate and give my brain a break.....

Sleepless nights... Fighting to find a cure

Last night was a good example of why donating to organizations that are fighting to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes is very important to me. Cliffy was high 392 at Bedtime. He got 2 unites Humalog, and 5 units Lantus. I checked him at 10:30 , only 2.5 hrs later and he had dropped to 99!. That is a great number normally, and one we would be happy with, but a number under 100 at bedtime concerns me. I decided to retest at 12 and see where we were at. 12 rolls around and we are at 130 (Awesome , so I thought.) At 3 am the meter read 79!! Well that means it's time to treat, ran downstairs, got a pixie stick, ran back up, gave it to him, he woke up after he ate it to tell me he was dizzy, but he was already treated. Re checked at 3:30, and we were sitting at 106, still a iffy number with me. But went back to bed, and we woke up at 206, a little high but not horrible. Last night was another one of those sleepless nights, a night where Cliffy was tested 3 times in his sleep, and even woken to be treated and have some candy. A good reason why I want to find a cure. This month we are trying to help by donating 10% of our profits to the DRI. Take a look below at the event we have going on throughout the month of March, even the DRI on Facebook has helped to get the word out for us!!!

As you all know my son Cliffy (7) was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes on February 28th 2010. Since then we've been working to raise awareness and get the word out. Now we have been given an opportunity to make a difference by raising money and contributing to organizations who are working to find a cure for diabetes.

During the month of March 10% of our profits through our Amway business will be donated to the DRI (Diabetes Research Institute). http://www.diabetesresearch.org/
This is our way of helping a great cause and fighting to find a cure.

I would like to invite you all to participate and help in the fight to finding a cure for Type 1 diabetes.

It's easy, simply visit our site at : http://www.amway.com/chadandbridget?lng=EN

register your account for FREE, and take a look around at the different products we offer. All orders come with a money back guarantee through Amway. You can also receive free shipping on orders of $99 and over on qualifying products. The lines of qualifying products include Legacy of Clean, Artistry, and Nutrlite.

We love the products but Cliffy particularly loves a bunch of the Nutrilite products. He is finally able to drink something other then water/ milk that doesn't contain aspartame with our Twist tubes and our Sugar free sports drinks.

If you have any questions feel free to message me anytime and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Each month we will be donating 10% to a different organization that is working to find a cure. If you know of any that are near and dear to your heart please let me know.

Please make sure you use the link above to register and purchase from or I cannot track orders placed. Also send me a message when you have registered with our site. With our site you are able to receive the products at a discounted wholesale price. To give you the wholesale pricing I need to go and set your prices up for you :). An example

http://www.amway.com/ChadandBridget/Shop/Product/Product.aspx/Legacy-of-Clean--Intro-Bundle?itemno=105519 Retail pricing $65.00 Our pricing $55.25

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=137508996319405

A Day to be a "normal" kid...

Whatever "Normal" is anymore... But St. Patty's Day is a day of tradition for Clifford. He takes part in "Leprechaun Hunting". Something I made up a few years ago so they could have fun and take part in St. Patty's Day and learn about their Irish heritage. It makes my heart smile to hear Cliffy reminiscing about the time the Leprechaun "bit" Mommy's finger when she was trying to catch him. Or while walking to the bus stop, the tree branch moves ;), and Cliffy goes, "Did you see, the Leprechaun is following me. I'm gonna have to tell Chad about that when I get home".

Today is a day he can be a normal kid, wear his green, and go Leprechaun hunting. Sure we still have shots and finger pricks, but that isn't the main thing on the menu today. We got some gold to find, and that's WAY more important. Besides once he finds this gold, he has big plans to get some Sugar Free gum...

2011 Ambassador of PA for the Diabetes Dude

Cliffy was excited when he received Daniella (The diabetes flamingo ) in the mail the other day from his buddy Noah (The Diabetes Dude) . With Daniella Cliffy is going to help raise awareness for Diabetes. We are currently working on getting him to "flock" his classmates with Daniella, and I'm in contact with our State Representative Sam Smith, from our District to get Cliffy and Daniella to meet with him.

We will be busy the next few months in getting the word out. Be on the look out for posts with Cliffy and Daniella to see what they've been up to.