KNOW the Signs

There is no reason that a child should die from un-diagnosed Type 1 diabetes. NO reason. But unfortunately, even with all the advancements in technology, and our better treatment options than that of what we had before, it's still happening, even today. Before Insulin what you see in the picture is what was happening. Children were dying from type 1 diabetes, because there simply was no treatment for it. They were put on starvation diets, to restrict from pretty much everything, and the outcome was a slow, painful death. Imagine the heart ache of their parents to witness them go through this.

Before and After Insulin (same child)

But NOW we have insulin, we have much better treatment methods, and we have more education then there was before. There should be no excuse for a child to die from a missed diagnosis. And with the increase of Type 1 diabetes cases being reported in children DAILY, it's important to recognize the signs and symptoms. I'm not going to lie, it was almost missed with Clifford, we almost lost him, because we didn't know the signs and symptoms, we simply thought he had the flu. I look back on it at times, now that I know the symptoms and wonder just how I could have missed it. But it happens. Let's take a look at the signs and symptoms (and I will tell you what they actually mean, having experienced them before) so that someday you can help save a young life.

Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes

(These are the common symptoms you will see everywhere you look)

Frequent Urination

Unusual Thirst

Extreme Hunger

Unusual Weight Loss

Extreme Fatigue and Irritability

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From our experience you can also have these symptoms
Vomiting
Blurry Vision
Extreme Weakness
Lack of appetite

Unusual Thirst
When it says unusual thirst, I'm talking every 5 minutes, always attached to a water bottle thirst. When your blood sugar is high, you become really thirsty. If you notice your little one, or perhaps hear of a friends child being thirsty all time time, it doesn't hurt to get them tested, or let the parent know it could be a sign. Diabetes takes hold, and doesn't let go. It acts quickly, and it's very serious. When Clifford was diagnosed he was unconscious for the first day because he was in DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis). 

Diabetic Ketoacidosis is a serious condition that can lead to a diabetic coma or even death. Your cells are not receiving the glucose they need for energy, and will begin to burn fat for energy, which then will lead to ketones. Ketones are acids that build up in bloodstream, and appear in your urine when you are not getting enough insulin. They are a good warning sign that you have type 1 diabetes, your diabetes is out of control, or you are getting sick. High levels of ketones can end up poisoning the body, and when they get to high lead to the development of DKA.

As you can tell it's nothing to prolong, or perhaps I'll ask the doctor about it next time, well the honest hard truth is there may not be a next time to ask about it. Do it now if you suspect anything unusual.

Closest Picture to "Before Diabetes", this was in the hospital at Diagnosis, notice how 'tiny' he was.

As you can tell from the picture, Clifford looked really tiny (at least it's able to be seen by me now), he lost a good deal of weight before being diagnosed with diabetes.

After Diabetes, Healthy and on the life saving medicine known as Insulin.

We are almost 3 years (2/28/10) into our Diabetes journey and what I can tell you is the media is confused, Hollywood is confused, and many actors and actresses are confused. They mix up type 1 and type 2 diabetes all the time, and it's not acceptable. Because knowing the correct symptoms can literally save someones life!

A Full Time Pancreas

Sometimes after a long day or night of Diabetes I think... No wonder his pancreas decided to quit, this is a TOUGH job! No matter the amount of work we put into it, the consistency with meals, carbs, etc, nothing is ever going to be the same. I heard once that with Diabetes there are three things that are in your control (Counting carbs, amount of insulin you give, testing blood sugar), and there are 800 different things that you cannot control. I don't know about you but 3 to 800, I don't like those odds.

What does it mean to be a full time pancreas? I'm honestly not 100% sure. We are almost 3 years into playing Clifford's new pancreas and I haven't got it all figured out. I know that when I go upstairs at night to test him, my heart isn't sure how to feel, if it's a high # I'm up making sure he doesn't drop too fast, if it's a low # I'm up making sure he goes up quick enough. If it's a normal number, I go back to sleep for a few hours with the uncertainty of what's going to happen in those few hours.

I know what it feels like to put your child to bed at night with no worries, and that their body is going to work properly and do what it needs to do to keep them alive. We have kids that don't have Diabetes, and let me tell you that feeling is refreshing and wonderful. So if your reading this and your kids don't have diabetes, no matter what is going on in your life at this very moment that you think is horrible, just soak in that feeling, as there is none like it.

It takes some time swallowing the feeling of putting them to bed at night, saying I love you's and "I'll see you in the morning" when you really don't know if that second part is true. All you can do is do the best that you were trained to do and hope that you see their smiling faces in the morning.... That's what being a full time pancreas is.

Diabetes is...

Diabetes is facing your own mortality on a daily basis, looking it in the eye, and saying not today! How can you stomach hearing a 9 year old, who just brought home straight A's for another semester say "As long as I live to find the cure". Not until a cure is found, as long as he lives to find a cure for everyone else.

If diabetes has succeeded to accomplish anything in my son's life, it is this. We now have a determined, SMART young man, out there wanting to be the one who finds a cure. We will have a doctor who will stop at nothing but to have no more fighting diabetes for his patients. How can you hate a disease that has created this individual.

Before diabetes he was still destined to save others, he was still going to make a difference. That was because he wanted to serve his country. But since Diabetes has taken that option away from him, he is now destined to serve others just like him, and make their lives better.

Have you stopped and thought about your own mortality and what it would be like for those around you? Chances are you may have from time to time, chances are you have even come to terms with dying. But try being a child who has come to terms with dying. A child who hasn't even really lived yet. I can as an adult living 30 healthy years so far, come to terms with my own mortality. But I cannot fathom or even consider coming to terms with my son's mortality. Some people may think I'm strong, and from time to time I consider myself to have gone through hell, and bounced back looking forward to what's ahead, and for that I am strong. But I have no where the amount of strength that my 9 year old boy has. He lays his head on a pillow every night, knowing full well he may not wake up in the morning. That is hard for me to swallow, but imagine being a child and having to swallow that.

I write this not for those that have diabetes, because they have lived this, some of them as children, and are still living it. I write this for others who do NOT understand just what diabetes is, and what it does. Take a moment to think about everything. Try living your life from this moment forward like someone with diabetes does. Go to bed thinking you may not wake up in the morning, so it is your duty to live your life to the fullest, not to let any opportunity pass, and fill your day with nothing short of pure awesomeness, and make a difference in the lives of others.

No Winning - With the Numbers

It goes without saying that Diabetes is one of those things that has to be in control at all times. Otherwise, well it would be a piece of cake, right? You can battle it daily, think you have it figured out, think that the same meal that gave you that nice 100 the day before will do the same again, same bg (same carbs),etc, etc. But instead you end up with a 205 ?

There's really no explaining it other than, that's diabetes for you. Before diabetes life was care free, do what you want when you want, no stop to think about carbs, no weighing food, no thinking, "Is he just acting up, or is he low, or high?", none of that. But with diabetes you have a new found responsibility. Whether you are a PWD, or a D Parent, you now have the responsibility of helping to do the job of an internal organ that decided they were done, outta there, tired of working (Whatever you like to refer to it as).

So in being that organ (the pancreas by the way, for those unfamiliar) you have to figure out all the "what ifs". So if the bg number is 100 and you're giving 50 grams of carbs, you know to give a certain amount of insulin based on various math, however can you take into account the exercise you may experience chasing after your dog an hour from now, or the fact that you are getting the flu, but you just don't know it yet, or how about puberty?

Nothing much to learn from this posting other than the numbers are never consistent no matter what we try. And that's diabetes.

Why Is Nighttime So Scary

This was one of my most viewed blog posts at over 5K views, so I felt like it's something that should be shared once again.

You may hear many parents of Type 1 kids talk about how they don't sleep much and how scary night time is. But why is night time so scary? Let's look at it this way as a person without diabetes, your pancreas is still fully working properly, you can go to bed and not have to worry about anything going wrong with your blood sugar, that's because your pancreas is working around the clock to ensure you are stable all though the night with insulin and glucagon (if you happen to get low). However with Type 1 diabetes Clifford's pancreas gave up and quit it's job. Now it's our job to function as his pancreas. Unlike a pancreas who really doesn't require sleep, we as human beings do. There are a few things I've learned about night time. 1. I dislike it, but also love my sleep. 2. It's so unpredictable with diabetes. 

I've had an endo tell me once to stop testing overnight so much, that really all he needed was tested 2 nights a week. Well that didn't sit too well with me, but overworked, and sleep deprived I decided to give it a shot one time, and go to bed without testing him. Yes that might shock pretty much all of you, but we were new to this and I decided to listen to the medical professional. Well what happened you might ask? Clifford woke up at 3am and was "dizzy", after testing him he was low with a blood sugar of 50! I knew that feeling in the pit of my stomach was something to listen to when I went to bed.

So as we move on in this game I learned something else just last night. Last week before Clifford's dental surgery I talked with his diabetes educator, she wanted to get his numbers and see where to change his Lantus to before the surgery and the fasting he had to do. Well that night he was below target at 111 at 11pm, his target for bedtime is 120. So I decided to treat and give him 15g's to help get him above target. He happened to wake up a little higher at 240. The educator said with him being so close to target that he didn't need treated to help get him up. Okay well last night rolls around, I again tested him before I went to bed at 11, and he was 112, I decided NOT to treat, and went to bed, 2:30 he was tested again and he was 130, not bad. However 6:30 came around and Clifford woke up feeling "dizzy". After we tested him he was 68.

The lesson I've learned from these two experiences is one I've always knew 1. Diabetes is unstable. He could have been 112 another night and not got boosted up by juice, and still woken up high, or he could have dive bombed as he did last night. What I've learned is if I do not feel comfortable with the number prior to going to bed as I didn't last night (but listened to the educator) I will go with what I feel is best. I mean I understand that his diabetes team is very smart and educated in their field. They are however not experts at Clifford's body. Unfortunately I am no expert at his body either, but I have more of an inside look than they do in caring for him 24/7.

I think I may have sidetracked from the topic of this post, but you can probably guess as to why night time is so scary. Non -working pancreas can lead to many problems during the night, including fatal ones that cannot be undone. So every morning we Thank God that Clifford woke up alive and awake, and for that we are truly blessed.

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.