Diabetes? I Hate It.

Okay. I tell my kids not to use that word, "hate." It's such a definitive term. I mean it's the ultimate negative emotion you can have about something. I just think it's appropriate here. I hate diabetes.

We've been trying to stay so focused around here on C's blood sugar numbers - trying to keep her averages down so when we go in for her endo appointment next month, that tricky A1c number will be lower. And, all things considered, I feel like we've done a good job the last couple months.

Then came Saturday night. We had In-n-Out for dinner and she got bolused what we normally do for this family-favorite meal. But, by (our) bedtime at 11:oo pm, she clocked in at a whopping 327. Now, that was strange, because we can usually gage that meal pretty darn well. I corrected her number and set my alarm for 1:00 am...just to make certain she's coming down.

_________________________________

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. I fumble for the clock. I gather C's meter and head down our squeaky hallway. (Why, in 12 years, we've never fixed this? I don't know.) I test her. 387?! Ug and double ug. I check out her last sight change. That's right...it was just the day before. I check the tubing...looks fine. I check the infusion site itself. Everything appears fine. I correct her number again. Back down the squeaky hall. Back in bed. Alarm set for 2:45.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. 2:45 am. Rinse and repeat. 307! Something's definitely not right. At this point I should have really gotten ye olde syringes out and dosed her that way. But I could not even think straight. I corrected her and set my alarm once again.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. 4 in the morning. The sky was starting to lighten up already. Squeak, squeak, down the hall I went. 307?! I shook myself awake. Must change sight, I thought. I raced downstairs and prepared the new reservoir. Back upstairs with prep wipes and new infusion set. I turned C over and proceeded with our ritual. Now, I was fully awake. I was mad at myself for not changing it sooner. My little girl. She didn't even flinch. She rolled right back over and fell asleep again.

Well, I set the alarm again. This time - 5:30 am. After the beep beep beeps, I nudged Dan. "Can you please check her?"

When he returned, he told me she was at 185. Finally coming down. I took a deep breath. And then another. All I could do was lay there and think about how much I hate this disease. Was it the infusion set? Was it the burger and fries? Who knows! I could go on and write about the scary low of 50 she had about 5 hours later...but I'll save that for another time.

Low Carb Treats

It's pretty much a given around our home that when you open the fridge/freezer, you will find sugarfree popsicles, "no sugar added" fudgsicles, sugarfree jell-o, string cheese...blah, blah, blah. Can you tell, we need some new snacky-snack foods around here!

At the grocery store, sometimes I'm simply on auto-pilot. S.O.S....someone, anyone...help! What are some of your low-carb or sugarfree goodies that put a smile on your little one's face? I mean a kid can only have so much sugarfree jell-o.

I Guess She's Growing Up

Sometimes it's hard for me to stretch out of my comfort zone and teach, hand over more responsibility to C in managing her diabetes. It's not that I think she can't do certain things. It's just that it's become habit, my habit to finger check, carb count and dose for her.

A lot of times, I'll have her check her finger. She's even begun showing interest in checking the carb counts on snack boxes. At 7 years old, she actually knows to look at the serving size and total carb numbers! But, I'm not at the point where I allow her to guesstimate or even input all the info into her pump without supervision. Sometimes I make mistakes and know how easily things can be overlooked. Then we're staring at a scary low or a wicked high. I don't want to put all that on her yet. Sometimes...I even second guess myself.

However, something happened last Sunday at church that really made me stop and think "I guess she's growing up!" My brain was not fully functioning that morning. And as is our normal routine, Dan walked the kids to their respective Sunday school rooms. I failed to remember that this Sunday was promotion to the next grade room. New room = new teacher = new diabetes education = did not happen. A big oops on my part, I know.

Although class is only 1 1/2 hours maximum, many times there will be a snack given, a special treat. Well, since this was promotion Sunday, of course there was cake to celebrate! Why wouldn't there be? Anyway, I hadn't remembered that the kids would be switching classrooms and so there was no plan in place.

When I went to gather the kids after service time, I walked up to C's new room, kind of gasped inside my head when I realized we hadn't even mentioned anything about diabetes to the new teacher. I could see C inside the window putting her meter in her bag. She smiled at me and came to the door. I could also see a few pieces of sheet cake sitting on a table as she exited the door. I pulled her aside and asked if she had had some cake. One of her little friends popped her head out the door. With a smile she said "Oh, yes, C checked herself and I helped her and we had cake!"

I guess the look in my eyes signaled trouble to C and her eyes filled with tears. "Honey, I'm not mad at you," I said. "I just need to know how much you ate and what you put in the pump." After she calmed down, I took a look at the pump history and saw her BG number and the carbs she had estimated for the piece of cake. She actually put in 25 grams...exactly what I would have guessed! I suppose it just shocked me that she had done all of it on her own...well, with her friend's help :o). I hugged C and told her how proud I was of her.

I said "Mommy just needs to know about these things. I love you soooo much and I want to make sure everything is entered right so you stay feeling great. Okay, sweetheart?"

"Okay, Mom."

We'll have a better plan in place next Sunday. I'll begin by meeting the teacher!

Disney World & Diabetes

This summer, we are trying really hard to be frugal. I know a lot of people are trying to do the same. We may be going to the beach for a few nights (house-sitting a friend's place). And we more than likely will be spending time in the Monterey area (parent's place). But as for a big trip...none planned.

Our BIG trip was last summer. I came across our pictures from last summer's trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I decided, "garsh, as Goofey would say, that was a huge trip for our family...first flight for the boys...first major flight with diabetes...I should write about it!"

...so...that's what I did.
___________________________________

We were sooo excited! Don't let middle C's sleepiness fool you...We awoke at 4 am to catch our flight from LAX. And I doubt any of us slept much the night before. We were going to DisneyWorld!!

In preparation for our trip, I had read up on, talked to people about, and had even questioned C's endo about travel and diabetes. I had purchased an expensive "cooling wallet" to keep the insulin cool during our travel. I had packed plenty of pump supplies and prescriptions and dispersed them between mine and Dan's carry-on luggage. I had looked into a second "emergency" pump in case C's went on the blink. (Medtronic assured me that a new pump could be over-nighted to us if need be.) I had even remembered to pack syringes in case of pump failure. Glucose tabs, snacks galore, we were set!

While reading, reading, reading, I came upon this article written by a dad of a type 1. It was great! He gave good tips for dealing with diabetes while going Disney-style. The article is called "Disney with Diabetes" and you can find it over at DLife. I thank Bennet "BadShoe" Dunlap for his candid and helpful hints to make the vacation pleasant (despite that varmit called diabetes!)

Here are just a few of "BadShoe's" tips that we used:

• packed way-lots of diabetes stuff...in two bags...carried on (you never know when a slippery insulin bottle will fall onto a hard tile floor!)
• asked for a sharps container from our hotel's front desk
• ordered groceries delivered to our room from local market (case of water...saved us lots $)
• ate most breakfasts in room (cereal & fruit = easy carb-counting for at least one meal per day)
• carried water, snacks and Crystal Light into parks
• tested blood sugar often
• did lots of homework to plan must-sees in each park
• had a ton of fun!!

It really was a wonderful family vacation for us. And I highly reccommend it. If at all possible, just don't plan it in the most humid part of the summer! The other thing we did that helped was to pay for everything up front...accommodations, meals, park tickets, airfare and on-ground transportation. We made reservations at the more elegant (pricey) restaurants since they were prepaid. That took quite a bit of stress out of the actual vacation time. I had checked pricing out with our local AAA and then actually booked everything myself online through Disney and Priceline.com. I ended up saving nearly $800 by clicking the mouse myself!

So, off we went. And like happens when I think C's numbers will be way out of range, she did pretty well on our week away!...except for the plane ride there...

...positive stress, perhaps?

So many princesses...

...

...so little time!

Animal Kingdom - unexpectedly my favorite park.

The Magic Kingdom

Hollywood Studios...fun, even in the rain!

Where else would I even consider spending $12 on a balloon?

And...we finally found Snow White on our last day. (whew!!)

______________________________

So, take that diabetes!! We had an awesome time, despite your tagging along!

10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was a Kid

With age and experience, comes wisdom.

For some unknown reason, I have been thinking a lot about my childhood. What it was like. The feelings and emotions about certain situations I experienced. Maybe it's because summer is upon us...and my kids are driving me mad with expectations (swimming, beach, Raging Waters, sleep-overs, camping trips, movies, you name it).

Here are some things I wish I knew when I was a kid. I hope my kids will learn them.

1. It's okay to have "nothing" to do. Soon, you will have too much to do. So enjoy it.
2. Sometimes friendship is found in the least expected places.
3. Mom says "no" to some things for your own good.
4. In swimming, when your head is in the water, that's the best time to exhale.
5. Sleep really is healthy for you.
6. Sometimes, speaking up for yourself produces great results.
7. Forgiveness releases you from misery's clutch.
8. You should always hold the door for the person behind you.
9. Sunscreen is a habit worth forming.
10. Money has no expiration date. It's okay to save it.