Honored

My brother Eric lives in Washington state and has a friend named Mike. I have only met Mike a couple of times since they live in WA and I have only been up there once.

I have however gotten to know Mike a little through Facebook. We have sent Christmas cards back and forth, etc. I have learned a little about Mike and he has learned about us. He knows all about The Superhero's diabetes. In fact, he and his wife sent us the first card we received after The Superhero was diagnosed with Diabetes. That card and the thoughts and prayers from them meant so much to us during that difficult time.

Fast forward to this past Friday. I received an email from Mike letting me know he is planning on riding 100 miles in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure on May 22nd in WA. Not only that, BUT he wants to ride in honor of THE SUPERHERO!

I feel so honored and so Blessed that he would want to do this for The Superhero. This means the world to me and to my family. So after I stopped crying, I wrote up an email response explaining what life is like with Diabetes and why a cure is SO important to us.

He used the info I sent to create his fund-raising page. Click here to view the page and to donate if you would like. Not only will Mike be raising money in honor of The Superhero, he will be riding 100 miles with The Superhero's picture attached to his bike.

Mike, I hope The Superhero is helpful at motivating you to complete your 100 miles! He is my hero each and every day!

We thank you SO much for raising money and awareness for this disease. I cannot wait to see pictures of you on the ride. I also cannot wait to see how much money we can raise together for the American Diabetes Association!

Insulin is NOT a cure, it is life support!

Mommy Moment Monday

Brought to you by The Princess...

The Princess being my second child has not ever gotten me ALL to herself. Luckily for me, she is a snuggler.

The Superhero was not.

He liked to be held, but did not care to hang out with/on you, ever. He is just too busy.

The Princess on the other hand LOVES hanging out with me.

So, we have a new thing after her nap we do together, since she gets up at least 20-30 minutes before The Superhero.

I bring her with her blankie and her binkie and we snuggle on the couch watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She just sits there and lays on me.

And I love every minute of it!

This is by far, my FAVORITE Mommy Moment with her.

Full of Emotions

Scared. Sad. Angry. Thankful. Lost. Confused.

Wow. Today has been an emotional roller coaster kind of day. I was cleaning up my email inbox this morning and reading through some of the emails from the Children with Diabetes email list.

Here is a copy of the one that has me all emotional today...


"I need to tell you some bad news.

Trent was so excited to get to the conference this year to see all his friends, friends who understood his daily life as a diabetic. He especially wanted to see Jackie from Indiana, who he met last year.

Thursday morning when I went to his room to wake him for school, he had passed away in the night. Knowing he was gone I, as a ER nurse knew the outcome, but had to try for my other children.....

Obviously we have to wait for an autopsy but I'm sure his blood sugar dropped too low.

It is difficult to write this and our family is an emotional wreck. His twin sister Tara is torn up and his older brother just falls apart every few minutes.

Our life will never be the same."

Trent was 14 years old. He was diagnosed with T1 at age 4. This is any parent's worst nightmare! Especially those of us living with Diabetes every day. This can happen to any one of us. THIS is why we check blood sugar around the clock, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. We have to be on alert at ALL times. Diabetes does NOT sleep. We are often up checking blood sugar and treating highs or lows at night.

And for those of you who may be reading this and may not know a whole lot about Diabetes, WE as parents manage a disease the best we can. We make adjustments as necessary. And just because what we do works today, Diabetes plays by its own rules and they change ALL the time. The Superhero can eat the same thing with the same starting blood sugar level and the same amount of insulin given and end up with completely different results!

Diabetes does not live by any books out there. Every child with Diabetes is different, has different insulin needs, reacts to carbohydrates differently. Not to mention how stress, activity and pretty much EVERYTHING you do EVERY DAY affects the blood sugar.

I have read many books about this stupid disease and while they give examples people with Diabetes, EVERY child/person with diabetes is different. I have learned how to manage The Superhero's diabetes, the best I can. This does not mean I can go and manage someone else the same way. Sure, I could take care of them and could figure it out, but only their "pancreas" knows their Diabetes and how to adjust and treat everything for them.

And I sit here and think "This could really happen. This could be The Superhero.I could lose my son because of this stupid disease."

I want to just sit here and hold him. I want to sleep in his bed every night. I want to know what his blood sugar is 24/7.

Then I come back to reality and I know that I cannot be with The Superhero all the time. I can only do the best I can at managing his Diabetes. I have to let him live. I have to live too.

I have to keep reminding myself that everything happens for a reason. I don't always know what the reason is, but I am certain there is a reason. God is in control. Someday it will be clear why things like this happen.

Maybe it was to wake us all up and make us realize, even more than we already did, that Diabetes can have horrible, unthinkable complications.

For a year and a half I have known these things could happen. I put them in the back of my mind though and have tried not to think about them too much. I mean, who really wants to think about possible seizures, coma, and death? In your 3 year old?

All I know is that I will be checking The Superhero several times per night, FOREVER! I don't want anyone telling me that there is no need for night checks. Or that we check him too often. Or that he has too many highs. Or that he has too many lows. Don't ask "Why is he having so many lows?"

The straight answer to all of those questions, "We manage The Superhero's Diabetes the BEST we know how. Diabetes plays by its own rules and we adjust as often as we need to. We win some and we lose some. We never get to comfortable with life with Diabetes. We just have to keep playing this game, until there is a cure."

WE NEED A CURE!

Today's the day...

It is HUG A DIABETIC DAY!

Here is a link to the FB page about Hug a Diabetic Day.


So here is one great big HUG for all of my Diabetes friends out there!

I love you all and wish I could hug you in person. I guess the virtual HUGS will have to do!


(And for some reason, I have been crying at all the virtual hugs back at us! Making me emotional today)

Mommy Moment Monday

This week's MMM post is brought to you by The Superhero.

I learn a lot from The Superhero. He teaches me patience (sometimes), not to get frustrated with him (he tells me all the time), and that I REALLY need to watch what I am saying while I am around him!

He was reading a firetruck book with The Daddy last week and got to the page with the steering wheel. He started pushing the fake horn and saying "Get out of my way!". The Daddy asked where he learned that, he said "Mommy".

The Daddy said, "Oh, mommy does that when she is driving?"

The Superhero, "Yep."


Oh great! The little tattle tailor! I will have you all know, I do NOT honk my horn often enough for him to learn THAT from me! Now the yelling "Get out of my way", I will take credit for!



Then yesterday we were going to pick up my mom from her house and 3 kids were running across her yard. Then without thinking (clearly) I said, "What are those stupid kids doing in NaNa's yard?" (I know, I know, I hate the word stupid and there I went and used it, in front of the loud mouthed 3 year old!)

I told him that Mommy should not have said that and that it was not very nice. I meant to say "silly" kids.

Then my mom gets in the car and we see the kids as we are driving away and he says something like "Look NaNa, the STUPID kids!"


Oh, great! What am I teaching this kid?

I KNEW I should have checked

I checked The Superhero's Dexie before we went to the park, 215 and a slanted arrow down. Perfect! He can play.

I checked The Superhero's Dexie while he was playing, 195 and 1 arrow pointed down. Perfect! He can keep playing.

He played for a bit longer. We walked home. I gave the kids their snack, put on a movie, bolused for The Superhero's snack and went to take my shower.

I came out of the bedroom a few minutes later. Both kids had finished their snacks and The Superhero said "I am going to lay down right here".

Uh oh! He NEVER wants to lay down. Something must be up. Or down in this case! I looked at Dexie, 95 DOUBLE ARROWS DOWN! Still had insulin on board, and LOTS of it. I had bolused for his snack before my shower. And his breakfast insulin was peaking.

I checked his finger to see just how LOW he was and I saw 45 and freaked out a little. I ran to get a juice in the kitchen and forced him to drink. He was in a "low" mood. He drank.

Then he ate a little more snack.

Then he whined for more snack. I made him wait and I just sat their and held him. I did not want to let him out of my sight.

45?

Really?

Ugh. I am glad he recovered fine and is being mean to The Princess like normal. Guess he feels better. I am still thinking about that 45.

He rarely goes low like that.

I REALLY should have checked Dexie when we got home from the park.

Live and learn I guess!

I finally did it!

It has been a couple of weeks since I went out walking with the kids or even to the park with the kids. I just haven't felt like it. I also had the tummy bug for a few days in there, but other than that, just haven't felt like it.

I have decided (today) that I HAVE to lose some of this weight. Plus, getting out of the house keeps me sane. Makes me feel good. And I am a better mommy for it. I think The Princess sleeping through the night for 3 nights has helped me feel a lot more rested and I am ready to do this!

With the weather warming up here (into the 80's) I have decided it is a little too warm to be out walking in the afternoon. So we went for our walk right after breakfast. The weather was beautiful this morning! There were some clouds which had me a little worried about possible rain, but other than a very light mist, we stayed dry. And the cloud cover made the walk and park trip SO nice.

I walked my 3 miles and then took the kids to the park on the way back. Here are a few pics from the park. They had a blast! (Other than me trying to get The Princess and The Superhero to go down the slide together)

$152.41

What could you do with that much money every month? Well, here is what we do with it...

(this does not include pump supplies or Dexcom supplies, and we use One Touch test strips as well; and we don't fill the glucagon every month, usually once per year, depending on the expiration date)

The Rx Bag

Glucagon, Lancets, Test Strips, Ketone Test Strips

Novalog (insulin)

Crazy to think how much we spend even after insurance covers most of the cost of supplies! Of course, we would not change any of it. This is The Superhero's life support. And I am thankful we have the ability to have all of these each month for him.

Dexcom

Since starting The Superhero on the CGMS, Dexcom, I get a ton of questions about it. I love sharing our experience with it because as most of you know, I am IN LOVE with Dexie. If there are any questions I do not answer in this post and you want to know more, please comment and ask away!

What is a Dexcom?

Dexcom is our Continuous Glucose Monitoring System. We insert a wire using a long needle into The Superhero (we have only done arm sites so far). The wire stays in place and is attached to the sensor. The needle comes out after Dexie's site is in place. This gets changed out every 7 days. Some people can get an extra week or so out of the sensor with no problems. We have not had this luck yet, not because of the sensor itself, but the tape only seems to stay on for a week. I will be getting some adhesive to help the tape stick longer.

Here is a picture of The Superhero sporting his Dexcom sensor on the first day he was wearing it...

The Dexcom is not the only brand of CGMS out there, but it has the smallest insertion needle and the smallest site on the body. Dexcom also only has a 2 hour warm up period as opposed to 4 or 12 hours (which is what I believe the others are) We also can calibrate when he is between 40 and 400. The other CGM systems have a tighter range in which calibration must take place.

With the sensor attached to The Superhero, it transmits information to the receiver. Basically, the sensor measures the interstitial fluid for glucose and gives out a reading every 5 minutes. This is very similar to checking blood sugar. It has been quite accurate for us thus far. The receiver must be within 5 feet of him at all times. He usually wears a second pouch (made for his insulin pump) and puts Dexie in there. He sometimes wears it in his pocket if he has cargo shorts/pants on. I don't let him put it in his regular pocket because I do not want it to fall out. He really does not mind the second pouch for now. As he gets older this will most likely change.

This is what the receiver looks like...

The picture is a little blurry, but this is the receiver showing a 191 steady sugar level. The arrow is pointing to the right. The arrow gives us the trend. We can see the arrow going straight up with one or two arrows, diagonal up, steady, diagonal down, or one or two arrows straight down. The change in sugar levels between each 5 minute check determines which way this arrow is pointing. If The Superhero's BG level is falling fast, his arrows will be pointing down and his Dexie will alarm. It vibrates first and then if ignored, it beeps. Each reason for alarming sounds different. It took me a few weeks to differentiate between "High BG" (above 240, we have it set at this number) and the "dropping" or "low" alarms.

We still do finger checks on The Superhero. We have to do at least 2 per day to calibrate the sensor. We usually do a few more than that though. We check his finger in the morning when he wakes up, at lunch before he eats, sometimes after his nap, before dinner, before bed, and usually once in the middle of the night. It depends on how he is trending to determine how many times his fingers get poked. So far, Dexie has been pretty accurate most of the time.

Dexie does not talk to the pump. We still have to tell the pump how much insulin to give The Superhero. (I get this question a lot!) There is another version out there that does this now and the Dexcom and Animas (pump) will be able to do this at some point. Right now they are two separate systems.

I do feel that having Dexie is the second best decision (next to pumping) we have made since The Superhero was dx with T1. There are some faults as with any technology. We have had a few failed sensors. They seemed to happen when he was sick with the tummy bug. Not sure if that had anything to do with it or if it was just a coincidence. When this happens, we called Dexcom and gave them the lot number, etc and they would send us a new one right away. We just go with the flow and this does not bother me. We just insert a new one and move on.

So far, we do not have a lot of trouble changing sites. The Superhero is usually ok with us doing it and only throws a minor fit. After it is over he always says, "that's not too bad". I have gotten faster at doing it over time, just like with the pump sites. We do not use EMLA (numbing cream), but I know many families that do. It just depends on you and your kiddo.

I do feel we sleep a little better having Dexie around. I have a baby monitor turned on in his/our room and I do hear the alarms at night. We still get up to check Dexie, especially if we have an off night. Seeing the trend arrows is amazing! Knowing which way he is headed is definite peace of mind.

To get insurance approval (all insurance companies are different) we just had to provide 1 month of BG logs showing at least 3 lows below 50. Our insurance covers 80% and we cover the other 20%. We are paying about $100 per month. (totally worth it!)

My favorite part about Dexie is when we are at a friend's house or the park and I can just look at Dexie, treat, and let him run off. I don't have to check his finger constantly as I would normally when he runs around like a crazy kid. I can see the trend and treat before he gets too low (which is the problem when he runs around like that).

I know my mom feels a lot better knowing she has Dexie when she watches The Superhero. She can easily see where he is and know if he needs a snack or not. She feels a lot more comfortable keeping him now. (and I am sure she will chime in on the comments)

The only thing I can think of that I HATE about having a Dexie, is the fact that we need one. I hate having another thing attached to The Superhero 24/7. BUT I would not go a day without it now! I feel like we were going through Diabetes life with one eye closed before. Having Dexie shows us the WHOLE picture and it is amazing!

If there is anything that I left out that you want to know, PLEASE ask!





Comments/Questions from original blog:

Heidi / Jack's Pack said...

This post was so helpful. Thank you so much for writing about Dexie! I think you've sold it to me! Now I just have to sell it to Jack! :)

March 16, 2010 10:15 PM

Kelly said...

We have the Minilink, and I love it....Maddison, not so much. I wish we could use it every day! It really DOES show the whole picture! I'm so happy you have Dexie for The Superhero!

March 16, 2010 11:45 PM

Wendy said...

I'm getting closer to allowing another CGM in the house...closer, closer, closer....but...not yet. No, not ready yet!!!!!!!!

(turn on soap opera music)

I just don't know (sob) how I'll ever trust again (mascara tears)...

To be continued.

March 17, 2010 12:58 AM

Reyna said...

T....

Thank you, due to your information to me on my insulin pumping post...I went ahead and signed us up to trial Dexie. I just paid for the supplies the other day. I'll keep you updated. Also, Dexcom and Animas are partnered...and are hoping to have a system similar to Medtronics' within the next year. JDRF partnered with Animas for the pseudo-artificial pancreas project (I slapped a link up on my blog in the side bar)...where the pump should "self-adjust" insulin delivery to blood sugar numbers, but NOT to carb boluses...who knows when or IF that will happen, but some cool stuff on the horizon hopefully....HOPE...thanks to all of you...we got a lot of it. xoxo

March 17, 2010 3:09 AM

Danielle said...

I'm so tempted to get one. Charlotte's nights are always so unpredictable. It would be nice to know at least which way she was going!

March 17, 2010 3:38 PM

mommy1 said...

Wow! Great minds think alike! I have been super busy the past three weeks and have been away from blogging! I just posted something similar to this! I love your name. So is the CGM a girl? :)

Amy

March 24, 2010 11:47 AM

Tracy said...

Thank you all for your comments.

Wendy, I love the continuing soap opera. :) (with the dramatic music and everything!)

Danielle, You might be able to try one through your endo. I know our endo is getting 3 to use for her patients to try and for her to figure out what is going on with their numbers.

Amy, I am not sure if Dexie is male or female. :) I think I go back and forth between calling it a he and a she. :)

Mommy Moment Monday

Today's post is brought to you by Zane...

I took him to the bathroom at my grandparent's house last night and after he went potty, I decided to go as well.

After I had "gone" potty, he said "Good girl mommy, you went potty all by yourself!"

He was so sincere and SO cute! Love it!

What exactly is it that you do? (3 years ago TODAY)

I feel like someone from the movie Office Space! I get this question A LOT!
3 years ago TODAY I was hired for the BEST job I could have asked for! I remember thinking "You mean, I can work full time, AND stay home with The Superhero ?"

As you may, or may not know, I am a teacher. I taught 5th grade for 2 years, 7th/8th for part of 1 year and have been working for an online charter school for almost 3 years. After The Superhero was born I had the HARDEST time going back to work as a teacher in a 7th/8th grade math class. My students had destroyed my classroom and most of my belongings. I had a terrible substitute teacher. And it was just WAY too hard to be away from The Superhero.

I remembered an ad I had seen for Arizona Virtual Academy (AZVA) in a magazine I had gotten when The Superhero was born. AZVA is an online K-12 Charter school.

As soon as I knew I was not going to stay at my brick and mortar teaching job (less than 2 weeks after my maternity leave ended), I sent in my resume and other required paperwork and HOPED I would get a call. At the time, they were not hiring. I ended up accepting and starting to train for a Curriculum Specialist position at a local Tutor Time Childcare.

I got a call to do a phone interview for AZVA while I was in training at Tutor Time. I scheduled it and interviewed a few days later. I got the "you're hired" phone call the same day and quite Tutor Time immediately! I officially started with AZVA on March 14, 2007. And I can't say enough how much I LOVE my job!

Since I always get asked what exactly I "do" as a virtual teacher, I thought I would blog about it. :)

Here is a list of some of the things I do on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.

1) I am currently a homeroom teacher for grades 7 and 8.

2) I have approximately 65 students in my class. This fluctuates with enrollment and withdrawals.

3) I have a phone conference with most of my families at least once per month.

4) I teach a math class online once per week for 1 hour. This year I have a Math 5 class. I usually create a power point presentation to cover the required weekly state standards.

5) I read and respond to many emails and Kmails. (Kmail is our in house email system to communicate with parents and students)

6) I grade/ give feedback for monthly work samples. Students must send in one math and one writing sample per month. I read and send formal (email) feedback on each one, each month.

7) I add events to the school calendar for any event taking place that affects the whole school, just K8, or just High School.

8) I attend a couple of events in my area, such as park days or hot cocoa nights.

9) I monitor each student's progress and attendance as needed. I try to do this AT LEAST weekly for each student, some students require more monitoring that others.

10) I attend a weekly staff call. These can be 1 hour or more. We have professional development online a couple of times per month, and those are usually 3 hours or so.

11) I write progress action plans and monitor them for struggling students/families. I currently have about 20 students on action plans. I monitor their progress at least twice per week and send them an email updating them on their progress.

12) I administer the state testing (AIMS) once per year. This is a 1-2 week task that keeps me out of the home from about 7am-5pm. This is usually done at a local hotel or church. We have testing location all over the state and I am lucky enough to get assigned close to home so I don't have to be too far away from the kids (ie:The Superhero) in case I am needed for an emergency.

13) I participate in IEP and 504 meetings for my students. I have many special education students in my class and have to participate on their calls when they come up. I would say this is about 2-3 per month.

14) I attend a few in person meetings per school year. The number of meetings can vary. This was cut back this year due to budget reasons. We still have some in person meetings, but not monthly as in years past.

15) I mentor a couple newer teachers from AZVA as well as other schools within K12. (K12 is the parent company)

16) I return phone calls of parents who call and leave me messages.

17) I work over the summer. We get 4 weeks of vacation and will be working the rest of it to prepare for next school year. I honestly don't mind working through the summer. I still get some time off and I get to work from home. (I LOVE working from home!)

18) I set my own schedule. Sure, I might work nights and weekends sometimes. BUT I can schedule doctor appointments when I need to. I can take the kids in when they are sick without having to take off work (at least not all the time). As long as I get my work done and put in enough hours for the week, I can do these things when I need to. This flexibility makes working nights and weekends (occasionally) worth it!

Well, as I am typing this out, it does not seem like a lot. All of those 16 things above, plus whatever I am leaving out, keep me VERY busy. I am sure I put in 40 or more hours each week. Some weeks require a little more, while some might be a little less.

All of this PLUS having 2 kids home with me and a house to take care of.

And as another job (I say it is like a second job, I get paid separately to do this) I also do the marketing for the area of town I live in. Lately this has me doing up to 10 marketing sessions per month. I set them up in the evenings and a few on the weekends. They are 1 hour sessions where I am scheduled to meet with families looking to join our school at local coffee shops, Starbucks, Paradise Bakeries, etc.

So, there you have it. It is hard to say what a "typical" day might look like because every day is so different from the one before or from what the next one will be.

I will say though that I LOVE my job.

I LOVE getting to be home with my kids.

I LOVE working with the families while they are educating their kids.

I LOVE telling people about my job.

I am VERY fortunate to have received the magazine with the ad about AZVA and am even more fortunate to have been hired 3 years ago.

I am truly BLESSED!

Found the Pictures to go with my post from yesterday

(WARNING: Graphic Pictures below)

If you read this post yesterday, I wanted to share the pictures my dad found. The quality is not great, but they are as good as they are going to get right now.

They are VERY graphic pictures, please do not view if you do not wish to be a little grossed out! Or, have fun viewing if you like that sort of thing!

You may notice car seats in the back seat. I used to babysit A LOT and had my own set of car seats. Thank God no kids were with me at this time!

And you can tell in the last picture, I must have been in a lot of pain!

10 Years Ago Today

It was a Friday. I was just 18 years old. I was working at a local child care center in the 1 year old room part time while going to college. A lot of the kids went home early, as they did on a lot of Friday's and I was able to leave early while another teacher stayed behind with the rest of our kids.

I remember having to go to the bathroom, but I had decided to wait until I got home. It was only a 10 minute drive. It was Friday and I was actually getting to leave early! So I left and was on my way home. I was driving at the speed limit, or even slightly below the speed limit. I remember looking to ahead a bit to my right and seeing a car starting to come out from a side street and thinking "Oh my God, she is going to hit me!" There was NOTHING I could do. I tried to speed up a little to get past her before she actually hit my car, but I was not able to.

At the time I was driving a 93 (or 94) Chevy S-10 Blazer (small SUV). She hit the passenger rear side of the car in just the right (or wrong) spot. I don't remember much other than a lot of spinning, going upside down, and thinking "just stop!". My SUV FINALLY came to a stop (upside down) and I remember thinking "I have to get out of here!". I was hanging upside down strapped into the car with my seat belt. I vaguely remember seeing/hearing witnesses running up to me/my car to see if I was ok.

I undid my seat belt at that moment and the next thing I remember was being in the ambulance on the way to John C. Lincoln (not the closest hospital) because they needed a Trauma 1 Unit. I remember them asking me a lot of questions. I vaguely remember answering them. I vaguely remember having my clothes cut off of me.

The next thing I remember is being at the hospital. I don't remember arriving at the hospital, just that I was there all of a sudden. I remember them asking me who to call. I gave them what I remembered to be my dad's cell phone number. Then I kept wondering if it was even the right number. I think I lost consciousness a few more times because I remember being in the cat scan room but I don't remember going in there. I don't remember coming out of there.

I remember them telling me that my parents were on their way. I got some x-rays done on my arm and hand. I had a HUGE gash on my right wrist and some scrapes on my left hand. I think I had some scrapes on my face as well. When my family finally got there (which seemed like an eternity for me!) I was getting the x-rays done, so they were not allowed in right away.

After a little bit of time at the ER, I was released and allowed to go home. I wore paper scrubs since my clothes were cut off of me. I FINALLY got to use the potty, I still remember having to go REALLY bad. (funny the things you remember).

In the weeks following the accident, I had a skin graft on my right arm to cover/repair the major gash. The tissue inside my arm died off and there was just a gaping hole in my right arm. Other than that and some minor scarring on my left hand, I came out pretty good! Thank God it was not worse than it was. And thank God I was wearing my seat belt!

I can't believe it has been ten years! I have pictures somewhere of the car and of my arm, I could not find them when I wrote this post, but my dad did find some later that night. I posted them here.

(and I am sure my mom can comment on her reaction when they SAW my car, upside down, as they were on the way to the hospital, and they had no idea what condition I was in at the time!)

All the HARD work being a pancreas

has PAID OFF!

WOO HOO!

As you may have read in my post from last night, we had The Superhero's quarterly endo appointment this morning. I was a little off on his last A1C, it was 8.2.

I am SO HAPPY to report that his current A1C is 7.8!

Dr. D. was impressed that we could get such an awesome number with The Superhero only being 3 years old and the fact that we don't really see too many lows. I attribute much of our success at being a pancreas to Dexie. We got Dexie in January and I am SO in love! (I will do a post on Dexcom soon, I have been getting LOTS of questions. :) )

He has not gained weight in the last 3 months and has grown a little. We will keep an eye on this, but I am sure he is fine. He had that tummy bug last month that I am sure did not help.

Overall, a GREAT appointment! I can't wait to see our endo at her new office in June. :)

The Curse of the Dreaded Endo Appointment

NOT THIS TIME!

Well, tomorrow is the BIG day. Our 3 month check up with the endo.

Normally I start feeling a little nervous about that darn A1C report card.

Not this time.

For some reason I feel pretty good about The Superhero's numbers lately. I feel we have had decent control of his BG's and have made adjustments as soon as we see needs.

I think have the Dexcom since January has helped A TON. I REALLY hope it reflects in the A1C.

Our last A1C in December was 8.1, which was up from 7.8 in September. I am really hoping to be back in the 7's, but will take what we get.

I will update tomorrow with how it all goes.

Mommy Moment Monday

So, even though I am VERY sick today and have been in bed all day, I HAD to type up this Mommy Moment because it is HILARIOUS and well, today is Mommy Moment Monday. :) Enjoy!

A little background: We teach our kids simple sign language when they are babies/toddlers. Just a couple that help make communication easier for all of us. So I taught The Princess the signs for "All Done" and "More". She never really picked up any others.

Fast forward to last night: We had just finished dinner at my parents house and were hanging out on the couch. The Princess climbed up in my lap and was being the usual snuggly girl that she likes to be.

Then she sat up and did the sign for "More". She did not just do it once, she was repeatedly showing me the sign for "More". I kept asking her "More of what?"

Then all of a sudden, she dove at my chest and tried to pull my shirt off! I guess she "told" me what she wanted! She has NEVER done this before! And I only nurse her at bedtime/in the middle of the night, so this was very unusual for her to do!

We all started laughing, I could not stop! I went in the kitchen and got her a snack instead of what she actually asked for. But it was HILARIOUS last night!

How much is too much?

Water that is.

Will I really recognize if The Princess is drinking too much.

As she gets closer and closer to the age The Superhero was dx with T1, I am getting more and more paranoid. The Superhero was only 18 1/2 months when he was diagnosed.

Looking back, we can see signs and symptoms back to when The Superhero was 15-16 months. He was drinking a ton. Peeing a ton. Not gaining any weight. I think/am pretty sure he had blurry vision (broken arm at 16 months), extra cranky, etc.

The Princess is 16 months now.

And she drinks A TON of water! She carries her water cup around with her all day. She screams for more when it is gone. She is still nursing before bed and once in the middle of the night. Is she really that thirsty? Or is it just a habit.

She goes through LOTS of very cranky periods. Could it really just be teething? Or is it more?

I really hope this worry and icky feeling that makes me think her being dx is inevitable disappears as she gets older. I hate feeling like it could happen at any moment.

So, how do I know how much is too much?


ETA: I have checked her BG several times and she is always in range. The highest she has ever been is 134. Nothing super alarming, yet.

Comfort Foods

You know you all have one.

You know, the one food you like to have when you have a bad day to make you feel better. Or the meal you might request on your Birthday.

The one food you like to keep the same, no changing it up.


My comfort food is as follows...


Boneless skinless fried chicken tenders

Mashed Potatoes

Gravy

Zuccini

Biscuits

(all home made, except the biscuits)


I love the fried chicken my family makes. So yummy.

I love mashed potatoes.

I love gravy.

I love zucchini.

I love biscuits.


And I like them the way I like them and not messed with! I know leaving the peals on the potatoes is faster and easier, but it is not the same.

I like my gravy made the same way each time too. Not messed with. My mom used bacon fat in place of butter last week, and I was honest and told her it was gross. Because it was. I am not a huge bacon eater anyway, and to have my gravy messed with, not cool. (I know, I know, I already told you this mom. I also said it was probably going to be on the blog. I still love you and am grateful that you made dinner, but I hated the gravy. :) )

I love zucchini. It is one of the only veggies I will actually eat. I like it steamed. Butter is not required. Just yummy zucchini. Mmmm...

I also love biscuits. This is the only part of the meal that does not have to be home made. From a can is just fine. I have always loved biscuits. With butter of course.


So, what is your comfort meal?

Mommy Moment Monday

I LOVE having a little girl! I painted The Princess' toe nails for the first time on Friday morning. I am in love with little pink toes.

HOPE

Today is our day of HOPE. In honor of my son The Superhero, I have written hope on my hand to raise awareness that we still do not have a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. Insulin is NOT a cure, but we can have hope that one day soon we will see my son and millions of others cured!!!

Here is a link to the Facebook page about A Day of Hope.