A letter to The Superhero's go-to lunch choice

Dear Peanut Butter,

I have to say that both of my kids, The Superhero and The Princess, seem to enjoy your gooey goodness most days for lunch. I am sure it is the yummy peanut buttery taste you bring to their sandwiches each day.

After The Superhero was diagnosed with T1 Diabetes was the first time he had a taste of your deliciousness. We had heard what affect you can have on the blood sugar of a T1 Diabetic and were prepared for your fat causing spikiness. We started with a regular bolus for you. Not enough. Then we added some extra carbs to the total carb count for the PB&J that became a regular lunch time addition.Still not enough.

By the time we made you work successfully for our T1 Superhero, we were doubling the carbs for the entire sandwich. This made the carb count for a 1/2 sandwich 56 carbs and the whole sandwich 112 carbs. (based on the bread, peanut butter, and jelly we use)

We finally have you figured out. The Superhero has been eating your gooey goodness for lunch for over 2 years now and we have it down. When we switched insulin to Apidra, you threw us for a loop. You see, Apidra works differently than the Novalog we were used to. Apidra has no tail end and is OUT of the system for our Superhero within the first 3 hours. But you, my dear Peanut Butter, were still working overtime in The Superhero's body. To make you work for us again, we ended up having to combo you. It was the only way to keep you from crashing and spiking my Superhero in a matter of hours. We now double the carbs (112g total) AND combo you. And of course, it gets even more complicated.

The combo is not a simple 50/50 split. Not a 60/40 split. Not even a 70/30 split. No, that would all be too easy. We have to combo you based on the starting BG of The Superhero. That's right. Now this pseudo-pancreas has to decide the amount of insulin you need based on the starting BG.

If the Superhero starts out at a nice 140, I usually have to do the double carbs for the sandwich and then a combo of 65/35 for 4-5 hours. If he is low, I would do a 50/50 split for 4-5 hours. If he is high, usually a 75/25 for 3-4 hours. It just can't be easy. And this doesn't work every time either.

But, for the most part, we have you figured out. At least for LUNCH TIME.

On the RARE occasion The Superhero eats you in the morning (almost never) or at night for dinner (again, almost never), ALL.BETS.ARE.OFF.

You NEVER seem to be consistent at this time of day. You either leave him LOW or steady and then HIGH. This is exactly what happened last night. Our poor Superhero was running a good 176ish before bed. Then he went up to the 300's and stayed there for a while. And then, then it hit. He was HIGH on Dexcom. For HOURS.

If we didn't love you so much, Peanut Butter, we would HATE you for this. We will just learn from this and not let our sweet Superhero eat your deliciousness.

Sincerely,
The Superhero's Mommy and pseudo-pancreas


*Disclaimer: I am a mom of a T1 Diabetic child. I am NOT a doctor. I just play one in real life. Please do not take anything in this post or any other post on this blog as medical advice. If you have questions or concerns of your own, please seek advice from your doctor.*

Gone too soon...

 

This week has been difficult. Hearing the news of not just one death due to T1 Diabetes, but SIX in the last couple of  weeks. FIVE of them THIS week.

There have been several deaths related to T1 Diabetes in the past several months. I could not bring myself to blog about them previously. But this time is different. SIX in just a short time. I am in shock.

This is hard.

You may have heard about them.

If you are on FB, blue candles are everywhere in honor and support of these lives lost too soon.

A 24 year old girl in Australia. Her parents were on vacation and she went into DKA, a coma, and then a week later passed away.

A 27 year old mother of two.

A 16 year old boy.

A 16 year old girl who passed away while napping.

A 9 year old girl who couldn't take the stress and depression of the disease any longer and took her own life.

And finally an 18 month old child. Here in AZ. This 18 month old died because of a misdiagnosis.

This last one has hit me the hardest. They are all sad in their own way. They all have their stories that break our hearts. But, this last one. This 18 month old who was misdiagnosed and died because he/she was not diagnosed with T1 Diabetes until it was TOO LATE.

This is NOT right. The Superhero was diagnosed at 18 months old. He was misdiagnosed throughout the week leading up to his T1 Diagnosis. Another few hours and WE would be in those parents' shoes.

ONE loss to undiagnosed T1 Diabetes is ONE TOO MANY. This should not be happening. These babies should be diagnosed correctly. EVERYONE NEEDS to be aware of the signs.

The week of The Superhero's diagnosis he started breathing "funny". This is one of the symptoms listed on the JDRF site.

Warning signs of type 1 diabetes (these may occur suddenly):
Extreme thirst Frequent urination Sudden vision changes Sugar in urine Fruity, sweet, or wine-like odor on breath	Increased appetite Sudden weight loss Drowsiness, lethargy Heavy, labored breathing Stupor, unconsciousness

Education about the symptoms of type 1 diabetes is critical because type 1 can easily be mistaken for more common illnesses, such as the flu.

And looking back now, The Superhero had MANY of these signs/symptoms. We just passed them off as something else.

Drinking a lot. It is HOT outside.

Peeing a lot. Drinking a lot makes you pee a lot.

Weight loss. Losing baby fat.


It was EASY to blame the symptoms on ANYTHING else.

This was NOT even on the ER docs' radar or our pediatrician's.

And for somewhat good reason, at the time anyway.

T1 Diabetes WAS not that common in kids this age.

Of course, now I hear of it more and more.

And OUR pediatrician has LEARNED from The Superhero's dx. She is now helping to teach the med students who come through her office about the signs. And she did tell me one time when we were there that they were testing the BG of a child in her office RIGHT THEN because of our experience.

WE are the lucky ones.

We got a diagnosis.

Not without pushing though. I had to ask the ER docs at the Children's hospital if they THOUGHT it could be Diabetes. I had googled until I was blue in the face. Diabetes was the one disease that kept coming back up after typing in the symptoms.

The kids who do not get diagnosed until it is too late just break my heart.

I know Diabetes is hard.

It is hard to hear my now 4 year old tell me that "Diabetes sucks". He is right! It does suck. There is no nice way to say it. It sucks. It hurts. It is exhausting. It is overwhelming. It is complicated. It is relentless.

A few more hours on that fateful day and WE would be another statistic. WE would be feeling EXACTLY what these parents must be going through. WE would not have OUR Superhero in our lives. Scares me to even think about the "What ifs".


BUT, the truth is...I would MUCH rather have to go through this...

Than to NOT have THIS smiling face in my life...

And I KNOW the parents of the misdiagnosed toddler would too. My prayers go out to them and to all of the families who have lost their battle with T1 Diabetes too soon. Even though I don't know any of them personally, they were FAMILY to me. We share a common bond that connects us as strangers.

PLEASE take the time to learn and SHARE the signs. YOU could end up saving a life.


*Disclaimer: I am a mom of a T1 Diabetic child. I am NOT a doctor. I just play one in real life. Please do not take anything in this post or any other post on this blog as medical advice. If you have questions or concerns of your own, please seek advice from your doctor.*

Another illness update

I wish I could be posting that we ALL feel 100% better, but, we are not.

I went to the doctor on Monday and was told I had bronchitis. Antibiotics started and I definitely am feeling better. not completely, but better for sure.

The Superhero is still on his antibiotics for the sinus infection. He is about 7 days in of the 30 day regimen.

The Princess, well, she is NOT better. Not completely anyway. I took her to the doctor on Monday and she was put on antibiotics for bronchitis. We also started up her breathing treatments again, every 4 hours, around the clock.

She was not getting enough better by yesterday (Wednesday) so I called and made her an appointment for this morning to get back in with the doctor. I was thinking she might have pneumonia, but I wasn't sure. She seemed to be breathing more shallow than normal and taking more breaths than normal. I had a HARD time sleeping last night. She was in bed with me and I just listened to her breathing all.night.long.

Took her in this morning and her lungs sounded great. I had done her breathing treatment not long before we had gone in. I went ahead and asked for the chest x-ray to ease my mind about the pneumonia. We went over to the radiologist and had her x-ray done. (this is where they place her in this barbaric looking contraption I had never seen prior to the last few x-rays she has had done, it works well at holding her still though)

We came home so she could eat lunch and nap. Then I got the call. It was our awesome nurse from the peds office calling to let me know the pneumonia was NEGATIVE. Which is GREAT news.

Then there was a BUT. Isn't there always?

BUT, she does have asthma. Keep the breathing treatments up every 4 hours. (paraphrased, of course)

She may be able to come off them for a while when she is feeling better. We will just have to see how she does. The air quality is POOR here in AZ which does NOT help.

Sigh.

So, now we have asthma to deal with and worry about. It had been mentioned previously since she has had issues in the past, but usually they don't actually "say" it until they are a little older.

Never a dull moment in the house with The Superhero and The Princess.


*Disclaimer: I am a mom of a T1 Diabetic child. I am NOT a doctor. I just play one in real life. Please do not take anything in this post or any other post on this blog as medical advice. If you have questions or concerns of your own, please seek advice from your doctor.*

The problem is "they" don't know what they know and what they don't know...

***Before I start this post, I MUST clarify. THIS is MY opinion only and is not based on anything other than MY experiences through raising a chronically ill child and our emergency room/hospital vists. This is not a testament to ALL doctors, just the ones I have personally had experience with and have "generalized" here. If you don't agree with me or don't like what I am posting, please don't make rude comments. Feel free to share your opinion in a respectful and tactful way. Comments are approved by the author of the post.***

Ok, on with the post...and I am sorry it is a little longer than I had anticipated, but I wanted to include all the details...


As you all know, The Superhero had to go to the ER 2x last weekend. Both times were diabetes related. Vomiting. Ketones. High/low blood sugar. Dehydration. Each experience in the ER was completely different.

Saturday when we went, we were taken back immediately.

IV was started fairly quickly, especially after he puked all over the place. Zofran was given to clear up the nausea and vomiting.

They called HIS endo (even though she is not associated with the hospital anymore).

They let ME manage his diabetes.

Things were GREAT.

I mean, as great as they could be when in the ER with a puking diabetic.

When his BG started to come down more than I liked, I asked for a glucose drip, they got it approved and started NO PROBLEM. BG came up, insulin was given via pump, and ketones went DOWN.

All was good.

He started eating and we all felt comfortable with him coming home (including the staff there).

___________________________________________________________

Then on Sunday when he started throwing up AGAIN, this time with lower blood sugar readings, we took him back in. NOTHING seemed to be absorbing in his tummy and we could NOT keep his BG up enough to get rid of the ketones.

So, back to the ER we went, knowing we would be admitted this time around.

We were taken back right away, even with a waiting room full of sick kids. I am still always amazed how quickly a vomiting, ketone filled, Diabetic gets whisked back to the ER rooms. They definitely know to take THAT seriously.

They came in and got the IV started fairly quickly again. The Superhero's BG was starting to trend downward. I asked the nurse if we could get a glucose/dextrose drip going to get his BG up, since he was not tolerating nor absorbing anything through his stomach. (BG now below 100)

The resident came in and introduced herself to me. She explained that they would call his doctor once the blood work came back and would not start a glucose IV until then. I mentioned to her that his BG was dropping and that I needed them to start the glucose ASAP. She explained that it was not "protocol" to do that. I asked her what her plan was then to keep his BG up, or what they were going to do if he passed out or had a seizure. (yes, I actually asked this) She said they wouldn't let that happen. I told her that if she wasn't going to call HIS endo immediately, I would call her myself and have her call them. I knew she would want to know we were back in the ER and his BG was dropping. She then reluctantly took the phone number from me and went out to call.

I hated the vibe from this resident. She seemed very defensive when I was explaining what I thought needed to be done. And I really hated hearing how "protocol" was something different than what I KNEW needed to be done.I was as respectful as I could be, but my child's life was WAY more important than THIS resident's feelings.

After she left the room, her supervising physician came in. He was SO nice and I definitely got a different vibe from him.He said the resident was on the phone with our endo and would be back in after that conversation. He then listened to my concerns and I explained that The Superhero's BG was dropping even more and was now in the upper 80's.

A few minutes later my cell phone started to ring, it was not a number I recognized, but it was local so I figured it must be someone I knew. I answered. It was OUR awesome Endo. I just love her so much. She was calling to tell me about HER conversation with the resident.

Apparently the resident called the endo and without telling the endo what I had asked for, Dr. D told the resident the EXACT same thing I had. He needed glucose, ASAP. We needed to get his BG up so we could bolus insulin so we could get ketones down. Dr. D told me that the resident was VERY defensive and did NOT want to do that. Dr. D had to say something like "I am the endo, and this is my patient, THIS is what he needs, now..."

As I was talking with Dr. D on my cell phone, the nurse walked in with the back of glucose/saline and the resident came in behind her to explain. She saw I was on the phone and came back after I got off the phone. Dr. D explained that they would keep The Superhero for at least 24 hours. I told her I expected that, and we  were ok with it. We needed to make sure he could hold food/liquid down again before going home.

Then the resident came back in. She told me she had spoken to Dr. D and that they would wait to start the glucose until the bolus of regular saline bolus was completed.

Uh, NO.

I told her that wasn't happening.

His BG was now in the 80's and he NEEDED it started NOW. She did not seem thrilled, but said "ok". And the nurses hooked up the glucose. BG came up slowly (after dropping into the 70's) and leveled out in a much safer range.

That was the last we saw of the resident, this round anyway.

___________________________________________________________

And now for MY theory.

The longer you are a doctor, the more humble and knowledgeable you become.

Now, the knowledgeable part should be a no brainer, it is the actual knowledge that is gained that is what is part of my theory.

The longer someone practices medicine, the more they realize what they know and what they don't know.

And those who are NEW to practicing medicine (ie: RESIDENTS), don't know what they don't know until they are HUMBLED by a doctor/patient who knows more.

Those who have been practicing longer SHOULD realize that SOMETIMES the PATIENT might actually know what they are talking about.

Especially when they are talking about a disease they LIVE 24/7/365. Especially when it has been 2 1/2 years since they were dx with the disease. Now, not everyone who has a chronic illness and lives it 24/7/365 is as knowledgeable as others.

BUT, I think the doctors can "read" a patient to judge how much they might actually know.

If someone walks in saying they have no idea what their kid needs, he is vomiting and has ketones, but that is all they tell you, I would expect the doctors to know more.

If a patient comes in telling you they need IV fluids with glucose to get the blood sugar up, so insulin can be given, so we can get rid of the ketones, I would bet THAT person knows a little more about Diabetes.

Just sayin...


And here is a link to an article that seems to agree with this theory. (Med School Grads May Not Be Ready for Primary Care; Diabetes is mentioned)


*Disclaimer: I am a mom of a T1 Diabetic child. I am NOT a doctor. I just play one in real life. Please do not take anything in this post or any other post on this blog as medical advice. If you have questions or concerns of your own, please seek advice from your doctor.*

Illness Update

Well, I am feeling better today. It was definitely a rough week of achiness (just made that word up). I am still coughing some, but not too bad.

I took both kids to the doctor yesterday. The Superhero needed a follow up from his hospital visit and was not complaining of ear pain. The Princess has been breaking out in hives and is now sounding croupy.

The Princess seemed ok at the doctor's office, of course. I had the doctor write the rx for steroids in case the croupy cough got worse. Which of course it did last night while we were sleeping, that is how croup works. :-) She started steroids today and should hopefully be better soon. The hives could just be related to the virus she has, we are keeping an eye on them/her for now.

The Superhero has yet another ear infection. I asked the doctor why he has had so many ear infections and bouts with croup lately. 4 ear infections and 2 times with croup since Thanksgiving seems like A LOT to me. She agreed and said it could be a sinus infection that just one round of antibiotics would not be clearing up, which is why everything comes back.

I took him over for an x-ray of his sinuses and waited for the call. The nurse called me yesterday afternoon and indeed, he has a bi-lateral sinus infection (both sides). He will be on antibiotics 2x per day for 30 DAYS. And then we will repeat the x-ray to see if it has cleared up.

I am hoping this will be the end of the illness string at our house. As much as I hate him being sick and needing antibiotics for 30 days, at least we CAN treat it and it should clear up this time.


*Disclaimer: I am a mom of a T1 Diabetic child. I am NOT a doctor. I just play one in real life. Please do not take anything in this post or any other post on this blog as medical advice. If you have questions or concerns of your own, please seek advice from your doctor.*

Finding the Blessings amongst the CrAzY

I have had this blog post swirling around in my head since all the craziness began last week. The title has changed several times. Here are some of the proposed titles I had going...

"The week from HE!!"
"You wouldn't believe it if I told you..."
"If it isn't one thing, it is another..."


Ok, you get the idea. For those of you who know me, you know that this last week has been one of the worst weeks EVER. I had planned to just blog about the events that have taken place in the past week and a half. After thinking about it some more last night, I decided to force myself to see the Blessing hidden inside all the Crazy. So, I will share the events of each day that had me going "WTH!!!" and then share the Hidden Blessing inside.

If you are a regular reader of The Superhero and The Princess, then you know we have been battling some illnesses since Thanksgiving. Pretty much someone has been sick in this house non-stop since then. Well, it all got worse in the last week and a half.


Tuesday January 4; 12:30am-The Princess throws up 7 times before 5:30am. In MY bed. She recovers ok and rests the rest of the day.

Hidden Blessing: The Princess was a trooper and did her best to stay hydrated. She was willing to go with the flow of the recovery process that day. I work from home and can take care of The Princess while she is not feeling well.


Wednesday January 5; Middle of the night. The Princess has a fever of 102.4. Sigh.

Hidden Blessing: We have Motrin to bring down the fever. I work from home and can take care of The Princess while she is not feeling well.


Thursday January 6; 7:15am - Just as The Princess was about to leave the house with Rod to spend the day with a friend of mine while I worked, she threw up AGAIN. Sigh.

Hidden Blessing: She felt fine afterwards and it was probably just a fluke. Thank God I work from home and she can hang out here with me, again.


Friday January 7; 3am- The Superhero wakes up with CROUP. Trip to Urgent Care at 4:30am. Home with some steroids and back in bed by 5:30am. The kids still spent the day with my friend, Kristi. Rod has not been feeling well for a couple of weeks, a cold/flu or something, but is managing to do ok at this point.

Hidden Blessing: Kids got to play with some friends and I got some work done, kid free!


Saturday January 8; REALLY early AM- The Superhero wakes up coughing. His first steroid dose from Friday wore off sometime around 8pm the night before and he is miserable. I gave him a second dose of the steroids at 1:15am. At app. 1:30am, he threw up. He threw up 2 more times in the next little while.

Rod and I made the decision to take him to the ER and get some Zofran and IV fluids. I called and woke up my parents. The Superhero, my mom, and I were off to the ER. We got him some fluids, Zofran, and he was feeling a ton better in a short time. We made it home around 1pm that day thinking all was well.

Hidden Blessing: Walking into the ER with a vomiting T1 diabetic with ketones will get you into a room with IV's started fairly quickly, especially if they actually throw up for the ER nurses.


Sunday January 9; The Superhero seemed to be feeling better and was eating ok. BG was on the lower end of normal, but we were ok as long as he was eating/drinking. Then he threw up, ALL.OVER.ME. Showers for both of us. Thinking we just over did it. We waited it out at home some more. Ketones were not out of control and BG was ok. Then after a short time, he threw up AGAIN. Forget it! Off to the ER AGAIN, knowing we would be admitted. BG was dropping and ketones were rising.

Again, we were taken right back with our vomiting, diabetic with ketones. IV started. They started with just saline. I PUSHED (a blog post for another day) to get glucose/dextrose with the saline since his BG was DROPPING. Once they listened to ME and OUR endo (again, a blog post for another day), they started it and his BG started coming up from the 70's.

Hidden Blessing: SO thankful for an awesome endocrinologist on our team! Also Blessed to have the ability to get IV fluids for The Superhero and more Zofran.


Monday January 10; Spent another day at the hospital with The Superhero. He slowly went from a liquid diet to a regular diet as tolerated. Love the endo team at the hospital and how they respected my abilities to be The Superhero's pancreas. (our 7.4 A1C for over 6 months helped :) ) --Side note: I start to feel sinusy and have a sore throat today; Rod is at home throwing up and still feeling "fluish".

Hidden Blessing: I have a wonderful support system, in person (my Parents and friend Kate) to watch The Princess for me AND I have ALL.OF.YOU (online friends) supporting me from all over the globe. I honestly NEEDED the support emotionally and it meant so much to me to see so many FB messages of support for me and our family.  


Tuesday, January 11; I had them turn off the glucose drip in the morning to see how the BG stabilized without it.The Superhero was doing a TON better and we were able to go home in the afternoon. After we got home, The Princess broke out in HIVES on her left leg. Not sure what THAT is about. I gave her a bath and used some calamine lotion to clear it up. I thought she must have been bitten by something and then scratched at it, making it look worse.--Side note: I feel worse, Dayquil is my friend. Rod is feeling a little better and has orders from the doctor to take time off work this week to rest.

Hidden Blessing: I got to see my Princess again after several days. I REALLY missed her and I know she missed me too. She keeps following me saying pathetically "Hold me". The Superhero felt a TON better.


Wednesday, January 12; I took the day off from work to re-cooperate and get my house in order. The Princess broke out in HIVES AGAIN. This time they were ALL over her legs and arms in patches. I covered her in calamine lotion and messaged a friend of mine with a picture (the awesome nurse from our pediatrician's office). She mentioned giving her benedryl so we could go at the hives and whatever was causing them from the inside out. I don't know why I didn't think of this!? Dosed her up and the hives were gone. Hoping they don't come back, or that we can figure out what is causing them. 

Hidden Blessing: Awesome friends to help me diagnose/treat symptoms in my kids as needed. I love my nurse friends. Naps are awesome too.


Thursday, January 13; I.feel.worse. I am back to working today, but am planning to re-schedule all of my conferences from this week for next week so I can catch up on other things and be prepared for them. I am SO achy today and tired. I have both kids home with me. We made the decision earlier in the week to pull The Superhero out of pre-school for the rest of this year. I am tired of paying $300 per month for him to not be going due to illnesses right now. So, we told him the school year was over and moved on. Hoping to rest while the kids nap today. I had a hard time sleeping last night due to yesterday's nap. 

Hidden Blessing: I work from home and my job can be somewhat flexible. The kids feel better and are playing nicely today (mostly). I am going to rest during nap time.


And THAT is a rundown of my life in this new year so far. Sigh. Hoping things improve soon and we can get rested. Hoping NO MORE illnesses strike our family for a LONG time.

I have CRIED more in this past 2 weeks than I have in a LONG time. I held it together pretty well until we had to go back to the ER the second time. Then.I.LOST.IT. I am SO grateful for all the love and support from everyone on FB. I NEEDED it more than you know.

On the way to Urgent Care with The Superhero on Friday EARLY morning, I started thinking to myself "What is God trying to tell me?". I am still working on this one. Not sure what the message He is trying to send our way. Hopefully I will hear it more clearly soon.

Please PRAY that our family can get better and our immune systems have time to catch up before we get sick again. Sigh.


*Disclaimer: I am a mom of a T1 Diabetic child. I am NOT a doctor. I just play one in real life. Please do not take anything in this post or any other post on this blog as medical advice. If you have questions or concerns of your own, please seek advice from your doctor.*

Project 365

I made the decision to start a Project 365 this year. I have a separate blog for the posts and I put the link to that blog on a tab above.

I hope you all enjoy seeing pictures from each day this year in our life with The Superhero, The Princess, and Diabetes.




*Disclaimer: I am a mom of a T1 Diabetic child. I am NOT a doctor. I just play one in real life. Please do not take anything in this post or any other post on this blog as medical advice. If you have questions or concerns of your own, please seek advice from your doctor.*

2010 in Picture Review and some goals for 2011

I am finally working on my 2011 calendar.

Each year since The Superhero was born I have created a calendar of pictures using pictures for each month from that same month the year before. I am a little behind this year since I normally use this as our Christmas gifts for family. Since we were sick most of December I did not get any good December pictures until the very end of the month.


Here is a review of what I have for 2010...Enjoy!

January 2010

February 2010 

March 2010 

April 2010 

May 2010 

June 2010 

July 2010 

August 2010 

September 2010 

October 2010 

November 2010 

December 2010 

And WOW these kids grew up this year! Can I get them to STOP and just stay little a while longer?

And, my goals for 2011 are more than just resolutions.They are things I just need to work on in general.

1) I want to have more patience with the kids. I don't want them to remember me for being a mean mommy who yells too much at them. I know they love me and I know they know I love them, but I feel like I yell too much.

2) I want to train my kids to go to bed on their own without a parent sitting in their rooms. No screaming and yelling from anyone.

3) I want to work on having some "ME" time every now and then and not ALWAYS putting everyone else's needs first. My needs are important too and I need to take care of myself or I am no good to anyone else.

4) I want to not work ALL the TIME. I need to set boundaries. Just because I work from home does NOT mean I need  to work constantly. I need to set aside my work to spend time with my family and to have my ME time and to keep up on the house work, etc.

5) I want to become more financially conscious and to really start thinking about where our money is going so we can become a little more stable. Our goal is to move out of this apartment before the end of 2011 and back into a house. I will be shopping LESS this year. This will be tough for me. LOL.

Those are the main things I can think of right now. What are you hoping to work on or change this year?

*Disclaimer: I am a mom of a T1 Diabetic child. I am NOT a doctor. I just play one in real life. Please do not take anything in this post or any other post on this blog as medical advice. If you have questions or concerns of your own, please seek advice from your doctor.*