Diabetes Blog Week - Day 6 Diabetes Snapshots

Here is our life with Diabetes since just before The Superhero was diagnosed until now...


Just days before he was diagnosed. You can see how skinny he is by looking at his neck and face.

Diagnosis pictures...(and yep, that is an IV in his neck, and both arms )

The Superhero still likes to be a normal kid, making cookies with his Pompa

And of course, that means tasting the dough

He LOVES to eat cupcakes

He can have ice cream and diet coke for breakfast if he wants to (at Disneyland only!)

1 Year Diaversary Celebration. We took him to his FIRST movie, EVER. (to see Up) He enjoyed the diet coke and popcorn treat.

When things don't work out quite right, due to stomach bugs we end up in the hospital. We have been back 2x since dx almost 2 years ago.

October 2009

February 2010

We are SO lucky to have some of the best technology available for The Superhero.

Lots of supplies (a little messy at the time of this picture, it has since been cleaned out)

And some of the BEST friends we could EVER ask for!

Here is The Superhero with part of our Secret Santa gift.

Our local support group.

Diabetes Blog Week - Day 4: To carb or not to carb

That is the question!

Since The Superhero was diagnosed so young, we opt to carb. I want him to be as "normal" as possible, so he will be allowed to eat anything he wants. (within reason of course) PLUS he NEEDS the carbs for energy! This kid has more energy than any other kid I know! He burns those carbs up so easily.

Before Diabetes entered our lives, The Superhero had never really had any sugary stuff. We never gave him juice or cookies or other sugary yumminess. After being diagnosed, he was getting WAY more sugar than ever before. Lows. Lows made me force him to EAT sugar. I can hear myself saying "The Superhero you HAVE to eat this pudding!" or "You have to drink this juice".

And now, after almost 2 years with D, he is a CARB LOVER. I don't think it has anything to do with D. I think he just loves his carbs! He will just sit and eat a slice of bread and be happy with that as his meal. He loves fruits too.

Now, don't get me wrong, we do limit some carbs. I am finding that those yummy, BG rise causing bananas SPIKE the heck out of him. So, we only let him have them if he is eating enough protein and fat. And NEVER for breakfast!

I also am not a fan of "fake" sugars. He is allowed a treat of Diet Coke when we go out to restaurants or to my mom's house, but that's it.

As he gets older, I would love to try more low carb options. But with his age there are MANY times that he just needs to EAT, so he gets to eat anything he wants.

Diabetes Blog Week - Day 3: My Biggest Supporters

Well, I am one of those lucky people who have multiple support people. I cannot pick just 1, so I will list my top 5. If you did not make this list, please don't be offended. If you are reading this, you are in some way a huge support to me. And even with the list of support people, there are times when I feel alone in all of this. When I feel that no one I know "gets it".

With that, here is my list...

1) My husband, The Daddy. He is amazing to say the least. Sure I do most of the adjusting and carb counting (most of the time), BUT he does almost ALL of the night checks. He figures I take the day shift so from the time The Superhero goes to bed until morning, The Daddy is on duty. Sometimes I will take the 2am check, but I usually end up making him get out of bed to check anyway. He checks the BG/Dexie and makes the decision on what needs to be done. Is The Superhero high? Low? Just right, needs monitoring?

The Daddy has also started taking over some/most of the site changes for the pump. I will admit I was getting a little lazy and as long as we were getting good numbers, I would not change the pump for 4, 5, even 6 days a few times. I knew this was not ok, I just could not make myself do it. I was in a Diabetes rut if you will. So now it is The Daddy’s job, unless one gets pulled out early (like yesterday).

He also is the one to stay in the hospital with The Superhero. He stayed with The Superhero when he was diagnosed and again when he was in the hospital in October and in February. I don’t know how I could do any of this without him. So, THANK YOU to my awesome hubby!

2) My younger brother, S.. When The Superhero was dx S. was at the hospital everyday. He learned how to check BG and even how to give a shot. Though he does not watch The Superhero much now, he is not afraid to give him insulin or check his BG. I would completely trust S. to take care of The Superhero.

And a side note…One night my mom and S. were watching the kids while I did a work event. The Superhero was in the middle of (we thought he was over) a stomach bug. He threw up while at my mom’s house and S. did not freak out. They dealt with it and moved on. I am very impressed with this!

3) My mom. Though she was very reluctant when The Superhero was first dx to do any of the D care, she has really turned around over the last 2 years (almost). Once we got Dexie she felt better about bolusing The Superhero with his pump meter because she was able to watch what was happening with his BG. She is a HUGE help when I need to take just The Princess somewhere or when I just need a BREAK from The Superhero.

My mom was also a HUGE help when The Superhero was diagnosed. I was pregnant with The Princess and NEEDED my sleep, but I also did not want to leave my baby in the PICU with just his Daddy (no offense to The Daddy). The Superhero wanted a “mommy” comfort (he liked the boobs for a pillow). So, my mom offered to stay those nights in the PICU with him. I would go home around 10pm and she would stay. I would come back at 6am or so and she would go home to sleep and then return in the late afternoon. I don’t know how we would have gotten through that week without her!

4) My Dad. Next to my husband, my dad is definitely the biggest support I could ask for. He was online on the Children with Diabetes site while we were still in the hospital and is still a poster on that site. He was at the hospital everyday with me. The Daddy and my mom would go home to sleep/shower/etc and my dad would stay with me. He took the crash course in Diabetes care right along with me. He has done everything he can to learn about Diabetes and how it affects The Superhero and the rest of us. He has learned how to care for The Superhero completely. He has gone to ALL (except one) Endo appointments with me. He was there for pump start. He was there for CGMS start. He can change a pump site when needed. I am sure he could figure out the CGMS if he needed to. He counts carbs, treats lows, gives insulin for highs, watches for extra activity, and does everything I would do if The Superhero were with me.

I feel SO comfortable leaving The Superhero with him. The Superhero has been able to spend the night with my parents many times since diagnosis and I don’t worry at all about his care. He gets up to do the night checks with no problem. When I have work meetings, my dad takes off work so he can watch The Superhero. (my mom could do it, but with both kids, they are CRAZY) I never have to worry about who is watching him. When he is in my parents’ care, I don’t even need to know what is going on. I know they can handle whatever Diabetes throws their way.

5) My D.O.C. friends…you know who you are. You all are THE BEST support I could ask for. Having so many other D- Moms (and dads) who really and truly “get it” is AMAZING. My life truly changed for the better when I “met” all of you. I love you all!

I have no idea how I would do any of this without all of these amazing people in my life. I hate diabetes, but I am so grateful for ALL of you!

Diabetes Blog Week - Day 2: Making the Low Go

Here is a list of the ways we treat lows. I am not sure which is The Superhero’s favorite. I think it depends on his mood.

1) Skittles
2) Juice (Juicy Juice small boxes)
3) Marshmallows (The Superhero LOVES these, and can eat them in his sleep)
4) Cake Gel (the little white tubes)
5) Glucose Tabs (these are new to our list, he likes them a lot, sometimes)
6) Soda (only if nothing else is handy, or he refuses everything else)


I can’t wait to read everyone else’s lists. Maybe I can get some new ideas!

Diabetes Blog Week - Day 1: A Day in the Life of The Superhero's Diabetes

Karen at Bitter-Sweet Diabetes Blog had an idea to have a Diabetes Blog Week. Thank you Karen for making this a possibility for all of us to share our experiences with others. I look forward to reading everyone’s posts all week!

Day 1 - A day in the life . . . with diabetes. Take us through a quick rundown of an average day and all the ways in which diabetes touches it. Blood tests, site changes, high and low blood sugars, meal planning, anything that comes along. This can be a log of an actual day, or a fictional compilation of pieces from many days.

A day in the life of The Superhero’s diabetes… Though there are no real “typical” days in Diabetes, here is a run down of what happens during the day for us.

In this scenario, The Superhero was running a little high all night (upper 200’s to low 300’s). No matter what we did, he was not budging. There was either some sugar in the diet lemonade from Chick-Fil-A, or I mis-counted the carbs for the fries. Either way, high’s all night, create a CRANKY 3-year-old the next day.

6:30am The Superhero wakes up crying. Check Dexie (Dexcom CGMS), he is still in the upper 200’s. Check finger to verify, 289, enter number into Dexie to calibrate. Before bolusing, I think “Hmmm, he is in a crummy mood. I would like to pre-bolus breakfast, but will he actually eat it?” I decide he is too grumpy and I will only bolus for the BG at this time.

7:00am Breakfast. The Superhero wants Froot Loops. I weigh out the cereal on the scale and add milk to soften the froot loops. Then I dump the milk out so we don’t have a mess. Give The Superhero his food. Measure his milk and warm it in the microwave (I have a strange kid).

I wait to bolus until he is eating, because he is still acting grumpy. He eats. I enter carbs into the pump remote and it calculates the amount of insulin he needs, I dial the amount I actually want to give, what it recommends this time, and bolus. Dexie was showing he was starting to come down from his high BG, but now that he ate breakfast, he is sure to spike.

7:30am Dexie beeps twice. Ugh. High. He is 301 with double arrows up. I wait it out. I know he has insulin on board, let’s see where it goes.

8:00am I check Dex again because he is being MEAN to his sister. Still in the 300’s. I wait it out. Lots of insulin on board.

8:15am Dex beeps. He is dropping. Now, let’s hope he drops enough, without dropping too much!

8:35am Check Dexie again. He is now 210 with an arrow straight down. Wait it out and see where things go.

9:00am Dexie says he is 150 with an arrow down. Weigh snack on the scale, enter the carbs on the pump remote, dial the amount I want to give, and bolus.

9:30am Dexie beeps. Low. He is now 89 and dropping. I know he just had his snack, but he also has IOB now from the snack, along with any left over breakfast bolus. Give small fast carbs, marshmallows, roughly 5g.

11:00am Lunch time. We made it to lunch with no more issues. Check BG. 141. Yay! It worked out. Enter number into Dexie. Bolus PB and J sandwich for lunch. The Superhero eats. I bolus the rest of his meal, fruit and milk.

11:30am-1:30pm Nap time. He goes up above 240 (high alert), then back into range quickly. Hovers around 120 during nap.

1:30pm Wake up. Dex says 145. Eats snack. Bolus.

3:00pm Check Dex. Up around 180 from snack. Not too bad!

5:00pm Dex beeps. He is dropping. This is “normal” for dinner time for him. BG Check. He is 101 and dropping. We give him his milk “free” and bolus the rest of dinner.

7:00pm Getting ready for bed. He is 180 and steady at the moment. Still has some insulin on board, but it should work out ok.

8:00pm Dex says 120 and steady. Great number, but a little low for night time. We will wait and watch. The Superhero is sound asleep.

9:30pm Dex says 121 and steady. Awesome. Still low for night time, will wait and watch. The Superhero is still sleeping peacefully.

11:30pm Dex says 118 and stead. Verify with finger poke, 120. Awesome. Sleep coming. Still low for night time. Will it stay steady? Checking again at 1am. The Superhero wakes up just to stick out his finger, and then back to sleep.

1:00am Dex says 125. Awesome! Back to bed for a bit. The Superhero sleeps through us walking in his room to check Dex.

2:30am Dex says 122. Woo Hoo! (basals MUST be right on!) The Superhero is still sleeping nicely. I was up with The Princess for a few and check Z while I was up.

4:00am Dex says 127. Is this really happening? The numbers are this steady? So awesome! I love how The Superhero sleeps right through his parents obsessive night checks.

6:00am The Superhero wakes up. 131. Wow! We made it a whole night without having to give insulin or treat a low. I wonder if this will happen again? (it did NOT happen again the next night!)

While the events listed above do not happen every day, they do happen often. We have unexplained highs and lows and there is often no explanation. We just deal with the numbers as they come and then move on to the next.