3 years later...

3 years later...and we are still grieving. The stages of grief change over time and some days/weeks/months are harder than others. But we still grieve over our life with Diabetes.

3 years later...and we are still smiling. Sure we have our hard days, but we also have lots of good days and have learned to appreciate all the good things we have.

3 years later...and we are still learning. Sure, we have been managing this disease for 3 years now, but there is always something new to learn and something changing causing us to learn even more.

3 years later...and we are still grateful. So incredibly grateful that The Superhero is alive and well. Grateful for insulin. Grateful for the technology that allows us to manage this disease the best we can. And grateful for all the friends we have made along the way.

3 years later...and we are still sleep deprived. Diabetes has been known to cooperate and allow a night's sleep in 2-3 hour stretches. And also not cooperated and allowed a night's sleep in 1 hour or less stretches. We do whatever is necessary to keep him alive each and every night.

3 years later...and we are even closer as a family. I feel Rod and I know our kids and are much closer to them than we would be without Diabetes in our lives. We are also much closer to my parents than I ever thought we would need to be.

3 years later...and we are still scared. We try not to be scared all the time of course, but sometimes our emotions and the thoughts of "what if" get the better of us and we think about what could happen if we gave too much insulin, or not enough insulin, or what if he doesn't wake up this time. This is not all the time now, just sometimes these thoughts take over.

3 years later...and we are still hopeful. Hopeful that a CURE will come in The Superhero's life time. And until that cure, we will do everything possible to provide him the latest and greatest technology has to offer. We will continue fighting each and every day to keep him alive and healthy. And if the cure does not come in his lifetime, I only wish he can have the happiest and healthiest life possible!


And with that, I would like to wish my Superhero a Happy 3 Year Diaversary! I can't wait to celebrate your life being saved 3 years ago today!

Thank you to those of you we have known since the beginning and to those we have "met" along the way. I don't know where we would be without all of you!


Related Links:
The Superhero's Diagnosis story (age 18 months)
The Superhero's 1 Year Diaversary
The Superhero's 2 Year Diaversary (Part 1)
The superhero's 2 Year Diaversary (Part 2-the Celebration)


*Disclaimer: I am a mom of a T1 Diabetic child and a child with ITP/Asthma/Dysphagia. 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.*

A Diabetes Celebration

We have had such a GREAT weekend CELEBRATING our 2 year Diaversary!

Here are pictures showing what we did...


Saturday: Picnic on our living room floor, starting out with a BG check

Pretending to go to sleep together in The Superhero's bed...

Sunday: "Dinner" with Mommy and Daddy, and seeing Toy Story 3

Yes, ice cream for dinner. BG was 74 and dropping, so it was ok. :-)

A stop at the bookstore to kill time before our movie

Quick Dexie check

Enjoying some popcorn

Happy Boy

Unfortunately, we let The Superhero eat WAY too much popcorn and he is WAY high tonight. Just did another finger check (Dexie does not work when BG is over 400), BG is over 500 now. We did a shot. He screamed. Hopefully it will work and he will be back down soon.

In spite of that, we had a great weekend and really enjoyed the movie.

2 Years Ago Today (7/10/08)

Sometimes it feels like just yesterday when we made the decision to take The Superhero into the ER instead of the doctors office.

He had been SICK for days and no one could figure out what was wrong with him. Even the ER docs tested for other things before actually checking his BG.

Once they did, there was no turning back.

Our lives were flipped upside down in a whirlwind that would be our stay in the PICU and Peds room over the next several days. Our diabetes education consisted of about an hour each day with an educator. Then we were sent home to manage this beast on our own.

We became carb counting, insulin calculating, finger checking, shot giving, sugar forcing parents to our then 18 1/2 month old toddler.

We have gone through the many steps of having a child with a chronic, life threatening illness. Emotionally, this last two years has definitely been a roller coaster. We have had lots of good days and plenty of bad days.

This disease has brought LOTS of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion. BUT it has also given us MANY, MANY, MANY close friends we would have NEVER met without this disease being in our lives. The people we have met virtually, have become instant friends.

We have ONE, HUGE common bond, the fact that we are keeping our children alive 24/7. And, we do this together. And those of us that live near each other, love to party together too!

Diabetes has brought a few trips to the hospital (October 2009 and February 2010), LOTS of finger pokes, and LOW blood sugar days.

We also have celebrations with our new found friends. We exchange cards at Christmas, have a secret Santa exchange and share HUGS for Hug a Diabetic Day.

So, even though I did not plan to go to Holland, I am enjoying the company while we are here.

Lots of love on our 2 year Diaversary to all of my AWESOME D Mama (and Dad) friends!


***Side Note: Here is The Superhero's Diagnosis story and the post from our 1 year Diaversary***

Celebrating One Year

The day started as any normal weekday. I took my shower, checked my email/facebook/etc, waited for my kids to wake up. The Superhero came out of his room as he normally does, ran over to me for me to hold him, and then laid there on me for a quick snuggle before running off to watch cartoons. Only today I think I just wanted to hold on to him a little longer. Snuggling with him reminded me of where we were just one year earlier. July 10, 2008 was the day my baby was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to handle this first anniversary. After much thinking and encouragement from other parents of children with diabetes we decided to celebrate his life by doing something special. We spent the morning as we normally do, well sort of. I cut his hair, he needed the trim. :) He had a shower, he thought that was pretty cool since he usually had baths. We ate the normal lunch, PB&J, mandarin oranges, and milk. He took his nap.

Then after his nap, I had his daddy take the afternoon off of work. We had decided to take him to see his first BIG movie in the theater. We wanted to see the movie “Up”. We got all ready.

The Princess' bottle…check,

The Princess' baby food for dinner…check,

The Princess' diapers, etc for the bag…check,

The Superhero's snacks…check, Superhero diapers…check,

The Superhero's juice, just in case…check,

The Superhero's diabetes supplies…check.

Ok, off we go.

We dropped The Princess off with my parents. I did not figure she would do well with the movie. Then we headed off to see “Up”. We got our tickets (and we excited that The Superhero was still free :) ). We bought The Superhero the kids pack with popcorn, fruit snacks, and a diet coke, all a treat for him. We found our seats. Checked his finger. Let him enjoy his popcorn and diet coke. Then the movie began. He sat still for a while, well, until his diet coke ran out. Then he wanted to sit in my lap, then in his seat, then in my lap, then in his seat, then in my lap, then he just wanted to stand. Luckily we had the first row at the theater so no one was in front of us. He ended up standing/squirming for the rest of the movie and made it all the way to the end before getting noisy.

After the movie we took him out to dinner at Red Robin. I let him pick what he wanted to eat off of the picture menu. He chose a corn dog and mandarin oranges. (What is it with this kid and his oranges?). He was checked again, and had a higher BG than we expected. Bolus. Milk arrives and cheese sticks. We let him try them, which of course he has to dip in sauce like Daddy. He proceeds to eat very little of his food by the time it came since he had snacked so much at the movies.

When we came home we fought mildly low blood sugar (at least too low to go to bed with insulin on board). We finally got him up to 137 around 9pm, after he was asleep.

All in all, it was a great day. He was actually well behaved and did not go in time out at all. He enjoyed getting to see a BIG movie. He enjoyed his dinner, at least what he ate of it. The thing I enjoyed most was getting to spend time with just The Superhero (and Rod) on the anniversary of the day his life was saved. I am not sure if we will include The Princess next year or not, we will have to play it by ear, but I enjoyed having just one kid for a short time.

And The Princess REALLY enjoyed her time with her NaNa and Pompa. I was told that Pompa could not get any work done with all the giggles and cuteness going on down stairs. I am glad she enjoyed her time too.

It has been one crazy and long year. Now hoping for many more, happy, healthy years with my little boy!

Getting BG checked at movies, 89, eat popcorn "free" and recheck soon.

Enjoying his popcorn and diet coke before the movie started.