Sometimes I look at pictures of my happy, healthy, care free little boy before diagnosis and it makes me sad. Sad that he lost that innocence, sad that he has a huge weight on his shoulder, sad that he he's different than kids his age, sad he has to stop and think about insulin and blood sugar before playing, sad that he has developed anxiety from all this. I always try to look at the silver linings, but man.... Sometimes diabetes just fucking sucks. 

Three years

This was taken three years ago tomorrow. Three years ago today I heard the words "Ollie is a very sick little boy" from our pediatrician.

Today is a day of mixed emotions. I am SO thankful for Dr Mumbauer, our pediatrician. I have heard more horror stories of children misdiagnosed as having a virus or the flu and they end up in a DKA coma (google Kacie Terry if you don't believe me). These stories circulate probably weekly in the DOC (Diabetic Online Community). I am SO thankful for Doug. Everything life throws at us, we grow stronger.

However, I still hate diabetes. I hate that it has robbed my son of a "normal" life. I hate that he rolls his eyes when I tell him he has to check his sugar before he can eat. I hate that he cringes when his pump is inserted. I hate that he has poked his finger over 6,000 times (that's a rough estimate of 6x a day, some days are more, none are less). I hate that he asks me if they are still working on a cure (I don't hate that he asks, I hate that he thinks about it and has to ask).

I feel like I should end with some motivational "we will continue to fight" but it's not fighting anymore, it's our daily routine. Some days are worse than others (Hello, February 22), but it's all our New Normal.

You might be a D parent if...

You hear a Lowe's employee talking to what looks like a supervisor and they say "keep an eye on Billy. He's had 2 cartons of orange juice already" and you and your husband look at each other and question if they're talking about a diabetic.

This is a pic of my wonderful D warrior about 2 months before his diagnosis in 2013. Since then he's had approximately 8000 shots and 17,000 blood sugar checks. 

Yesterday we started his insulin pump. While the idiots at UVA Pediatric Endocrinology are a giant thorn in my side, I know this is the best thing for him.. He hasn't been over 200 in 24 hours and has acted like the sweetest kid (see my irony there?) 

It's Diabetes Awareness Month. There's no better day to blog than the day after the Night of Extreme Lows. 2 or 3 juice boxes in, a kid who overslept (this is the kid who always wakes up by 7 and was still asleep by 7:30 and finally rolled out of bed at 7:40) and didn't want to eat breakfast or go to school. Somehow he still made it on time. I feel horrible for him.



Also, keep our insurance company in your thoughts.. we're trying to get a Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitor approved and they keep denying it. So, if they don't approve it soon, I'm going to be forced to go all D Momma on them.

If you can figure out where this quote is from, you just answered the question "Where are we going?" tomorrow (see what I did there, we're going tomorrow and Mr Tom Morrow... Ahem, moving on). And actually, tomorrow we're just going to my parent's house to spend the night to leave on Monday morning, then we still won't be hitting there, we're heading to the beach first. THEN a week from Tom-Morrow we'll hit there. So, guesses? :D


What does a diabetic pack on vacation? Juice. Lots of test strips and a bathing suit or two. Extra insulin.

Oh, and probably more juice. 

Pump class!

So, at Ollie's initial Endo visit last year, they told me they wanted kids to be 8 before they got an insulin pump... So I begrudgingly waited. However, last week I was reading about kids of all ages on pumps and Endo's telling parents they had to only wait 6 months to a year. Saturday, Ollie was starving all day (I'm assuming a growth spurt) and had NINE shots. I talked to him about a pump and decided to call the Endo and insurance company and see what we could do. I also got the number of another pediatric endocrinologist just in case ours made me mad. Poor Doug called our insurance company and got a giant run around and no real answers to our questions. I called the Endo's office and left a message. Of course I was at clinicals and missed the call, but when I called them back they just said "ok, our next class is in September, we don't run them over te summer. We can sign you up for that one if you'd like"... I was honestly shocked I got no resistance from them. They also said they'd help us with the insurance company. I'm excited for our next chapter! Ollie's already decided he wants a green pump....

So the other day Olliver (who is very interested in science right now) told me he wanted to make potions. I said that was a cool idea and he said "Maybe I can make one so my blood sugar is always normal". Cue feeling horrible for him.

On another note, I always hate it when grown people are afraid of needles and shots and my poor child gets at least 4 shots a day and says "Oh it doesn't hurt!".

Bah. I will reiterate my motto that T1D is an asshole.

I feel like I should write something epic.. since it's been MONTHS since an update (I warned you I was horrible at updating these in the beginning..). So, here.

Christmas Eve.

Great Wolf Lodge on his D-iaversary.

Getting his white belt!

Easter!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, not epic. Sorry. But it does kind of catch you up.

So I am obviously totally horrible at keeping up with all these daily things.. which is why I don't do the Facebook Thankful posts or 365 in 365 days. Anyway, here's what I have for the pic a day--

Day 5: Advocate

  It's hard to see, but I have a T1D license plate and the green shoe is JDRF. Plus there's a ribbon on the driver's side of the car.

Day 6: Relationship

 Family!

 

Day 7: Blue

Day 8: Organization

Organization? In our life?? HA. Instead I'll give you this -

Walking organized in a parking lot?
(L to R - Olliver, my dad, Charlie, my nephew, Brandon and Emi)

Day 9: Support

Who better to support you than your dad?

Day 10: Exercise

Soccer!

Day 11: Play

 

Day 12: Work

When you're 4.5, making lemonade IS work!

Day 13: Awareness

 I'm stretching here, I know :P

Day 14: WDD

This was the kids yesterday on World Diabetes Day. They were with Mamo (Maggie Duncan) who took this picture after they made hats!

Day 15: Aler

Ollie with his Blood Sugar Fairy and you can see his Alert bracelet. That's the best I got!

And I'm caught up.. for 3 more hours :P

Olliver's 4 year Interview

1. What is your favorite color? "maybe all the colors. no purple"
2. What is your favorite toy? Blocks
3. What is your favorite fruit? strawberries and oranges
4. What is your favorite tv show? Jake and the Neverland Pirates
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?
6. What is your favorite outfit? Batman shirt
7. What is your favorite game? Angry Birds
8. What is your favorite snack? Apples
9. What is your favorite animal? Dee
10. What is your favorite song? "Old Mc Donald had a farm"
11. What is your favorite book? Curious George
12. Who is your best friend? Dee
13. What is your favorite cereal? Square cereal (Quaker oatmeal squares)
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? my new basketball and hoop
15. What is your favorite drink? Chocolate milk and white milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? .Halloween
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Dee
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? chocolate chip muffins
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Melting Pot
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? "I don't know"

 

5 year:

1. What is your favorite color? Green
2. What is your favorite toy? a toy plane from Disney World
3. What is your favorite fruit? bananas
4. What is your favorite tv show? Ghost Hunters
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? shrimp
6. What is your favorite outfit? button shirts (button up) and his red tie shirt
7. What is your favorite game? hide and seek
8. What is your favorite snack? Angry Bird graham crackers
9. What is your favorite animal? giraffes
10. What is your favorite song? Christmas songs
11. What is your favorite book? bug book
12. Who is your best friend? Brandon
13. What is your favorite cereal? Honey nut Cheerios
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Basketball
15. What is your favorite drink? fruit punch (Crystal Light)
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Dee
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? toast with jelly
19. What is your favorite dinner? mac and cheese and carrots at MeMaw's
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? a Batman

 

 Day 1: Past (11/12)

Day 2: Checks (Yep. Low. At night).

Day 3: Snacks (who doesn't love ice cream??)

 

Day 4: Proud (Checking his own BS)

Diabetes Awareness Month!

Also, November is Diabetes Awareness Month. I plan on being highly annoying on my Facebook page and hope to continue the trend on here. Seriously though, text the number and get texts through out the day telling you to "check" your blood sugar (the rubber band snap. Not the same pain, but I guess it's feasible).

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our bat and Princess Sofia the first. 

How does a diabetic do Halloween?

I dunno, how does your kid? Yep. Mine too ;) Ollie was content to have 2 pieces of candy tonight after Trick or Treating.. he picked them out himself and got a Reese Cup (kid after my own heart) and a bag of Cheetos. <3 He had no issues with knowing he wouldn't eat everything tonight (we wouldn't have let him even before T1D diagnosis). I thought it was sweet that Doug put both kids in their JDRF walk tshirts to go to sleep in :)

Ollie also had his 5th birthday last week. 

I can't believe that he's 5! It seems like that those pics on the bottom were just taken (2yrs, 3 and 2.5 in order)! He had an amazing day at Chuck E Cheese and his joint party (my nephew's birthday was yesterday, so we're having a joint party) is this weekend. He is so excited :D I love seeing experiences through the eyes of a kid. And no matter what, he's a kid first, diabetic second. I've recently found a group on Facebook that's amazing (if you're a T1D parent, shoot me a message and I can add you!) and it's nice to keep getting that reminder.

JDRF Walk for a Cure

Sunday was our JDRF walk. I am SO pleased to announce we raised $437!! It was a very busy and packed event. We got there early enough to walk around before the walk. We saw different pump sponsors, food booths (with carb counts listed!), games, bounce houses, an awesome band playing and TONS of people. We weren't really able to connect with anyone in particular, but I want to connect with some local D families.

Yesterday, my sister, nephew, Emi and Ollie and I went to the Smith Aquatic Center in Charlottesville. First of all, um, AWESOME place for little kids. Probably not so great for like, 7 and over. Second, Ollie was checking his BS in the locker room (yep, he's started doing it all by himself!) and a mom walked by and said "my little girl does that too" - she has an 8 year old whose been dx'ed with T1D for 6 years. It was nice to connect with another D mom even if only for a few minutes! 

JDRF Walk

Isn't it weird how things we acknowledged before now are in the forefront of our lives? I vaguely heard about the JDRF walks, saw the Diabetes support shoes and hands at Subway and other places.. now it's my life (although, by some weird work of fate, I've actually only tested Ollie's BS once in the last 48 hours!).

I'm really getting excited for our JDRF walk this weekend. I really hope Ollie enjoys it and can make a connection that he isn't the only one who has Diabetes. (Note to self: Start fundraising earlier in the year! Like, next month!)

Donate to The O-Team!

6 month Diaversary

So, we can officially say we survived 6 months of Diabetes.... 6 months?? It seems like a lifetime. I can't remember the last time I looked at food and didn't think about carb counts. I can't remember not worrying about ketones and highs, or lows. To to top it all off, Ollie now has a cavity (my theory is from correcting lows at night). These past six months (again, are we sure it's ONLY been 6 months??) have been a whirlwind of math, emotions and needles. Ollie has proven time and time again to be an amazing trooper through all of this. I can't imagine what he goes through - not only the testing and insulin, but the highs and lows. I've read that coming down from a high can make you feel sluggish and sick. The many times as he's gone high (or low) and come back in to range, I always try to let him relax, but there is no slowing him down.

Last week I signed us up for the local (well, most local to us) JDRF walk. I can't wait for Ollie to be around other T1D kids! I would love to find more local (like, really local, not an hour and a half away) kids and parents for us to be around, but I figure this is a start. Anyway, if you have the time, or resources, we would all love for you to check our page out - any step to curing Type 1 Diabetes is amazing to me.

The O Team (JDRF Walk)

Flying!

We had a great experience flying to Portland. As you can tell from the picture, Ollie was thoroughly amazed. (You can also see hubby's T1D tattoo on his wrist in the 2nd pic).Only kidding, he did enjoy it. He and Doug sat together for the first leg and played games and watched the inflight movie. Emi slept beside me. (These pics were taken 2nd leg- LAX to PDX). We switched kids on the next flight and that's when Ollie fell asleep... Beside me! I must have that effect. (In my defense, they had woken up at 5am, way earlier than usual!) We had no issues with his T1D supplies. The TSA agent at Dulles didn't even bat an eye. The only problem we had was the ice pack didn't stay cold as long as we needed for his new/extra meds and they got warm :/ On the way home, I forgot to tell them what the bag was/had in it, and not one word was said. Seriously, we had more issues with the kids car seats than we did his supplies. Anyway, we did touristy things in Oregon- (Tillamook Cheese Factory)

 attended a wedding (the reason for going out!), 

hung out at the beach house with family and friends

 played on the beach,

Had a bonfire,

(That's my cousin, Andrea- it was her wedding! I hope she doesn't mind this picture of her talking ..)

Moral of the story: don't fear flying or traveling!! We took more supplies than we ever needed, but felt better about traveling. We were prepared with a letter from the Endo but didn't need it. Oh, his sugars were so wacky, (I think due to time change/meal difference) but we just went with the flow. Next time I will come up with a better solution for new, unopened meds.

We had an amazing time! I wish Andrea and April the most amazing life together :)  thanks for sharing your special day with us!!

I'm ecstatic that I got this in the mail -

This was the most challenging semester for me yet. We started clinicals, I missed a week because of DS's T1D diagnosis, and we had a bunch of ups and downs, yet I still had the energy, the time, the drive and the support (especially from my amazing husband and family!) to get on the Dean's List. It may have been by the skin of my teeth, but I did it :)

(If anyone doesn't know, it's for Respiratory Therapy, by the way!)