I missed our 2 month anniversary (which was 4/22)
Eh, not a day I really want to remember over and over anyway! However, looking at it differently - we have survived 2 months! 2 months? It feels like a lifetime. It feels like 2 years some days. I'm starting to feel like an old hat "Oh, you want shrimp, ok, if you take the breading off like normal, it's about 2-3 carbs" (Allowing for leftover breading on them). "Oh, you want a PBJ? 26 for the bread, 3 for the jelly, 5ish for the PB". Then other days he eats a donut and ends up sky high. The doctors and nurses said we'd get it. We'd just become carb counting experts and 'know' it. I laughed - remember MORE numbers? Ha! But they were right. It did come, we did realize what to do and how to do it and when to panic and when to relax. Now, if only I could find the missing medic alert necklace I'd be feeling better!
Switching gears...here's some facts about Type 1 Diabetes:
It is NOT caused by what you eat.
It is NOT preventable.
It IS autoimmune - your body attacks itself for a reason that is unknown.
Insulin is NOT a cure - it's a treatment until a cure can be found.
Please think twice before 1) asking if a diabetic can eat something and 2) saying that your sugary treat is going to cause you diabetes. I've only been confronted by these a few times, and normally it's not hateful. But really, don't think that witholding that cupcake from your kid is going to prevent diabetes. Heck- Ollie ate a cake ball earlier today!
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Monday, April 1, 2013
Happy Easter!
A week after Easter 2012:
Yep, chugging chocolate milk.
Easter 2013:
Yep, runny nose, bunny hat and all (I'm sure I'll pick on him years from now for this). Do you know what I find amazing? We got a handful of candy for Easter and that's it. Normally we'd have a TON - in eggs, in baskets, all over. This year, Doug and I got some Starburst (which is Ollie's preference for when he's low.. so yes, I kind of cheated and he got "medicine" for Easter :P Ha!), a family friend got him some sugar free candy and then a friend of mine got him some diabetic bars and sugar free candy. I am so happy with how people have adapted and thought of him. That is seriously what gets me - not the fact we have to deal with diabetes or shots or glucose checks - the fact that people are all thinking of him and keeping us in mind and not making it so I have to be stuck explaining why he can't have something someone gave him. (Geez, did that make any sense?)
So, what do you DO for Easter that doesn't include tons of sugar??? In their baskets the kids (from us, err the Bunny) got Matchbox cars, an Angry Bird pencil kit, 2 snack bags each from my friend's store 6 Silly Monkeys, a small notebook for each, bubbles, playdoh, and Ollie's big present was an Iron Man mining vehicle. As for the eggs- the Starburst were in there, yogurt covered raisins, pistachios, finger flashlights, coins, some cars for Ollie and binkies and nailpolish for Emi.
Surprisingly enough, after breakfast (eggs, cinnamon rolls made from crescents and a couple Starburst thrown in there) he was LOW. Say whaaaaat? I'm glad he had those Starburst, who knows how low he would have been without them!
Anyway, I'm happy to say we conquered our first T1D holiday!
Oh, and a bit of advice? When someone tells you their child has Diabetes 1) don't assume it can be fixed by diet. and 2) DO NOT tell them about your great aunt's boyfriend's daughter's mother in law who had to have a kidney donated to them and then lost a leg or eyesight or whatever. Seriously, just don't do it, ok? KThanks.
Yep, chugging chocolate milk.
Easter 2013:
So, what do you DO for Easter that doesn't include tons of sugar??? In their baskets the kids (from us, err the Bunny) got Matchbox cars, an Angry Bird pencil kit, 2 snack bags each from my friend's store 6 Silly Monkeys, a small notebook for each, bubbles, playdoh, and Ollie's big present was an Iron Man mining vehicle. As for the eggs- the Starburst were in there, yogurt covered raisins, pistachios, finger flashlights, coins, some cars for Ollie and binkies and nailpolish for Emi.
Surprisingly enough, after breakfast (eggs, cinnamon rolls made from crescents and a couple Starburst thrown in there) he was LOW. Say whaaaaat? I'm glad he had those Starburst, who knows how low he would have been without them!
Anyway, I'm happy to say we conquered our first T1D holiday!
Oh, and a bit of advice? When someone tells you their child has Diabetes 1) don't assume it can be fixed by diet. and 2) DO NOT tell them about your great aunt's boyfriend's daughter's mother in law who had to have a kidney donated to them and then lost a leg or eyesight or whatever. Seriously, just don't do it, ok? KThanks.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Sometimes I don't know how much information people want. However, tonight, I realize it doesn't matter. It's the amount of information people NEED. Is it scary to give your child (or grandchild or nephew ) shots? Yes. You don't want to hurt them.
But you know what? A friend I've had for 5 years (We met on a November 08 birth board online - her son and mine actually share a birthday!) is with her son at their local children's hospital because of new onset Type 1 Diabetes. She realized it due to me posting Ollie's symptoms. So yeah, it's what people NEED to know, not want.
But you know what? A friend I've had for 5 years (We met on a November 08 birth board online - her son and mine actually share a birthday!) is with her son at their local children's hospital because of new onset Type 1 Diabetes. She realized it due to me posting Ollie's symptoms. So yeah, it's what people NEED to know, not want.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Staycation 2013
This past week Doug took off for my Spring Break. We didn't go anywhere overnight, just stayed home.
Well, as much as our family stays home. You'll soon learn (if you haven't already) that we're an On The Go Family. Monday we went to the Massanutten Water Park (although, looking at the link it says it's always 84 in there, um, I was cold!). The kids had a blast in the "Crazy River" (ie, Lazy River" and we LOVED that it had double tubes where one had a bottom the kids could sit in! SO much better than other places we've been where we've had to finagle the kids on our laps or hold them on the tube. 10000 Thumbs up on that, Massanutten!! Ollie did a bunch of slides on his own, both kids loved swimming in the pool area. We can't wait to go back this summer! Too bad it won't be as un-crowded as it was last week - there was minimal waiting for everything except the big adult tube slides! What, you thought Diabetes would slow us down? Heck no!
Wednesday was our first Endocrine follow up appointment. The day started with us having to wake him up early (bad juju 1), him not eat all of his breakfast (bad juju 2) and him fall asleep during the appointment (actually not bad). His BS was 125 (even without eating all his cereal!) and his A1C was 10.4 - I was mistakenly told 9.8 in the hospital it was actually 11.8 - sliiiight difference, eh?? We were told we're doing excellently with pretty much everything. The dietician was happily surprised to see we have a log book of everything he's eaten since he was diagnosed (although, this week it hasn't been 100% accurate, oops). The attending Dr was nice, although he told us to not give him so many cheese sticks after the initial period.. I'm still scratching my head over that one. Good news: We were told that if Ollie's numbers continue to be normal over night we can drop at least one check soon! They were going to tell us to drop one at the appointment, but he'd been having some lows overnight that week. We changed his dinner carb ratio and his Lantus dose. We also got a Lantus pen (instead of a vial of meds with a syringe). It has its pros and cons - pros, it's more accurate dosing, it's easy to use, nice to have 2 different systems (the Humalog is still vial/syringe) so they don't get confused, you can't get bubbles in it. Cons, however - it can't do half units and there's some leak back we're dealing with (leak back is when you pull the needle out, there's a bubble of med on the skin, so he didn't get the whole dose). All in all, I really like it! I wish we could have both be pens, but we really need the half unit of Humalog right now.
The rest of the week was quieter (well, minus Emi chirping "Wadoo pack??"[water park?] every once in a while. Happily, we correctly bolused for a breakfast buffet, pizza and a piece of cake. No, that wasn't one meal :P Olliver is starting to slow down on eating. He's starting to not scarf everything on his plate and then some. He's also not always begging for snacks right after a meal. Doug and I were talking yesterday - we're both getting better at being able to tell when his sugar is out of whack. We've had several lows this week - and Ollie can tell, too. He's pretty good at telling us to check his finger, or ask for his "green bag" (his meter and supplies are in a camo type bag).
I know I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again.. however, Ollie is doing amazing. We tested sugar at the water park, we gave an injection in Panera, we tested his sugar in the car... he hardly complains (especially for a cranky 4 yr old who doesn't know really what's going on!). I know it sucks for him, it does for all of us! But we're getting a routine (he likes to use the alcohol wipe himself, pick where we're injecting/testing, he likes to check the needle to make sure it's there, he likes to see the medicine in the syringe, etc) and it's working.
Well, as much as our family stays home. You'll soon learn (if you haven't already) that we're an On The Go Family. Monday we went to the Massanutten Water Park (although, looking at the link it says it's always 84 in there, um, I was cold!). The kids had a blast in the "Crazy River" (ie, Lazy River" and we LOVED that it had double tubes where one had a bottom the kids could sit in! SO much better than other places we've been where we've had to finagle the kids on our laps or hold them on the tube. 10000 Thumbs up on that, Massanutten!! Ollie did a bunch of slides on his own, both kids loved swimming in the pool area. We can't wait to go back this summer! Too bad it won't be as un-crowded as it was last week - there was minimal waiting for everything except the big adult tube slides! What, you thought Diabetes would slow us down? Heck no!
Wednesday was our first Endocrine follow up appointment. The day started with us having to wake him up early (bad juju 1), him not eat all of his breakfast (bad juju 2) and him fall asleep during the appointment (actually not bad). His BS was 125 (even without eating all his cereal!) and his A1C was 10.4 - I was mistakenly told 9.8 in the hospital it was actually 11.8 - sliiiight difference, eh?? We were told we're doing excellently with pretty much everything. The dietician was happily surprised to see we have a log book of everything he's eaten since he was diagnosed (although, this week it hasn't been 100% accurate, oops). The attending Dr was nice, although he told us to not give him so many cheese sticks after the initial period.. I'm still scratching my head over that one. Good news: We were told that if Ollie's numbers continue to be normal over night we can drop at least one check soon! They were going to tell us to drop one at the appointment, but he'd been having some lows overnight that week. We changed his dinner carb ratio and his Lantus dose. We also got a Lantus pen (instead of a vial of meds with a syringe). It has its pros and cons - pros, it's more accurate dosing, it's easy to use, nice to have 2 different systems (the Humalog is still vial/syringe) so they don't get confused, you can't get bubbles in it. Cons, however - it can't do half units and there's some leak back we're dealing with (leak back is when you pull the needle out, there's a bubble of med on the skin, so he didn't get the whole dose). All in all, I really like it! I wish we could have both be pens, but we really need the half unit of Humalog right now.
The rest of the week was quieter (well, minus Emi chirping "Wadoo pack??"[water park?] every once in a while. Happily, we correctly bolused for a breakfast buffet, pizza and a piece of cake. No, that wasn't one meal :P Olliver is starting to slow down on eating. He's starting to not scarf everything on his plate and then some. He's also not always begging for snacks right after a meal. Doug and I were talking yesterday - we're both getting better at being able to tell when his sugar is out of whack. We've had several lows this week - and Ollie can tell, too. He's pretty good at telling us to check his finger, or ask for his "green bag" (his meter and supplies are in a camo type bag).
I know I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again.. however, Ollie is doing amazing. We tested sugar at the water park, we gave an injection in Panera, we tested his sugar in the car... he hardly complains (especially for a cranky 4 yr old who doesn't know really what's going on!). I know it sucks for him, it does for all of us! But we're getting a routine (he likes to use the alcohol wipe himself, pick where we're injecting/testing, he likes to check the needle to make sure it's there, he likes to see the medicine in the syringe, etc) and it's working.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
12 days later....
12 days later.. people might assume it's all gravy now, huh?
Nope.
Diabetes is an asshole. Sorry, that's the best word I can think of. It sneaks in and takes my precious boy and turns him into a lunatic. Screaming that he's hungry. Crying he doesn't want "his leg" (ie insulin). Whining in general. It's amazing to be able to step back and see him having a tantrum and now go "Oh, yep. He's high" (and I mean that in the best way possible. Although, this way sucks too.. and he has no control over it).
The good part is we ARE getting used to it. We now know we DO NOT leave the house without the insulin, even if we're just running to the store. You never know if it'll take longer than you expect and you need to grab lunch (or, you know, if you're looking at car lots for cars and your kid will see Red Lobster and beg to eat there, you get out of the car, look at your husband and both say "You grabbed the insulin, right?" and have to get BACK in the car to drive home to get it. You know. Hypothetically). We've also learned that Zinga has a no sugar added vanilla (Ollie's favorite) that has 16g of carbs for about a 1/2 cup. Everyone keeps telling me ice cream is a great bed time snack, so why not? ;)
Want to know the rest of the list of stuff we can't leave without? Blood monitor, test strips, lancets, "pokey thing" (the needle), cotton balls, band aids (several types so he can pick), log book, pen, syringes, alcohol wipes, low fat cheese sticks, no sugar added Jello, several 15g snacks (Cheerios, nuts, Teddy Grahams, etc), juice boxes (in case of a low), sippies with water, Glucagon pen, Ketone strips and the Calorie King book that gives us nutritional info on places we eat. Oh, plus Little Sister's diapers, wet bag, extra clothes and binkies. Yep. Never complain about a regular diaper bag again!
One of my lessons for "non T1D" folk: The next time you see a mom with a kid, and the kid is a screaming, crying brat.. think twice before you think the kid IS a brat. There could be a multitude of issues that could be causing it.
Nope.
Diabetes is an asshole. Sorry, that's the best word I can think of. It sneaks in and takes my precious boy and turns him into a lunatic. Screaming that he's hungry. Crying he doesn't want "his leg" (ie insulin). Whining in general. It's amazing to be able to step back and see him having a tantrum and now go "Oh, yep. He's high" (and I mean that in the best way possible. Although, this way sucks too.. and he has no control over it).
The good part is we ARE getting used to it. We now know we DO NOT leave the house without the insulin, even if we're just running to the store. You never know if it'll take longer than you expect and you need to grab lunch (or, you know, if you're looking at car lots for cars and your kid will see Red Lobster and beg to eat there, you get out of the car, look at your husband and both say "You grabbed the insulin, right?" and have to get BACK in the car to drive home to get it. You know. Hypothetically). We've also learned that Zinga has a no sugar added vanilla (Ollie's favorite) that has 16g of carbs for about a 1/2 cup. Everyone keeps telling me ice cream is a great bed time snack, so why not? ;)
Want to know the rest of the list of stuff we can't leave without? Blood monitor, test strips, lancets, "pokey thing" (the needle), cotton balls, band aids (several types so he can pick), log book, pen, syringes, alcohol wipes, low fat cheese sticks, no sugar added Jello, several 15g snacks (Cheerios, nuts, Teddy Grahams, etc), juice boxes (in case of a low), sippies with water, Glucagon pen, Ketone strips and the Calorie King book that gives us nutritional info on places we eat. Oh, plus Little Sister's diapers, wet bag, extra clothes and binkies. Yep. Never complain about a regular diaper bag again!
One of my lessons for "non T1D" folk: The next time you see a mom with a kid, and the kid is a screaming, crying brat.. think twice before you think the kid IS a brat. There could be a multitude of issues that could be causing it.
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