This is her first monthly kinderstart session, she was so excited!
Friday, 28 December 2012
Kinderstart
My baby will be headed to Kindergarden in September 2013!
This is her first monthly kinderstart session, she was so excited!
This is her first monthly kinderstart session, she was so excited!
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
MiniMed Paradigm Veo and CGM
So last night my husband and I attended our first session on insulin pumps. A rep, who's also a nurse, and a pumper, was there for the night to introduce the pump and answer any questions.
It's the fist time that we've put any serious thought into switching to a pump. I have very limited experince with them, and my husband has none. We are currently weighing the pros and cons, but have started the paperwork to see what our insurances will cover.
Any advice from anyone?
It's the fist time that we've put any serious thought into switching to a pump. I have very limited experince with them, and my husband has none. We are currently weighing the pros and cons, but have started the paperwork to see what our insurances will cover.
Any advice from anyone?
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
Elf on the Shelf
The months of October and November were difficult. It felt like things we said as parents went in one ear and out the other. I never wanted to be one of those parents that yelled at their children, but man, I could turn blue in the face and it wouldn't matter.
Then a friend of mine introduced us to the idea of Elf on the Shelf. I was sold. What harm could it do? Sure it might even help the girls listen, and if nothing else, it would be something fun to do with them.
So, December 1 I strategically placed the Elf package in the living room and let them find it. They were pretty excited as we had been telling them that we would get an elf the beginning of the month and had already explained the concept to them. The other reason they were excited was because they were hoping they would have good reports sent back to the North Pole each night as they had already been told they were on Santa's Naughty List ( thank you Magic Santa video! We were hoping this would entice their listening! And believe it or not it did work.......for a few days!)
Introducing Buddy
Buddy first found hanging from the kitchen cabinets
Buddy propelling down the family room blinds
Buddy stayed hanging around the blinds while we went were away for our Diabetes clinic day . The girls were told that Buddy didn't move because he had nothing to report back to the North Pole.
Buddy making snowflakes with doll scissors
Buddy and Barbie having a marshmallow and weiner roast
Buddy hiding in the red christmas vase
Buddy eating cookies.....and he tinted all the milk green!
Buddy toilet-papered our christmas tree
So the girls were totally not impressed with the last one....ewwww!!! That's toilet paper!!!
I wonder what Buddy will do next? If you have any great ideas, let me know!
Monday, 10 December 2012
Clinic Day
Our town has one hospital that is staffed with family physicians. They are quite capable and very friendly, however, we wanted Amy to be seen by an Endo at a children's hospital. We wanted her to been seen by people who treat diabetes everyday. To put this in perspective, Amy is one of six kids in our town with diabetes.
We are lucky enough to have two excellent insurances that covers travel and expenses to go to these appointments. I'm also lucky that I'm able to bank time at my work as it usually requires me taking two-three days off to go to these appointments.
Overall her check up was good. Her A1C is down by .6 from August. It's still not where we would like it to be, but hopefully next month we will see a further reduction. Our other change includes testing before the bus in the afternoon and only have her snack if her BG is <7.0. She is still higher than we would like before supper and hopefully this will help.
She enjoyed our trip, we stayed in a hotel with a waterside and pool. My husband got to go this time too. They spent about two hours in the pool each night. We gave extra juice and snacks before bed, but we still managed to go low. I checked her before I went to bed, and gave her some milk to bump her up, then at 2am I awoke to a very sweaty little girl. She was 2.9. I gave her a Jr Juice, then went for a snack. We were leaving the next day and somehow had managed to run out of something with protein. I went to the front desk and explained what was going on. They were excellent! They opened up the continental breakfast area and turned on the juice machine. We got more AJ and some whole wheat PB and toast. So here Amy was propped up on the bed eating toast and watching cartoons in the middle of the night. And thankfully she went right back to sleep when she was done.
Note to self, ensure even more snacks when a pool is involved!
We are lucky enough to have two excellent insurances that covers travel and expenses to go to these appointments. I'm also lucky that I'm able to bank time at my work as it usually requires me taking two-three days off to go to these appointments.
Overall her check up was good. Her A1C is down by .6 from August. It's still not where we would like it to be, but hopefully next month we will see a further reduction. Our other change includes testing before the bus in the afternoon and only have her snack if her BG is <7.0. She is still higher than we would like before supper and hopefully this will help.
She enjoyed our trip, we stayed in a hotel with a waterside and pool. My husband got to go this time too. They spent about two hours in the pool each night. We gave extra juice and snacks before bed, but we still managed to go low. I checked her before I went to bed, and gave her some milk to bump her up, then at 2am I awoke to a very sweaty little girl. She was 2.9. I gave her a Jr Juice, then went for a snack. We were leaving the next day and somehow had managed to run out of something with protein. I went to the front desk and explained what was going on. They were excellent! They opened up the continental breakfast area and turned on the juice machine. We got more AJ and some whole wheat PB and toast. So here Amy was propped up on the bed eating toast and watching cartoons in the middle of the night. And thankfully she went right back to sleep when she was done.
Note to self, ensure even more snacks when a pool is involved!
Saturday, 1 December 2012
For the love of Zofran
Zofran, also known generically as Ondansetron, is a D-Mom's best friend! Amy is just recovering from her third gastro since diagnosis. The first time we were just two weeks in and I didn't have a clue what to do. The only sick day management education that I was given involved extra insulin for high sugars. Amy had ketones and low sugar and wouldn't keep anything down. It was a weekend, my husband was away and I was lost. We ended up in emerge with the doctor telling me she had a urine infection. I argued it was a stomach bug. They gave her some fluids and sent us home. It took her a full week to recover.
The next time, I was a little better prepared. I knew to give small amounts of carbs every hour, how often to check her BG and for ketones, and had a nice sick day kit made up. However she was still barfing profusely and couldn't keep gravol down. This time, I had a CDE and Endo on-call. Their suggestion.....Zofran. I got a prescription from our local family physician, gave her a dose, and she honestly never barfed again after that.
This time.....Amy woke at 12:30am and luckily made it to the bathroom. I'm a very light sleeper and heard her get out of bed, but I thought she just needed to pee. She called out to me. We tested, and got her settled again. Did I mention my husband was away again! And I couldn't fall back to sleep. She woke again at 2:30, threw up in the bucket I left next to her bed. I searched for the Zofran and couldn't find any. We tested, got her settled away again, and I stayed awake, waiting until morning to get some meds for her. She has not vomited again, since I started giving her this med.
I'm happy to say, 36 hours later, she hasn't vomited once, her appetite is back, and she's up running around and playing again. I love Zofran!
On another note, today is December 1, and we have just received our new Elf on a Shelf. This is our families first time with the elf and the girls are so excited! His name is Buddy! If you have any great ideas on what we can do with Buddy the next few weeks let me know!
Enjoy your weekend
The next time, I was a little better prepared. I knew to give small amounts of carbs every hour, how often to check her BG and for ketones, and had a nice sick day kit made up. However she was still barfing profusely and couldn't keep gravol down. This time, I had a CDE and Endo on-call. Their suggestion.....Zofran. I got a prescription from our local family physician, gave her a dose, and she honestly never barfed again after that.
This time.....Amy woke at 12:30am and luckily made it to the bathroom. I'm a very light sleeper and heard her get out of bed, but I thought she just needed to pee. She called out to me. We tested, and got her settled again. Did I mention my husband was away again! And I couldn't fall back to sleep. She woke again at 2:30, threw up in the bucket I left next to her bed. I searched for the Zofran and couldn't find any. We tested, got her settled away again, and I stayed awake, waiting until morning to get some meds for her. She has not vomited again, since I started giving her this med.
I'm happy to say, 36 hours later, she hasn't vomited once, her appetite is back, and she's up running around and playing again. I love Zofran!
On another note, today is December 1, and we have just received our new Elf on a Shelf. This is our families first time with the elf and the girls are so excited! His name is Buddy! If you have any great ideas on what we can do with Buddy the next few weeks let me know!
Enjoy your weekend
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
Kids for a Cure
Kids for a Cure Lobby Day
On November 27, 40 children living with T1D between the ages of two and 16 from across Canada will travel to Ottawa to demonstrate to Members of Parliament (MPs) how research for T1D has changed lives and how future research can help lead to a cure for the disease. Their message is that a cure can only be reached if increased government support for T1D research is delivered.
Objectives for Kids Lobby Day include:
- Focus on seeking out additional federal funding for T1D research;
- Increase awareness of T1D amongst Parliamentarians;
- Educate Parliamentarians on the difference between T1D and type 2 diabetes;
- Put a personal face to the disease; and
- Initiate (and, in some cases, continue) the relationship building process between our volunteers and their MPs.
Stay tuned for updates and photos from this year’s Kids Lobby Day!
This event is proudly supported by
Monday, 19 November 2012
World Diabetes Day
This past November 14th was the first time our family recognized and participated in WDD. Although my maternal grandmother has been T1, for almost 60 years, I'd never really known about the impact this day can have.
I contacted all three schools in my town, and with the help of the community health promotion team at the hospital I work at, we asked that the students wear blue in support of diabetes awareness. We also did up some information sheets and gave a few little tidbits of information to be read during the morning and afternoon announcements.
I'm happy to say that both Amy and her teacher have told me that it was a huge success and that all but 2 in her class were sporting blue that day. Unfortunately for me I never thought to go snap a pic!
I contacted all three schools in my town, and with the help of the community health promotion team at the hospital I work at, we asked that the students wear blue in support of diabetes awareness. We also did up some information sheets and gave a few little tidbits of information to be read during the morning and afternoon announcements.
I'm happy to say that both Amy and her teacher have told me that it was a huge success and that all but 2 in her class were sporting blue that day. Unfortunately for me I never thought to go snap a pic!
Bedroom fit for a princess!
Instead of enjoying the last long weekend before Christmas by relaxing at the cabin, we decided to do some much needed work around the house. We had been putting most of our time and energy into fixing up our cabin over the summer months, that we hadn't spent a whole lot of time at home on the weekends. Since we had enough snow that we couldn't drive up, yet not enough snow for snowmobile, we decided to spend the weekend at home.
Before Amy had been diagnosed with T1, she would have such fluctuations in her behaviour. I know she was only 5, but man could that girl swing. During one of her meltdowns with my mother (who provides daytime childcare for us), she was brought to her room to calm down. She started kicking the wall next to her bed. She kicked, and kicked, and kicked until her little heel went right through the wall. When she came around she was so upset and embarrassed by it. We covered it with a poster until we had the time to patch the whole. Almost a year later, we finally got around to it.
The end result :)
Before Amy had been diagnosed with T1, she would have such fluctuations in her behaviour. I know she was only 5, but man could that girl swing. During one of her meltdowns with my mother (who provides daytime childcare for us), she was brought to her room to calm down. She started kicking the wall next to her bed. She kicked, and kicked, and kicked until her little heel went right through the wall. When she came around she was so upset and embarrassed by it. We covered it with a poster until we had the time to patch the whole. Almost a year later, we finally got around to it.
New 'Do
Friday, November 2, 2012, that's one of many days that Amy has made me a very happy momma!
We waited 2 weeks to convince her daddy, then we waited 2 weeks for the appointment!
After I got off work I brought Amy to my hairdresser and she had 10 inches cut off her hair. 10 inches that will be sent to a Canadian version of Locks of love, 10 inches that can be used to make a wig for someone who has lost their hair to cancer.
A friend of mine from way back.......junior high to be exact, is fighting her battle with breast cancer. She is a very loving, optimistic, and has touched a number of lives, especially through her song she has written and recorded about her journey called "No Time for You".
Anyway, she is also my brother-in-laws sister, so my girls call her Aunt D. Well, Amy said she was doing this for Aunt D.
She was so proud!.......and so were we!
We waited 2 weeks to convince her daddy, then we waited 2 weeks for the appointment!
After I got off work I brought Amy to my hairdresser and she had 10 inches cut off her hair. 10 inches that will be sent to a Canadian version of Locks of love, 10 inches that can be used to make a wig for someone who has lost their hair to cancer.
A friend of mine from way back.......junior high to be exact, is fighting her battle with breast cancer. She is a very loving, optimistic, and has touched a number of lives, especially through her song she has written and recorded about her journey called "No Time for You".
Anyway, she is also my brother-in-laws sister, so my girls call her Aunt D. Well, Amy said she was doing this for Aunt D.
She was so proud!.......and so were we!
Halloween
It's been awhile since I've posted....almost a full month! But, I've had a good reason, every time I tried to draft a new post, I'd get some weird error. I've finally managed to bypass it, so I'm going to post a few today to get caught up.
October 31st was our first Halloween since diagnosis, and I wasn't sure how Amy would handle it. We had a little hurdle earlier on in the day, but we dealt and moved on. At break time at work a received a phone call from the vice principal of the school (we don't have a school nurse). She told me that Amy made a little mistake and was quite upset. Since the school was having a number of halloween activities, their regular schedule wasn't being followed, at recess time, Amy ate her entire lunch as her recess. They tested her and she was 14, what did I want to do. I put Amy on the phone who cried for me to come to the school. When I got their, she wanted to leave with me, since she was so upset, I agreed, but told her I would bring her back to school after lunch.
Turns out she wanted to leave because she was worried the other kids in her class would laugh at her.
She went from 14 to 17, to 17.5 to 17.8 by the time I brought her back to school. She skipped lunch altogether, but had a good snack with her to have during the party at school that afternoon. Disaster essentially avoided.
We had a quick subway supper then out trick-or-treating.
October 31st was our first Halloween since diagnosis, and I wasn't sure how Amy would handle it. We had a little hurdle earlier on in the day, but we dealt and moved on. At break time at work a received a phone call from the vice principal of the school (we don't have a school nurse). She told me that Amy made a little mistake and was quite upset. Since the school was having a number of halloween activities, their regular schedule wasn't being followed, at recess time, Amy ate her entire lunch as her recess. They tested her and she was 14, what did I want to do. I put Amy on the phone who cried for me to come to the school. When I got their, she wanted to leave with me, since she was so upset, I agreed, but told her I would bring her back to school after lunch.
Turns out she wanted to leave because she was worried the other kids in her class would laugh at her.
She went from 14 to 17, to 17.5 to 17.8 by the time I brought her back to school. She skipped lunch altogether, but had a good snack with her to have during the party at school that afternoon. Disaster essentially avoided.
We had a quick subway supper then out trick-or-treating.
Rylie-Dalmatian & Amy -Abbey from Monster High
The girls received bags full of treats, and many of our friends and family had bags done up for the girls. They always had special bags from certain people, but this year we received a lot of good treats for Amy like yogurt tubes, cheese strings and junior juices. We also had an agreement that both girls could trade the rest of their treats for a special prize from mommy and daddy. They loved their new dolls!
The girls and their loot
All in all we had a pretty good first halloween with diabetes.
Friday, 26 October 2012
Thieves!
What a week we've had!
We received a phone call last Friday morning that our cabin, along with 8 others, had been broken into and burglarized. Several thoughts went through my head at once, the condition of the cabin, what was taken, why us, how could we have prevented this......
We both left work and met the RCMP at our cabin to detail what was taken and to give statements. In all we were pretty lucky, our electronics were all gone, including a tv and DVD player still in the box, as was the chainsaw, spotlight, tools and other items, but the windows had not been smashed.
By Friday night they had made an arrest, and by Wednesday night this week we had the majority of our possessions returned. We are still missing the new items that we in the box, and are out the costs of repairs. After all this I'm left with a sense of violation and anger! It frustrates me to no end that my husband and I work hard for the things we have, and these people had the nerve to just waltz in and try to take it from us! I'm frustrated that in court on Tuesday, the proceedings were delayed for 2 months! And I'm angry that they will most likely walk away with a tap on the hand, essentially getting away with what they've done! We have improved the security of our gate and have added other protective measures, so hopefully this will give us some piece of mind.
I'm proud to say that in amongst all the chaos Amy had one of her best weeks for BG control. Not a reading over 9 mmol/l (which is really good for us!)
On another note, we are headed up to the cabin a night of rest and relaxation before the busy weekend kicks in.......ballet, birthday party, halloween party!
We received a phone call last Friday morning that our cabin, along with 8 others, had been broken into and burglarized. Several thoughts went through my head at once, the condition of the cabin, what was taken, why us, how could we have prevented this......
We both left work and met the RCMP at our cabin to detail what was taken and to give statements. In all we were pretty lucky, our electronics were all gone, including a tv and DVD player still in the box, as was the chainsaw, spotlight, tools and other items, but the windows had not been smashed.
By Friday night they had made an arrest, and by Wednesday night this week we had the majority of our possessions returned. We are still missing the new items that we in the box, and are out the costs of repairs. After all this I'm left with a sense of violation and anger! It frustrates me to no end that my husband and I work hard for the things we have, and these people had the nerve to just waltz in and try to take it from us! I'm frustrated that in court on Tuesday, the proceedings were delayed for 2 months! And I'm angry that they will most likely walk away with a tap on the hand, essentially getting away with what they've done! We have improved the security of our gate and have added other protective measures, so hopefully this will give us some piece of mind.
I'm proud to say that in amongst all the chaos Amy had one of her best weeks for BG control. Not a reading over 9 mmol/l (which is really good for us!)
On another note, we are headed up to the cabin a night of rest and relaxation before the busy weekend kicks in.......ballet, birthday party, halloween party!
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
Yup, you read that right, yesterday marked first official snowfall of the winter for my town. I know technically it is still autumn, but where I live, we usually have snow before halloween.
I was at work when I received a call from the girls begging to go outside to play, so we let them go. They came in an hour later with rosie cheeks and cold hands, but they had a blast! Have a look.
Amy tested once she had changed into warmer clothes and was 4.2, so she had a glass of milk and waited for supper to be cooked. We will have to remember to give an extra snack before playing outside. Anyone have any good tips for winter play?
So today the rain has washed away most of the snow, guess its just a matter of time before it stays......until May!
I was at work when I received a call from the girls begging to go outside to play, so we let them go. They came in an hour later with rosie cheeks and cold hands, but they had a blast! Have a look.
Amy tested once she had changed into warmer clothes and was 4.2, so she had a glass of milk and waited for supper to be cooked. We will have to remember to give an extra snack before playing outside. Anyone have any good tips for winter play?
So today the rain has washed away most of the snow, guess its just a matter of time before it stays......until May!
Friday, 5 October 2012
Happy Thanksgiving
Thank goodness for long weekends is all I can say! It's been one long week. My grandfather had a quadruple bypass in another province two weeks ago, then some complications. My mother, who is also our childcare provider, naturally wanted to be with him. After some encouragement from myself and my sister, my parents embarked on the two-day road trip. Thankfully, everything is headed in the right direction and he is out of ICU. Without my mom here, things have been hectic. We were taking turns with days off to watch the four year olds (Rylie and my niece), my sister's MIL came to town to help out, my MIL started watching Rylie-Roo today and our neighbour has been taking Amy after school so we wouldn't have to change the bus route! It's been crazy!
Lunchtime today we received a phone call from the school that Amy had a low during the thanksgiving assembly. She got up and went to her teacher telling her that she felt low. Since they had forgotten her bag in the classroom, they went to test there. She was 3.1 mmol/L, drank a Jr Juice and tested 15 minutes later with a 5.8. I was pretty proud of her for recognizing her symptoms.
This week a note came home from school about a project they were doing. Each student would trace their hand then complete the statement "(name) is thankful for (blank)". The hands would then be hung on the thanksgiving tree at the entrance of the school. Being six years old, when I asked Amy what she was thankful for she replied with her toys and colouring stuff. I said no, you need to think of something really good, something you can't live without. She thought for a minute then said I'm thankful for......insulin.
So this weekend, I'm thankful for my family and all of our blessings, and I too, am especially thankful for insulin!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Lunchtime today we received a phone call from the school that Amy had a low during the thanksgiving assembly. She got up and went to her teacher telling her that she felt low. Since they had forgotten her bag in the classroom, they went to test there. She was 3.1 mmol/L, drank a Jr Juice and tested 15 minutes later with a 5.8. I was pretty proud of her for recognizing her symptoms.
This week a note came home from school about a project they were doing. Each student would trace their hand then complete the statement "(name) is thankful for (blank)". The hands would then be hung on the thanksgiving tree at the entrance of the school. Being six years old, when I asked Amy what she was thankful for she replied with her toys and colouring stuff. I said no, you need to think of something really good, something you can't live without. She thought for a minute then said I'm thankful for......insulin.
So this weekend, I'm thankful for my family and all of our blessings, and I too, am especially thankful for insulin!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Look who's Blogging
Well, I've finally bit the bullet and decided to start my own blog. I think it will take some time to learn how to make it nice, easy to read and presentable, but its a work in progress....
Just a bit about myself.
I was born and raised in Labrador. For those of you who don't know where that is, it's the eastern coastline of Canada, above the island of Newfoundland. The official provincial name is Newfoundland and Labrador. We have awesome, hot, dry, summers, and wonderful, cold, snowy winters. We go from one extreme to the other with 30+ degrees Celsius to -30 degrees Celsius.
Other than my time away to attend university, I've lived here and hope to stay here. Although it is considered an isolated post, it is a beautiful place to raise a family. Speaking of which, I've been married for 6 years to my husband, Corey. We have been together for almost 15 years and have two beautiful girls, whom I will call Amy (6) & Rylie (4). We also have a one year old dog, Porter. We are surrounded by a large extended family that give us amazing support.
I work full time at the local hospital as a pharmacist, and although I've dealt with diabetes professionally, it hit a whole lot closer to home this past spring! Sissy was diagnosed in February.
I recently began reading blogs posted by other D-Moms and found them very helpful, especially before the start of school this year. Then I thought maybe I can do this too!
The purpose of my blog will be to share our ups and downs as we learn to incorporate diabetes into our lives. Stay tuned for our diagnosis story. I hope you enjoy Labrador Sweet...........
Just a bit about myself.
I was born and raised in Labrador. For those of you who don't know where that is, it's the eastern coastline of Canada, above the island of Newfoundland. The official provincial name is Newfoundland and Labrador. We have awesome, hot, dry, summers, and wonderful, cold, snowy winters. We go from one extreme to the other with 30+ degrees Celsius to -30 degrees Celsius.
Other than my time away to attend university, I've lived here and hope to stay here. Although it is considered an isolated post, it is a beautiful place to raise a family. Speaking of which, I've been married for 6 years to my husband, Corey. We have been together for almost 15 years and have two beautiful girls, whom I will call Amy (6) & Rylie (4). We also have a one year old dog, Porter. We are surrounded by a large extended family that give us amazing support.
I work full time at the local hospital as a pharmacist, and although I've dealt with diabetes professionally, it hit a whole lot closer to home this past spring! Sissy was diagnosed in February.
I recently began reading blogs posted by other D-Moms and found them very helpful, especially before the start of school this year. Then I thought maybe I can do this too!
The purpose of my blog will be to share our ups and downs as we learn to incorporate diabetes into our lives. Stay tuned for our diagnosis story. I hope you enjoy Labrador Sweet...........
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