Tuesday Tidbit: New Sensor Location

I'm so very excited to say that Amy finally tried a new spot for her sensor.  We have always used around her belly and the top part of her bum area just around her waistband.  I'm not usually the one who changes her sites, that's her dad's job.  It became more challenging to find a site when we added the sensor.  She seems to heal slowly and her skin is peppered with dots from old sites.  and I worry about proper site rotation so that we don't cause problems further down the road.

Well this saturday, with a little bribe from me and Maplelea, Amy let her father try her arm.

sorry about the orientation, its from my phone and I couln't get it to rotate.

I'm happy to say that the sensor is working amazingly and we have some of the best correlation of sensor and blood glucose results that we have ever had.

We are hoping that in the next few weeks she will let us try the upper thigh.
Has anyone used this area with the ENLITE sensor before?  What about another CGM sensor?  What were your results like?  and Amy would like to know if it hurt?

Bus

How do you overlook the fact that your child will be on a different bus for drop off this year.  With a bus driver that hasn't had your child before nor was told that your child has diabetes.

The school and the bus depot didn't tell this driver about Amy or give him the information sheets I'd supplied them with last year.  I had emailed the school about the change in their drop off address a few days before school started.  I foolishly thought the information would be passed along.  Ultimately, it was my responsibility.  I won't make that mistake again. (As an aside, the school has been great since the beginning)

Amy had a predicted low alarm on the bus.  She took out an apple juice and started to drink it.  Apparently the bus driver told her no food or drink on the bus.

Here is where I'm so very proud of my girl.  She stood up for herself.  She told him that she has type 1 diabetes and she needed that drink to treat her low blood sugar.  He asked her if she could have anything else instead like water.  She said no and that it was all gone anyway.  When she reached her stop at my moms house, she was near tears and very pale.

Here is where I'm so very proud of my mother.  The bus goes to the end of their road, loops around then doubles back.  My mom flagged down the bus, then proceeded to tell him about Amy's diabetes and that she has permission to eat or drink on the bus as needed.  Apparently he was very understanding when talking to my mom, and that Amy was upset because she thought he was mad at her.

In the end it turned out okay, but I learned a very valuable lesson.

I need to re-educate everybody.  Every year.

Destination ME: Week 1 & 2

This post, as well as the others within the series will be a little different than the others, in that it isn't directly related to diabetes.  However, it is needed in part because of diabetes.

Many mothers (and fathers) tend to struggle with the balance of being a parent, and still being themselves.  Many of us have given up things that we used to identify as being a part of who we are.  It seems natural for a parent to think of their family and children before themselves.  This is especially true for any parent who has a child with T1D or any condition that requires extra care and/or management.

I'm sure we've all thought at some point in time that today's the day.  Today I'm going to do something for me....I'm going to go to the gym, I'm going to read a nice book, I'm going to train for a Marathon, I'm going to..........

And we just don't get around to doing it. 

Well the theme Destination ME was thought of by Hallie at the awesome blog The Princess and The Pump.  Its about taking little steps towards finding yourself again.  Its about doing it together.

WEEK ONE:

The first week her goal was to get to bed earlier.  I thought I can do that.

That's EXACTLY why I didn't post last week about joining in.  I was to busy getting to bed before 11pm.

That doesn't mean I got to stay in bed!  I was still up checking blood sugars and responding to pump alarms, but I did get some extra sleep by getting to bed earlier. 

WEEK TWO:

I have my own goal this week, and that is to attend my twice weekly exercise class.  I attended last year and up until the end of June.  I even managed to lose a few pounds at it. And Most importantly I love it! 

Between driving to and fro, and the actual class, I get about 1.5 hours away from my house and the worries of diabetes.  I can honestly say I don't think about it, because I'm too busy trying to breath than to think!

Why don't you join in?

What's your goal?

Tuesday Tidbit: Nice and Steady

 Don't mind the fact that its upside-down, that was the only way I could take the pic since it was attached, and don't mind the little toes peaking out!

Amy was so excited to see how steady it was over 12 hours, a first for her.  The peak at the end was from a low predicted at about 6:30 that I gave a strawberry milk for.  It brought up her BG and then was steady at that level.

We saw this for a few nights, and I thought, hey, I'm getting good at this.....then the diabetes monster knocked me down a peg or two!

Three Days of Grade Two

We have made it through the first week of school....well the first three days, we started on Wednesday!

I mentioned earlier that on Tuesday we had met with Amy's new teacher and the class instructional resource teacher, who happens to have T2D.  As usual there was a lot of information to go over and things went well.  I went home feeling good about the meeting.

The first day of school came. 

I made sure that I wasn't working because it was Rylie's first day of Kindergarten and I wanted to put her on the bus, go to the school, and be home when she got off the bus.  Amy also wanted me to talk to her class about her diabetes so she wouldn't get so many questions about her pump and everything that goes along with diabetes.  I also wanted to be easily available if there were any questions from Amy's teacher.

At 9:30 I received a call.  Its recess time, Amy dropped her cheese string, does it need to be replaced?  No, that's a freebie, she doesn't have to replace it if she doesn't want to.  It was just extra if she was hungry.  Apparently that's what Amy told her to, but she wanted to make sure, since it was the first day.  Don't mind at all, please call anytime!

The rest of the day was good.  Amy mentioned that she only took her new school diabetes bag, a pink LUG bag, to her music class but not anywhere else.  I went over again how important it is that she takes it with her, and that if she didn't comply, we would start using the old "baby" backpack she was using last year!

On Thursday, at dismissal time I received a phone call from the school secretary.  They were wondering if they should put Amy on the bus because her sugar was pretty high and didn't seem to be coming down.  I asked to speak to the teacher, who told me that her sugar was above 20 since lunchtime and that they gave her a correction earlier and it seemed to be slowly coming down.  I asked that Amy be put on the bus to my mother's where she goes after school and someone would check it out then.

When I got off the phone I was stumped.  Amy is NEVER high that time of day, last year we were fighting lows!  I started wondering about pulled sites during gym class, malfunctioning pump, someone picking at it, missed boluses, etc.

When I got off work and walked in to my mother's house the first thing I jokingly said to Amy was "Gee, did you even give your lunchtime bolus today". 

Her face crumbled.

I checked the bolus history, and sure enough, the last bolus was the afternoon correction and the time before that was recess.  Of course, today was a day with 60g of carbs instead of the usual 30-40g she eats at lunchtime.

I wrote a lengthy facebook message to our new teacher.  Not angry but reiterating the importance of watching Amy test and bolus at lunchtime.  I got a very long email back of relief since we knew why she was low and a huge apology. 

Amy is very intelligent and dependable.  I know we put a lot of responsibility on her and she manages very well, but I sometimes forget that she is only 7 and does need that supervision.  At home we are there while she boluses, but I don't check her numbers that she enters anymore, so that's what I asked of the teachers. 

You don't have to do it.....just make sure that she does!

Between myself, Amy and the teacher, we have a plan in place to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

All in all, the first few days were good.  Amy is settling in, and Rylie made her first new friend at school.  Life is good.

Tuesday Tidbit - Back to school Humor

So my girls are headed to school tomorrow.

We met with Amy's new teacher today.  She is very open to learn about diabetes...and I think relieved that Amy knows so much about how to operate her pump, treat, etc.

So for now, a little Back to school Humor and hopefully a longer post in the next day or so!

*not sure who to credit this to, a friend of mine had it on facebook!