What a Day (YEAR)!

I originally started this post with a title as “What A Day”! and then I didn’t even write anything else in the post.  I can only imagine that I was interrupted mid thought….likely due to something diabetes related.

I’ve since changed the title to “what a year” since the year is somehow over already!

Amy started a new school this year with her first male teacher.  I wasn’t sure what she would think of that, but she was very excited that she was in his class, telling me that was who she was hoping to get.  We met with him the day before school started for about an hour a reviewed everything and completed the new NL school guidelines.  We left little kit boxes to be placed in the class, in her locker and in the office.  I also explained that Amy now has a cell phone to contact us for any diabetes related questions.  That it was not to be used for games, not to ask “what’s for supper!”  At the beginning of the year, she left her glucometer at school in her desk a few times, and once on a Friday evening.  Luckily there was a dance that night, and we were able to get in the school to get it.  I’m sure I could have phoned the principal for access if needed, but this was much easier (we do have a backup, but it’s in the office kit; and we have an older one at home but it uses different strips).  The guidance counselor at this school is a D-Mom as well, so she’s been an excellent go-to person for any of our concerns.

The new afterschool program has been wonderful.  We have had to figure out what works best in terms of her sugars and dancing.  Should she remove the pump for Acro, leave it on; should she set a temp basal or eat a snack uncovered or do a combination of both; what happens in the evening after dance…..and it goes on and on.  I’m happy to day that the number of lows have started to become less.

My next thought is….WHEN DID MY LITTLE GIRL GROW UP!

Amy was diagnosed with diabetes in the second half of kindergarten.  In grade one she started the pump then a few months later a CGM (that we rarely use now).  I was at the school All. The. Time. and I work full time.  The secretary joked that I should have my own hall pass.  In grade 2 there was some ups and downs, but the teacher had me on speed dial and we texted back and forth a lot.  Grade 3 I was starting to miss the secretary.  I pretty sure the only time I was at the school was for the late afternoon lows at dismissal/bus time and for the first treat party of the year.  Grade 4. I have not had to go to the school for diabetes. Yet. She is handling it herself.  She doesn’t always do things the way that I would, but I’m so proud of her for taking care of things herself.

December we did a two week trial of Dexcom.  Can you say LOVE!  Amy didn’t mind the first insertion but the second time we did it, it stung a little.  I can say that she loved having the color receiver and watching watch her sugar was doing; and I loved having it by my bedside at night.  I also want to comment on its accuracy.  I was amazed by how often her blood sugar and her sensor sugar correlated.  I really wanted to get one but we are not due for new pump or CGM for another TWO years!  I was going to pay for it outright, but Amy says that she doesn’t think she would want to use it all the time.  Because of that I’m holding back, but I would love to add it.  During her two weeks we had a dance recital.  This allowed her to go the entire 3 hours with no pump on and allowed us to see what her sugar was doing.  I got to sit in the audience and see the show, and my sister kept watch on the CGM.  LOVED IT!

February saw her fourth diaversary.  We celebrated with cake and presents of course!  It’s hard to believe that diabetes has been a part of our lives for such a long time. 

Some days I worry that I’m becoming complacent with it.  I think that may be because we’ve been lucky enough to not have any major issues.  I also think that’s why I’m not blogging as much anymore.  Some days I worry that she might become angry at me for blogging about her and I know that some day this won’t really be my story to tell.   Some days I think I should have her eat better and then I remember she’s a kid.  Some days I think I should fiddle with her settings and tighten BG control and then her body messes things up all over again.  Some day I hope there will be a cure!

Until someday, we are dealing with what life has handed us, and I think Amy is doing wonderfully.

Sleepover Time

Last year this time both girls were invited to a sleepover birthday party.

They both went to the party, with youngest daughter having all intentions of sleeping over.  Amy really, REALLY wanted to, but she was holding back.  At this point, she had only slept at both sets of grandparents houses, and an Aunt's house.

She stayed and played, and partied.  The mom, a friend of mine, texting often with foods that Amy wanted to eat, and what her blood sugar was.  The mom was anxious, but said that it was no problem for Amy to stay.  Amy wanted to stay, but really struggled, often saying that she was worried she would go low in her sleep and no one would know.

At around 1am, I received a call that she had fallen asleep in the chair.  She wouldn't even lay down with the other kids, because she was scared she would go to sleep and be forgotten.  I went and picked her up, and brought her home.

Fast forward one year and the same friend's birthday party!

Again, both girls went to the party, with both girls having the intentions of sleeping over.

Guess what!  They both did!

Earlier in August we bought Amy her first iphone.  She has a few key people in her contacts, two games, and the instructions that it isn't a toy.

Both Amy and the parent texted me with sugars, insulin on board and snacks.  At the end of the night/early morning when things were winding down, Amy was at about 6.7 mmol/L.  I asked Amy to set a shortish temp basal, and eat some of the popcorn they had and that she should be good until morning, knowing that no one was going to be doing a 3am gluc check. I slept very lightly that night, but never received a text until about 7:30 am when they were getting ready for breakfast.  She was 10.1mmol/L but I will take that any day.  I figured she would be slightly high, but knew that was better than going low overnight.  She was so happy!

She now tells me that she can sleep over anywhere!

An Little Update and a Little Look Forward

Wow!  How do I let three months pass without posting!

Here's an update:

1) school is out for the summer and the girls are at their Nanny's for the summer.  They are both completed swimming crash courses.  I'm hoping for them to pass Red Cross level 1 and 2.  I've never had them in lessons before because we have a very archaic system here and I wasn't going to stand in line for 8 hours to register them.

2) Next year brings a new school for grades 4-7.  I'm so worried about this.  One I think the age difference is too great for maturity.  Also, I contacted the principal about 3 weeks before school ended because I wanted to introduce myself and because I was hoping to learn the teacher's name for next year and set up meetings for the Fall.  after three attempts I finally received a response with less warmth than I had hoped.  Because of this, I sent the new NL guidelines for kids in school with diabetes.  Guess I might have to play hardball here.  In the end, he did offer to set up meetings with teachers on the admin day before school starts.

3) I have both girls registered for Valley Danceworks Inc for this fall.  This is an organization that offers classes in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Acro, Irish, Latin, Dub-step and others.  It also offers an after school program.  For $100 LESS per month than I was paying for 1 hr of childcare, we get the afterschool program AND access to all these classes.  I need to do up a package for the organizers, especially since this is a time of day that lows repeatedly show up.

4) We had the quarterly diabetes clinic in St. John's.  I'm happy to say everything is going good.  Her A1C actually dropped another 0.5 and is currently 6.9!!!! I was thrilled!  It's always nice to hear from the team that you are doing a great job!

I think that is everything for now.  We are headed out for our RV vacation in 4 weeks!

A pump is great....Until it isn't

Kind of a weird title right?

A pump is great....until it isn't.

That is how I felt about Amy's pump this weekend.

Amy has been pumping for two years now.  We had a wonderful set up with a wonderful Medtronic Rep.  She flew to our home town and worked with our hospital diabetes educator to set up the pump.  It was nice not to travel for a change.  She brought a Lenny the Lion keychain. She brought an extra pump pouch, she brought an extra glucometer for school.  They were great.

This very same Rep also sent us a big stuffy Lenny when I called to see if she had any discounts coupons or codes for one.  They Canadian site was selling them for +$70 whereas the American site was selling them for $25.  Guess what?  She sent us one.....for free.

I've called the help line many times and have received wonderful service.  They are always prompt and friendly.  I have no issues with Medtronic.

Pumping has of course had its up and downs.  We've been lucky.  I think we've only ever had to change one site because it was not working for us. Amy's only ever hauled her site out in her sleep once (and she woke up for it).  Our batteries last long (thanks Duracell) and we can extend to 4 days before site change in a pinch.

Last month, we had a "bad battery" alarm.  That's the first time I've ever seen that.  Luckily it was in the middle of the day because you know what happens?  the pump shuts off.  Blank, dark screen.  right when you are in the middle or an 80+ carbohydrate meal from Burger King.  Amy was at her Uncle's house.  I get a call.  Something is wrong with her pump.  It stopped giving her insulin.  By the time I got there, it was just shutting down.  My first instinct was to scold Amy.  I thought she had a "low battery" alert that she had ignored.  It's happened at school before.  But she assured me that wasn't the case.  It wasn't until I replaced the battery, the pump started up again and I looked at the alarms that I saw the bad battery alarm.  This was a brand new battery....only 2 days old.  I didn't think much more of it.  Was just thankful that it was during the day. For those that are wondering, I looked at the insulin on board and gave the rest of the insulin through the pump, that should have been delivered before it shut down.

This past Friday, we were headed to our family cabin.  You can drive so far up the highway, but then the rest of the way is on snowmobile (Yes, there is still LOADS of SNOW!).  On the way, we stopped into Tim Horton's Drive Thru for a sandwich and donut.  Amy tested her sugar, and bloused her insulin for the sandwich first.  When it was time for her donut she says that something is wrong with her pump.  Turns out there is a Motor Error. We follow the onscreen directions and wait the 5 minutes until we finish driving.....Sorry Amy, you can't have your donut just yet!

When we stop, I do a quick google search and see that most people report this to Medtronic.  I had already had the pump going again by doing the rewind it suggested, disconnected, primed and reattached to site.  All was working well. 

When we arrived at the cabin and got settled away, I let Amy bolus for her donut.  Yup, pump still working.  I decided to call Medtronic just to have it on our file that we had this issue and to see if there was anything else I had to do.  I gave the necessary information for them to bring up our file and explained the error we had.  I'm still not 100% on what he said because I was shocked that his second sentence was that they were going to send us a new pump via courier right away.  It was Friday evening at about 5pm AST.

Now the fact that I'm in Labrador means that we never get ANYTHING right away and I told him that I would have it by Monday.  He said we would call me back.  When he called me back, he confirmed that it would in fact be Monday before I received it.

Every few hours over the weekend I checked to ensure the pump was still working.  We didn't have another issue with it, and there is no way to know if we ever would again.  I do however feel vindicated.  I still get up at 3am every morning to check Amy's sugar, confirm that her site is still attached and make sure she is alive and well.  If this error had have happened in the middle of the night, her sugar would slowly but surely rise.  I feel so grateful that the longest she typically goes is about 3 hours without one of us checking her.  Some people think it's foolish, but look what can happen.

So we now have the Brand New pump all set up and running.  I wish to thank Medtronic for their quick actions with my issue, and for now we remain a loyal customer......Can we have a Cloud too?

With all that being said.  A pump is great....until it isn't!

It only took three years

We just returned from the city for Amy's diabetes clinic appointment.

Every 3-4 months we fly to the Province's capitol city where the Janeway Children's Hospital is located.  Thankfully we have insurance and all but a vehicle is paid for.

Because of all the snow this year, and the municipal strike, there was a lot of missed school days, so we waited until after school on Monday before flying out.  Tuesday, we got up, had a nice breakfast, did some shopping, then headed on over to the hospital.

The appointment was very quick this time.  Height, weight, blood pressure.  She grew an inch, gained 2 lbs and blood pressure was fine.  We saw the school liaison nurse first. No issues with Amy's school, so that was quick.  Next we saw the dietician.  Amy was very talkative this time.  Basically no problems with diet, however I did have a few questions.  Amy is much hungrier at bedtime now, and I wanted them to have a record that she is eating more then.  We decided to add another carbohydrate at bedtime.  Then both the endocrinologist and the Diabetes educator came in at the same time.  They had printed her pump reports.  They took the sample for the A1C test.  Everything looks good....keep up the good work! 

Then we were on our way.

We went to Menchies for some cake batter ice cream, did some more shopping (including Target which is liquidating the store as they are pulling out of Canada), visited some friends, then packed up all our goods to head home the next morning.

Yesterday I received an email from our CDE.  Excellent news, A1C is 7.4%.

Mouth drop.

I knew her sugars had been good lately.  We still have issues with lows between 2-4pm and she still has a breakfast spike around 8am.  But I was shocked because her A1C in November was 8.4%.

The target for kids ages 6-12 in Canada is </= 7.5%.

After three years.....we finally reached target.

I know this is only an average and doesn't reflect everyday, or the highs and lows, or what is going on in life.  I know that hormones will soon come into play (9yo in April...EKK!), and I know that it can go up as easily as it went down this time.  I also know that it is by no means a report card......but man it feels good!

It feels like Amy's body has finally said....

Great work guys.... 

You can do this!

Third Diaversary

Sunday, February 8 marked three years since Amy was diagnosed. 
You can read about her diagnosis story here.

I can't believe it's been three years.  I also can't believe it's been three months since I've blogged.
I think I am more comfortable in our journey that I don't feel the constant need to feel connected to others dealing with diabetes.  There was a time that every evening I was somewhere within the DOC reading about my online friend's lives and how they struggle and most importantly how they deal with diabetes.  I check in every so often, see what everyone is up to, but I really haven't had anything to say lately.

Here is an update:

In November Amy participated in the JDRF Kids for a Cure Awareness day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada.  It was an amazing, inspiring experience.  Our MP was very interested in what we had to say about Amy's life living with diabetes.  We left her with a scrapbook we made, and information on JDRFs request for addition funds to expand research within Canada.

Amy in front of the Parliament Building

Amy and  Member of Parliament for Labrador, Ms Yvonne Jones

 

Half of the delegates, with the Prime Minster of Canada, Stephen Harper (Amy is second row, third in)

 



In November we also flew to St. John's for her diabetes appointment.  She had bloodwork again for her thyroid.  We don't get A1C results back until we are back home, and disappointingly they did not change.  They were still the same as they were the time before in June.  I'm hoping we have made some improvements this time around.

December saw Christmas come.  We had a nice relaxing break this year.  I took Christmas off so was home with the girls all break.....first time ever!  Amy's sugars ran high for most of the holidays.  Not because she ate too many treats, but mostly because it was so cold that we couldn't get outside to do anything! 

In January our town municipal workers were locked out.  All the snow we had, paired with the cold temperatures, my girls have only been to school about half the number of days they should have.  The school buses have stopped running, grade K and 1 are alternating going to school with grade 2 and 3, so that there isn't too much confusion with all parents having to drop off and pick up their kids.

I'm happy to say that mid February the workers have reached an agreement, but they are still working on cleaning up our roads in one of the snowiest winters we have had in about 20 years.....and we haven't even hit our snowy month yet! February 8 was the third Diaversary.  We celebrated with cake and presents.

In other news, Amy also started using the CGM with her Medtronic pump again.  I'm happy to say that whatever modifications that Medtronic did to their Enlite sensors this fall worked....we have not had ANY of the issues that we had, that led us to stop the CGM for 6 months.  I'm hoping this will give us the boost to get that A1C down into a better range.

Anyone have any ideas for decreasing a breakfast spike, other than pre-bolusing?

What's on the horizon for the spring?  Well, hopefully school gets back to normal soon; March we fly to St. John's again for the Endo visit; April we are going on our very first Disney Cruise; May is the Spring concert and Ballet recital.  Then we are heading into summer!  Let's just hope all that snow is melted by then!

Kids for a Cure Awarenss Day

WOW!

in less than one week Amy and I will be headed for Ottawa, the capital city of Canada.

Amy was selected as 1 of 40 children from across Canada to participate in JDRF's Kids for a Cure Awareness day on Parliament Hill.

This is a great honor for us. 

We first became involved with JDRF back when Amy was diagnosed in February 2012.  It wasn't a big involvement, but I found them a great source of information.  There are not many children with type 1 diabetes were I live, and I looked to the DOC for comfort, and some sort of feeling that I was doing things "right".  I'd seen the wonderful things people had to say about JDRF and the annual walks, and wished that we could participate in one of the walks, and feel like we were making a difference too.

This past June, our family of four travelled to St. John's, NL and participated in our first walk.  We raised over $1000 and were quite pleased with that amount.

Then in September, we found out we were selected to attend the Kids for a Cure awareness Day.  I'm excited and anxious all at the same time to tell our story.  To show the decision makers of the Canadian Government just how important it is for continued and even expansion of the JDRF Canadian Clinical Trial Network.  That the research done can truly make a difference in the lives of our children.  How it can take away some of the constant worry and hardships.

We often look at our children and think about how diabetes doesn't stop them, and how much they accomplish despite diabetes.....about how diabetes is just something we do, without thinking much about it.  But imagine.  Imagine what their world will be like when there is no diabetes, and how much easier things will be to accomplish without that worry and the constant battle. I know that someday we can make this a reality, and turn Type One into Type None.

On Tuesday, November 25, 2014, my daughter and I, along with 40 other children and their parents, will respectfully tell our stories and HOPE that the Canadian government will do their part to Step up to Cure Type 1 Diabetes.

If you would like to make a donation, you can do so HERE.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wow! It's hard to believe that it's been two months since I've written.

Amy started grade three, her last year at our amazing primary school. Her new teacher has been excellent.

Rylie is now in grade one and in school all day. I'm very grateful that she is just across the hall from Amy.

We've just returned from a wedding in beautiful Punta Cana.  I was worried about the trip and how much diabetes supplies to take; how the hot weather would affect BGs; how having the pump off most of the day would affect sugars....

We took advantage of medtronics travel program, thankfully we had no issues with Amy's pump.

I think our biggest mistake was grossly underestimating the number of carbs in an alcohol free pina colada!

To all my Canadian friends, I want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!
Stay tuned, I have some news!

That's a lot of blood

Who knew that the scalp bled so much!

Added to our growing list of ailments for the summer is a split head.

The most frightening thing I've experienced with the girls so far......even scarier than the T1D diagnosis was this past weekend.

I was sitting on the patio with my husband, we were taking a break from putting in fence posts for our new fence. When Rylie came out and asked if she could have a piece of gum.  Amy then ducked her head out and asked if she could have one.  Sure.  Go ahead.

Next things happened pretty quick.  In true horror movie fashion, the door swings open, Amy has her hands cupped in front of her, with a pool of blood, blood streaming down her face, and a very scared "someone help me".

Instincts kicked in and we both jumped to the door, grabbing a cloth and applying pressure.  Rylie took off running because she thought she was in trouble.  The bleeding slowed, I got the trail of blood from the kitchen to the patio cleaned up and we finally determined what had happened.

Rylie was on the counter, and as Amy was jumping up to get the gum, Rylie opened the cupboard door and it the corner caught Amy right in the noggin.

It was a very small cut.  We debated the ER department but husband was satisfied that bleeding had stopped and she hadn't knocked herself unconscious.

I got them settled down to watch a movie, then went back out to help with the fence for an hour before lunch.

It lunchtime I noticed that the cut was starting to wet again as Amy moved around or cried.  I made the decision to take her to the ER.

It took us a grand total of 15 minutes, in and out!  They were excellent.

They used surgical glue and glued the cut.  Amy was happy, I was satisfied and everything was fine.  Blood sugars were even co-operating.

Moral of the story....heads bleed a lot, and gum is now kept on the low cupboard.

P.S.  Amy also had another baby tooth pulled this week because it wouldn't let go.  I told you that poor child has been through a lot this past month!

Summer Day Camp

Today was the first day that both girls went to Summer Day Camp.  Although schools been out for several weeks now, we are only just starting a new routine.  First we took a short trip to Dartmouth for Canada Day, then Amy had strept throat, then both girls had the chicken pox.

As I was getting everything gathered up, my husband made an off-hand comment about when I dropped them off. I was completely caught off guard and not prepared to do the dropping off.   You see, I work about a 5 minute drive from our house.  Husband works about 15 minutes from house.  I know, we don't have long distances to go.....but the summer day camp is just down the road from him.  I didn't want to drive all the way up on base, then have to come all the way back down.  I ended up quickly throwing my things together and taking them, because he wanted me to be the one to talk to the camp girls.  In the end, not a big deal.

I had already talked to the organizer and gave some information about managing Amy's diabetes a few weeks before the camp started, but hadn't talked to the young girl in charge.  I told her if she needed anything to just call me.

Lunchtime the phone rang. She told me that Amy's site was falling off.  I remembered that last night before bath her IV 3000 dressing was coming after returning from the beach, so we removed it and planned to put on another.  Guess we didn't put on the other one.  I sent Corey up to change it after his lunch.

At 3pm I get another call, her sugar is 18 and it won't give a correction because of the amount of insulin already on board.  I asked her to put Amy on the phone and had her put on a temp basal.  I also gave her some reasons why her sugar may be high.....including taking it off for a water fight.

In all, the day was good, my only concern now is that Wednesday is a scheduled beach day....all day!

Wait. What?

Has it really been almost two months since I last posted?  Wow, I didn't realize it's been that long.

A lot has happened.  Rylie graduated Kindergarden. Amy finished grade two.  The both did amazing. I couldn't be prouder.  I really need to come up with a great scheme....I mean idea to keep them reading over the summer.

We just returned home from a trip to Nova Scotia.  It took us three days to drive there, a week at our friends then three days to drive home again.  The second day home was in the midst of Tropical Storm Arthur......with a brand new travel trailer in tow.  That was interesting!

My mom has always watched my girls for me, ever since I went back to work when Amy was a year old.  I know how lucky I was that she took on that role for us, especially when Amy was diagnosed in Kindergarden and doing half days.  My mom was there for the other part of the day, and that was comforting.  Well. Since Rylie will be in school all day this September as well, my mom made the difficult decision to return to work.  With this change, came my first year ever having to decide what to do with the girls during the day since school was out.

We signed them up for a summer day camp program on the Air Force base that my husband works. The first week of the camp we were out of town.  Last week was to be their first week and they couldn't have been more excited.....except, our first day home, Amy woke up not feeling very well.  I was home from work for one more day to unpack and settle the house away.  Amy slept most of the day.  Fever, headache, chills, sore throat.  The next day I was convinced she had strept throat, and would take her to the local ER when I got off work.  When my husband called to say she was throwing up and had 0.8 ketones. I asked him to meet me at the hospital (where I work).  He dropped her off to me, then went to bring Rylie to her Nanny's house.

First in the ER they took vitals, asked pertinent questions, then sent us back to the waiting room. I made it clear that she had diabetes, had thrown up and had a small amount of ketones.  And that she had been exposed to chicken pox while on our vacation that we just returned from. (Our friend's youngest daughter broke out in pox the day we arrived).  We waited almost an hour when I tested her again. Her sugar had risen to 12, and ketones were 1.9.  When the door opened to call the next person in for triage, I spoke to the nurse to let her know the new values.  They had us back inside in about 5-10 minutes.  The doctor came in shortly after.  She agreed that Amy appeared to have strept throat.  Also, because of the ketones and the vomiting she wanted to do some blood work and possibly give some fluids.  I tested her again while we waited and blood sugar was up to 13.9 and ketones 2.9.  I managed to convince Amy that she had to do both, and boy was she a trooper!  She had two blood draws (with three attempts) and she had an IV inserted (which didn't work the first time).  The funny thing is, the blood work came back ok.  She didn't have any metabolic disturbances even though our meter was reading the many ketones! I was happy she didn't but wondered about its reliability then.  After  6 hours at the ER we got to go home.

Our weekend started out uneventful. We decided to sleep in the new camper in the front yard.  When Rylie woke she had a few red bumps on her face. I pushed my nagging feeling aside.  By supper time I couldn't ignore those feels because the proof was in the pox.  Yup, that's right! CHICKEN POX!!!

14 days to the day of being exposed, Rylie broke out.  Now to be fair, we weren't just exposed that one time, we lived with a little girl who had them for a week.  The length of her entire illness.

To answer the next question, yes, they have both been vaccinated, Amy has had one and Rylie two.  They changed the vaccine schedule in 2011 because the one shot wasn't working well.  Now, I don't want to get into a vaccine debate, I 100% support vaccination.  I'm a pharmacist and see the benefits of vaccination daily.  And heard immunity only works when the heard is immunized.  The thing is, the severity is no where near what it was when I had them 15 years ago.

Here's the kicker....looks like Amy has broken out in a few initial spots as well. At least they have them at the same time, right?

What I'm wondering is, do any of you have any experience with diabetes and chicken pox?

D-Blog Week: Day 7

Today is the last day of D-Blog Week.

The topic is to share a few of our favorite things from the week.

I find that kind of hard to narrow down.

It was a very busy week for me with all the ballet recitals and the trip to Lab City that I didn't get to read as many posts as I would have liked.  I will definitely be reading up the next few nights.

I think my favorite thing is to see more people read my blog.

I have a very small readership, but I don't really promote my blog either.  To be honest, I'd say there are very few people in my circle that actually know that I blog.

I feel its my way to connect with other D-parents.  and I need that.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank all of you that have read my thoughts this week, and those who have taken the time to reach out to me and comment as well.  You will never know the impact that you have had.

THANK YOU!

D-Blog Week: Day 6

Today's topic is as follows:

Back for another year, let’s show everyone what life with diabetes looks like!  With a nod to the Diabetes 365 project, let’s grab our cameras again and share some more d-related pictures.  Post as many or as few as you’d like.  Feel free to blog your thoughts on or explanations of your pictures, or leave out the written words and let the pictures speak for themselves.

Feb 25, 2012.  Just 2.5 short weeks after Amy was diagnosed.

She was vomiting profusely, I knew it was a stomach bug.  Her sister and cousin were both sick as well.  She couldn't keep anything down.  She was on NPH twice daily and Rapid twice daily.  I was dealing ok.  She had some ketones.  But I wasn't sure if I should give her bedtime insulin or not.  (2 weeks in remember).

I decided to bring her through our emergency department.  At this point, we had only ever seen a family physician, CDE and dietician, I didn't have any contact numbers for our children's hospital that we now visit every 3 months for diabetes clinic.

We saw a doctor, and he tried to tell me that she had a UTI, that was what was causing the ketones.  I tried to explain that she had diabetes, and I wasn't sure what to do.  He told me not to give her insulin yet.  He hooked her up to some fluids (Normal saline), and let us go when it was run in, and then to give the insulin 4 hours late.

When we got to our car, she started vomiting again.  I called in to the building and they told me to bring her back in.  The doctor told me there was nothing wrong, that she had a UTI and handed me a 27 page document about diabetes. I told him what he could do with his document, and took her home and managed the best that I could by reviewing the papers I was given at diagnosis and looking up as much as I could on the internet (I'm not saying that everyone should do this!)

Luckily we haven't had this happen again, but I keep this picture to remind me that I ALWAYS need to advocate for my child, especially when she is unable to do it herself.

D-Blog Week: Day 5

Hi everyone, I apologize for my lateness, I didn't have internet for most of yesterday.
We took a 550KM ride across the province to go shopping at Walmart and stock up on everyday items like toilet paper, paper towels, dish liquid, personal care products, etc....then turn around this morning and drove back 550km again!  and we took the girls!

I was totally expecting Amy's sugars to go through the roof, because every time we take this drive, it happens, but not this time!

Yesterday's topic (Friday) was to share the (non-medical) tips and tricks that help you in the day-to-day management of diabetes.

I don't have a whole lot of them, I just know what works for us.

1) we use a pump pouch.  My mother has made Amy about 7 of them.  She loves them, and they are handy because she doesn't like to wear pants that have pockets.

2) we use a baby monitor.  Although we rarely use the CGM now (due to unreliable/false low predictions while she sleep due to pressure from lying on it), I still like hearing her.  I am a very light sleeper, and I think if she were to have something like I seizure I would hear it.

3) we tuck used strips in the glucometer case pocket and keep a rolled up Kleenex in there to finger blot.  Kinda gross, but it works for us.  At least I have her stopped from licking her finger afterwards!

4) I send her school lunch with an itemized list and corresponding carbs every day.  That was if something breaks or she doesn't want to eat it, she knows all the carb counts, not just the total.  Remember, we have no school nurse, she does this herself with her teacher watching.

5) I carry a glucometer in my purse.  Not only does Amy have her "diabetes bag", a beautiful LUG bag, that we take everywhere, but I also have a back up in my purse.

6) I dose Amy's insulin when I get out of the shower in the morning, before I wake her up.  This gives lots of time for her insulin to start working.  (but we still have breakfast post meal spikes!)

7) we let her be a kid.

I can't wait to see what everyone else has written, I could use some new tips!

D-Blog Week 2014 - Day 4

Today I chose to go with one of the wildcard topics.

Write a short story personifying a diabetes tool you use on a daily basis. A meter, syringe, pump, pill, etc. Give it a personality and a name and let it speak through you. What would it be happy about, upset about, mad about?  (Thank you Heather of Unexpected Blues for this topic.)

I know how to contact mom and dad if either are needed, or to tell people that you have diabetes. My name is DB and I hang around you all day long.

Yup, that's right, I'm a Medical Alert Bracelet.

I get to go everywhere with my owner.  She puts me on in the morning before school.
I tell everyone who needs to know that my owner has diabetes, and how to reach mom and dad. I even know my owner's home phone number.  We go to school, to ballet, and Girl Guides; to friends houses, the grocery store and even the cabin.  I'm very special.

Some days I have a pink sign and some days purple.  Some days I have a pink rope, or pink beads, or two strands all sparkly and colorful.  You see, I'm quite stylish thanks to Lauren's Hope. It seems like every year I get a fun new outfit added to our collection.

It feels great to know that I could save my owners life.  Without me I know that the mom and dad would worry all the time.  I'm something that eases some of that worry.

And at night time, I have my own special place on a hook next to my buddies, the pump pouches, until the next morning, when I wrap myself tightly around my friend, doing my best to keep her safe!

D-Blog Week 2014: Day 3

Today's topic is as follows;

What Brings Me Down.  May is Mental Health Month so now seems like a great time to explore the emotional side of living with, or caring for someone with, diabetes. What things can make dealing with diabetes an emotional issue for you and / or your loved one, and how do you cope? (Thanks go out to Scott of Strangely Diabetic for coordinating this topic.)

I'm going to make this short and sweet since it's been crazy busy this week with ballet recitals.  Tonight I was getting Amy ready for her show.  I was just putting the finishing touches on her hair, an  Elsa coronation bun, she looked beautiful. Then, I see Corey changing her site. And the worry comes back.

Will her young teenaged instructors keep an eye on her backstage, will she go low, be too high, drink too much then have to go to the bathroom right before she performs, will she be uncoordinated?

Sometimes, I wish we didn't have to deal with these things.

What did we do? Tested right before I left her, slightly high from Subway supper; left water and apple  juice with her; told her to have someone come get me if she needed to.

As for the recital, she rocked it!

D-Blog Week 2014: Day 2

Day two of D-blog Week is looking to bring out the poet in bloggers.  I'm not the greatest poet in the world, but would like to share the little poem I originally wrote for this post on Amy's second Diaversary.


It's been two years since you came into our lives
like a permanent, uninvited guest.


We've taken some time to get to know you
and still feel like you're a Pest.


The site changes, sensor changes, and finger sticks
still make my baby girl cringe.
But changing to the pump has made it easier
and much better than using the syringe.


3am gluc checks night after night
in range I hope and I pray.
Can't rely on the number seen before bed
it changes depending on the day.


It's a lot of hard work for a little girl,
especially when you damper the fun.
Luckily, our family has learned the ropes 

and know what needs to be done.

I look forward to reading other people's posts today!





(sorry about how the poem looks, it wasn't this way in my draft!)

D-Blog week 2014: Day 1

I'm excited to be participating in D-Blog week again this year.  I was introduced to many new (to me) bloggers last year and continue to read about some wonderful people!

This year, the first topic is as Follows:

Let’s kick off Diabetes Blog Week by talking about the diabetes causes and issues that really get us fired up. Are you passionate about 504 plans and school safety? Do diabetes misconceptions irk you? Do you fight for CGM coverage for Medicare patients, SDP funding, or test strip accuracy? Do you work hard at creating diabetes connections and bringing support? Whether or not you “formally” advocate for any cause, share the issues that are important to you.
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Of course any parent or PWD is concerned about any of the above.  We would all love for our treasured children to be safe during the school day, with minimal worry.  We would love to know that if they are having on off day because their sugars are too high, or too low, such that their performance is affected, that they will not be penalized for something out of their control, that if they did poorly because of blood sugar, then it will not be reflected in their grading.  I certainly don't see this as a scapegoat, that if my child were to do poorly on something I wouldn't automatically assume or "blame" diabetes, but I would ask what the readings were before testing time.  Its well known, that blood sugar levels affect a number of things such as concentration, thinking, and sometimes actually doing an activity.  I would like to know that there are people in the building that can recognize highs and lows; people who know my daughter well enough to see when something just isn't quite right' people who know what to do or where to look when something is wrong; people who genuinely care about the well being of my child.  We're lucky light that!  I have not had any major issues with our school.  Everyone is very accommodating and will go out of their way to ensure Amy is cared for and included.  Just today I received a picture of a muffin and carb count of a recipe for a snack that a teacher brought in from the Kids Eat Smart Program.  She was making sure that Amy was included.  Yesterday a classmate brought in their mini cotton candy maker for show and tell, and I received a call describing the amount of sample each kid would receive and how many carbs in each teaspoon of mixture.  The staff at the school have been amazing.  I'm lucky that this isn't an issue for us.

Although I don't feel I formally advocate for any cause, we are lucky enough to be in town for Amy's Endo appointment that we will be participating in this years TELUS walk to Cure diabetes.  If you would like to make a donation to Team Amy, you can do so here and help make our first fundraiser a success!  I'm also canvassing our neighbourhood for the Canadian Diabetes Association this May, again a first time event for me.

One thing that I do see as essential is that all people with diabetes deserve the same access to care and support.  If you live in Canada and believe the same, please sign the  Diabetes Charter for Canada

Eight Years old

NO, I'm not talking about how long Amy has had diabetes.

I'm talking about Amy.  Last week, she turned eight years old.

Now eight may not seem very old, but this little lady is growing and maturing fast.  I'm not sure if its just the responsibility that goes along with having diabetes, or if it's just her personality.

My 8 year old! Diabetes don't stop us from having cake!

The knock off DQ ice cream cake I made.  Swaging here!

Amy's friends that attended her PJ party.  Thanks to my mom for the owls

Amy has had a great year.  She's reading above grade level and doing excellent in all other areas of school.  She needs to work on getting along with her sister, and I'm hoping the back talking is just a phase.

She has decided that she doesn't really like wearing the CGM, I've written about that in the past here.  We've decided not to push the issue.  She usually feels her lows just under 4.0.  We also have a pretty good handle on her basal rates.  I have told her that if she gets sick, we WILL be slapping one on pretty quick!

Her teacher this year has been wonderful.  She texts me pictures of holiday parties so I can give her a carb value to enter.  She informs me of events before they happen, when she knows about them, and when she doesn't she has learned to read how many carbs, but will still call to confirm that it's okay for Amy to eat.

I'm debating activating my old iphone 4 for her, but still have reservations that 8 is a little young.  Does anyone have any experience with this?  I think it a whole other post!

First Crush

Amy turns 8 this month.  For some reason this seems like a big deal for me this year.  Eight seems so much older then seven, so much more mature.  We've already been talking about the summer months (since we're still buried in snow), and have come to the conclusion that Amy is old enough to ride her bike to the playground.  It's on,y down the road and around the corner, but we can't see it from our house.  I think she's old enough to go herself, but not old enough to watch her sister while there.  To be honest, I think I'm more worried that sister wouldn't listen to her, than her ability to keep sister out of trouble.

Another reason I know my baby is growing up, is she has her first crush!

He's an adorable little boy in her class.  They play well together, he comes to our cabin to play in the snow, sliding and snowmobiling,

And here's the interesting thing. There are not many children in our town with diabetes.  Amy is the only child in the 300+, grades Kindergarden to three school.  The little boy's older brother has diabetes.  He was diagnosed only a few short months after Amy.  Us moms spent a lot of time talking on the phone in the beginning and have remained friends,

I'm excited because I know I wouldn't worry (as much) if Amy wanted to play at their house.  The mom is actually going to coach their soccer team this spring. She knows what to do.  The little boy knows what to look for in Amy if something isn't quite right,

I love that her first little crush doesn't see the diabetes, but sees her, because it's something he's used to.