no pity party here

This time of year is tough. When fundraising for the Walk, you've got to lay it all out so that people understand what a job managing diabetes is. It can't all be fine and roses, otherwise no one would donate and if no one donates, we can pretty much give up that hope of a cure (one of which I do believe exists and is not far off)

So I write letters, send emails, post on Facebook, make a video. Do I want a pity party?? HELL NO! I just want awareness. I want understanding. I want people to know what I have to go through to keep my little boy alive. To keep him happy and healthy. I want them to understand why I am so tired and why I am always late. It is not an excuse. It is life with D.

I don't want your pity. I am strong. WE are strong. I just want your $ (for a cure that is!)

Bryce's Walk Video 2010

Here it is...finally!

Our Walk is just a few days away on Sunday October 3rd.

We have over 65 walkers registered so far and have raised about $5000 (hoping this video will double that!)

Here is to someday (soon) our kiddos saying "I HAD diabetes"!!

too many ideas

I have too many ideas and my brain is just a pile of mush so I can't sort them out and decide on anything. It is one week till our Walk to Cure Diabetes and I have been thinking about our video for months now but haven't done it!! ACK! Not sure if I will get this done in time. I want it to be great...better than great cuz last year's video was great. Ok, wish me luck. Hope to have one done soon. focus, focus, focus!!!!

Bryce's Teammates

I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to the AMAZING kids with Type 1 on our JDRF Walk team.....

Most of you know BRYCE already. He was diagnosed 10/28/08 at 3 and a half years old. Almost 2 years later, he does not remember life without diabetes. While bg numbers, carb counts, and insulin amounts swim though MY mind all day long, Bryce is just a super active, fun-loving, "dare-devil" of a kindergartner who just happens to test his blood sugars and wear an insulin pump.

GABRIELLA is 7 years old and in 2nd grade. She went to Kindergarten with our oldest son, Jaden. When Bryce was diagnosed that year, Gabriella's mom, Maria, reached out to me and was a huge support as I learned about this new life we were beginning with diabetes. Since then, we have remained very close and continue to see each other every week. Gabriella was diagnosed at 3 and a half years old...more than half her life has been with type 1.

JULES is 5 years old and in Kindergarten. Bryce and I were at the diabetes clinic the day Jules was diagnosed in March 2009. My heart went out to her mom, Janet, because I knew the feeling of complete shock she had to be experiencing. I only had a few minutes to talk to her that day but was thrilled to see her a couple months later at a coffee group put together by JDRF.

KATE is 8 years old and in 3rd grade. While diabetes was no stranger in their house (her father has been type 1 for 22 years), her diagnosis in August 2009 was still a huge adjustment for everyone. Her mom, Karen, has become a regular at the JDRF coffee groups and someone I look forward to seeing every month.

While our team is walking WITH these 4 awesome kids, we are walking FOR ALL kids and adults living with type one. With your help and support, we will get closer to that cure so that one day they can say "I HAD diabetes!!"

giveaway!!!

Head over to Meri's at Our Diabetic Life for another great giveaway.

She is giving away a couple prize packs full of her favorite things...

Contigo Kids Trekker mugs

Spibelts

gift certificate to Medic Alert

What are you waiting for? Check it out now!

D can't hide

In a week of 'invisible illness' posts....D couldn't hide with us!

Bryce doesn't let D go unseen and shows off his cgm and pump at the football game.

"Hey look, he has a fanny pack" "no, that is his insulin pump" "oh"

We call this "frat boy in training" It was probably about 60 degrees and pouring rain! Our boy is truly crazy! (we did make him put his shirt back on)

At this point in the game, we finally had his bg in range. When we got there, he was a whopping 40. Of course that turned into a 340 after juice and a go-gurt (bolused). This pic, taken after half time, he was back down to 196 and feeling good.....really good!! Can you tell?

playtime

My boys often play "diabetes." They have a ton of extra D supplies to test their stuffed animals with, etc. Yesterday my 5 year old D son was testing his little 2 year old brother. Didn't think much about it. Turns out he had gotten out his real loaded AccuCheck multiclix and was actually poking his finger... and my 2 year old didn't even care!!! Think he got about 7 finger pokes. Good thing is, his bg was in range (109) :-)

Of course Bryce later wanted to test my bg. I have a huge fear of needles (go figure!) I was kinda scared of getting pricked. Had to take a second to think about how ridiculous it is that I have pricked my son over 10,000 times, and he barely notices. Here I was scared about it. He pricked my finger...a couple times. Yeah, still not a fan of it!

TrialNet

A couple months ago I had my 2 non-D kids' blood drawn for TrialNet to see if they had the antibodies that mean they could develop diabetes.

Today, I got back a notice for ONE of them that he tested negative.

Yes, I am relieved. But I wasn't too worried about him because he had been tested previously, as were my hubby and I, and had come back negative. HOWEVER, I am most concerned about my littlest one. He wasn't tested with the rest of us because he wasn't old enough at the time.

So now, here I am left wondering why we didn't get a notice about him yet?

It will come tomorrow, or the next day. But they were done at the same time, why not get both results? They were probably processed by different people and the other person wasn't as fast. But what if it is taking longer because they found something? Well if they found something, we will deal with it. Why am I worrying about something I have no control over. Wait it out and we will find out soon enough.

Now if I can just take my own advice, I will be able to sleep tonight.

(sleep...hah! that is funny, isn't it?)

***yep, got the notice a day later. My younger son was negative. Whew!!

we find them everywhere!

others

A little over a year ago, our local JDRF chapter started a coffee group for us D-moms. There has been a core group of about 4 of us who consistently meet each month and a few that come every once in a while. I love this time with these other ladies because they get it. They know what it means when I say "he went from 250 to 50 in half an hour." They know the long nights, the worries, the frustrations. We learn from each other, support each other, and listen to each other. We all get it...no matter if our child is a toddler or a pre-teen, boy or girl, newly diagnosed or a veteran, on a pump or mdi. We meet once a month and try to cram all our questions and D stories into a couple hours over a cup of coffee.

Today was our first coffee group after taking the summer off. We had a great turn out-I think 8 Dmoms. I only wish there was enough time to get to talk to everyone and meet the new gals. I hope they continue to come and be a part of our group.

I hope too, that they find you guys, the DOC. I love to hear (or read) your stories. There are so many posts that seem as if they are taken straight from my head/heart and put out there by others. You make me laugh, you make me cry, but most of all, you make me feel not so alone on this crazy journey. Thank you to all the other Dmoms who get it!!

failed!!!

Just as we were going to bed last night, Bryce's sensor failed. Good timing!

Damn you DEX! Is it cuz I talked about taking a break from you? Can you blame me? You have been so unreliable...missing those lows (he was in the 50s not 100s!) or worrying me that Bryce was too high (348..really was 217) Anytime I threaten to ignore your lies, you tell me the truth. Then I think we are going to get along just fine. And what do you do? You lie again. Well not this time, this time you didn't even know what to say. ???. That is what you gave me, over and over and over. Then just gave up. Now the question is, when do I give up???

40 to 340

gotta love it! ergh

Walk Team update

Less than a month till our Walk to Cure Diabetes. 'Bryce's Team: Wipeout Diabetes' currently has 47 walkers registered (and at least 5 more still to sign up) and have raised over $2000. Just got out my fundraising letter this afternoon, planning to finish the video this weekend. Hoping to blow out last years numbers (25 walkers, raised over $8000)

If we could just take a piece of his pancreas....

While waiting for the school bus this afternoon, I was talking to my neighbor who has a daughter in Bryce's kindergarten class. I was telling her about our JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes and that Bryce really wants them to be on our team. I also gave her one of our fundraising letters. We were still talking about it when the kids got off the bus. Being a curious 5 year old, the daughter asked what we were talking about so her mom said "you know the thing that T has? Well Bryce has just the opposite." Turns out her cousin's son has something called hyperinsulinism...his pancreas makes TOO MUCH insulin!!! They are able to control it with oral meds but still has instances of low blood sugars so, just like us, needs to have juice or quick sugars and glucagon close by. Now if we could just take a piece of his pancreas and replace it with Bryce's, we could solve both problems!! (if only it could be that easy!!)

Another great giveaway

Head over to D-Tales and sign up for the latest giveaway....

20% off coupon for everyone and

lucky winners will get a silicone medical id bracelet

These are the kind of bracelets that Bryce has been wearing since his diagnosis...they are GREAT! So don't miss out on winning one of your own.

officially a crazy Dmom

Well at least that is what the school nurse probably thinks after all our talks about "if this, then that. but if this, then that" etc. She has revised Bryce's health plans multiple times as I think of something. His plan has added pages, etc. As you other Dmoms know, there are a lot of contingencies with D and it is hard to write them out. When all the what-ifs are taken out, he really is just being tested when he arrives then again before snack. But we have to talk about when he is low, high, if he eats, if Dex alarms, etc. There are so many things that I want to know (to make adjustments, etc) but aren't important to school. Plus he has a pump and cgm so need instructions on those. Anyhow, when we went over everything I said and compared them with the doctor's orders, it looked like I was wanting to keep him between 150-160. Yeah, I wish that was possible. See, I had said that if he was under 150 when he got to school, to give him a 5g snack & doctor orders say to correct for a high if over 160. No wonder she thinks I am nuts! Well the 160 is cuz his pump would only correct him down to the high range so when it was set at 80-200, he was always in the 200s till we changed that target. Anyhow, I am hoping that when we have been doing this routine for a couple weeks and I have a better feel for Bryce's numbers, that we can simplify his Dcare at school. I really am not a neurotic Dmom with control issues (and we have a high a1c to prove it!)

1st Day of School digressions

Well today was the first day of school. I know many of you went through this a week or two ago and I have been reading all about it trying to prepare myself for this moment as Bryce enters Kindergarten.

I haven't been able to sleep these past few nights. Kept going through everything in my head....

Do I have all the supplies, enough juice boxes, directions for the meter/pump/cgm, will he be high/low, should I have him test at a different time, what if....

I know everything will be fine once we are in the groove of school. Well, I think that once we have a routine, it will be no prob. Right? We will be able to predict what his blood sugars will do. HAH! Who am I kidding? This is D we are talking about...once you figure out the pattern, it up and changes!!! We haven't changed any pump settings because of this... he was running high so we TALKED about upping his basals and guess what?...these past two days he's running low.

But I digress....

Today was the first day of school.

Nobody was happy to wake up early...especially since it was so cold and dreary outside. We made breakfast, got everyone dressed, and headed off to school to get my oldest to his 2nd grade class. Bryce was a huge grump (maybe due to being high from breakfast) and I wasn't much better (lack of sleep & no coffee) But we got big brother happily into his classroom.

Bryce doesn't start Kindergarten till after lunch so tried to run errands (bad idea with tired cranky mommy and no coffee) Bryce and little brother were not getting along and it was really frustrating me. Yelled more than I should have and sent Bryce to his room for tormenting his little brother. Few mins later, went in and tested him...63. Maybe his behavior was due to his bgs crashing. Boy did I feel like a great Dmom then!!!

Again, I digress!!

Today was the first day of kindergarten.

After lunch, Bryce got his backpack and we put his D kit in it, took a few pictures, and met the bus at the corner. I told the bus driver he has diabetes and that he may need to drink juice or eat a snack. He told me he was diabetic so he understood (yeah, sure, probably type 2)

Regardless, I did feel better about that since it is about a 20 mins bus ride (and yes, we could walk there faster!). So off to school he went. I waited around a bit then went to the school to meet him when the bus arrived. He sat with some of his classmates before the teacher led them inside.

Now the plan is for Bryce to go into the office to be tested and drop off his kit. Today the nurse was there as well as the secretary that will be taking care of all his D needs. We tested him, he was 124 (great! but after a big lunch? uh had me worried) Decided to make a change to the plan that if he is under 150 to give him 5g snack (hmmmm, maybe?? really depends on what the morning was like....but can't explain all that) I could feel the nurse roll her eyes at having to add another contingency to his plan (maybe she wasn't. she comes across very nice and accommodating but maybe inside she was rolling her eyes...I would have been!)

ok, digressing again and getting tired of writing. And this post is nothing like I wanted it to be. So I will just wrap it up...

I had locked my keys in the car. Needed my mom to come and bring me my spare keys so I could leave the school. Came back and tested before snack/recess (again to show how to do it to the secretary) Then met my boys at the bus stop after school.

When I asked them how school was, they both said "GREAT!"

Whew! Think I can sleep tonight. Well maybe, if it wasn't for Dex telling us Bryce is low!

D is not just for Diabetes...

D is also for Ducks...the Oregon Ducks to be exact.

Oh yes, college football season has begun!! GO DUCKS!!

the boys and their daddy outside the stadium

So what does D look like at a game??

Well it was a blow out....Ducks won 72-0. Some say it was boring but I am ok with that kind of boring. Nice to have a day where all the numbers are going our way :-)

My lil' Ducks on the field after the game

two test strips long

How long was the baby blue tail skink my boys caught today?

exactly two test strips long!

charger

Today was the start of College Football Season (yes, capitalized) It is a huge part of our life as we have season tickets. More on that later....

So what this means is that we are bringing D on the road every time there is a game.

meter-check

extra pump supplies-check

snacks/low treatment stuff-check

extra sensor for Dex-check

scale-check

Well tonight after a wonderful game (72-0), Dex told me I forgot one thing that I can't just run to the store and pick up....his charger! GRRRR!

As my hubby said, we lived years without a cgm, we will be fine for a day or two. True. I probably need this break from Dex anyhow.

prizes & another giveaway

Candy Hearts had a BLOGwarming giveaway last month and if you didn't know, I won! :-)

Oh and as if she didn't give away enough already....Candy Hearts is doing ANOTHER giveaway so go check it out! (think I can win again??I sure wish!)

Well, back to me. Some of the great stuff I won came in today. SOOOO Exciting!!!

Thanks for the Cookie Mix from Jules Gluten Free. Any one who knows me, knows I LOVE cookies!!! Can't wait to try these!

And look at the cute necklace that I got from The Text Kitten....

I am already wearing it proudly!

Thanks thanks thanks Wendy for your great giveaways! Will post the other things as they come in...yep, there is more, lots more! :-)

Want to win something? Check out The Pump and the Princess and Candy Hearts for their latest giveaways.

muffin muncher

Finally got a zucchini from our garden. The dang squirrels have been eating off the blossom ends all summer (besides it has been so cold) that we haven't gotten any until now. So I decided to make some zucchini mini-muffins.

Well, I should know that if my little 2 year old disappears and is quiet, it's time to worry. Turns out he was in the kitchen. Apparently they were good muffins cuz this is what I found ....

a little bite out of each muffin (and a few completely gone!)

Brinner

So I LOVE breakfast...pretty much all of it. Waffles, eggs, french toast, oatmeal, cereal, pancakes, bacon, sausage, bagels, muffins, you get the point. So the idea of brinner (breakfast for dinner) always makes me happy. Tonight we had pancakes. Yes, pancakes, full of quick acting carbs. So even though we don't use syrup but whipped cream instead, it still adds up to be about 90g for all that Bryce eats (best guestimate of course) We have the I:C ratio figured out...for morning. And boy it sure didn't relate to night time pancake consumption. Instead of a quick raise like we get in the morning, Bryce's bgs kept dropping and dropping. Juice box, cookie, couple handfuls of raisins...and turned off his basal! We eventually got him to 145. Still a lot IOB (insulin on board-the amount theoretically still working) Been holding steady there for a while. Oh, but Dex just called...348!

HELLO REBOUND!!

Ergh!

Diabetes Art Day