big cake

John and I were going through some old photos and came across this one from last year of Bryce eating a HUGE piece of chocolate cake.....It almost made us cry!  

Date Night

This afternoon, John took Jaden to the Blazers basketball game.  Thought it would be a good opportunity for me to do something special with Bryce, so my mom came over to watch Drew.  He was so interested in playing with his "robots" (he uses straws, legos, pipecleaners, anything he finds around to make these things) that I didn't think we would ever get out of the house.  We eventually left and just went to McDonald's so he could play on the climbing structure.  Okay, so not very interactive since I won't climb through those little tunnels but at least it was something active and fun for him.  After playing for a bit, I got him an ice cream cone as a treat (it was snack time for him and activity lowers blood sugars).  We chatted as he ate his ice cream cone and the whole time I am thinking about how many carbs it may have.  I looked online before we left and the McD's website said that a kid's cone was 8 and a "low fat vanilla" cone was like 26.  Not sure which he had since our only option was vanilla or chocolate dipped.  Anyhow, he didn't eat the actual cone (I got that...mmm) so maybe he got 12?, 20? who knows.  He then went back and ran thru the climbing structure again with some kids.  As I watched him, my thoughts were of if he was going to go low from all the activity, did he have enough carbs or was the ice cream too much and he still needed to run, and how long before I test him, etc.  Simple playtimes are no longer simple for us.  Luckily, he is a kid and just plays...I will be the one to worry and calculate carbs, etc.  My wish is for him to not miss out on the fun of childhood because of diabetes.  Even if it means having to make adjustments later to correct for an ice cream cone that we don't know the carb count for.

chosen

Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice, a few by social pressures and a couple by habit. Did you ever wonder how mothers of children with diabetes are chosen? Somehow I visualize God hovering over earth selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to make notes in a giant ledger. 

"Armstrong, Beth, son. Patron Saint Matthew." 

"Forrest, Marjorie, daughter, Patron Saint Cecilia." 

"Rutledge, Carrie, twins. Patron Saint Gerard. He's used to profanity." 

Finally, He passes a name to an angel and smiles, "Give her a child with diabetes." The angel is curious. "Why this one, God? She's so happy." 

"Exactly", smiles God. "Could I give child with diabetes to a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel". 

"But has she the patience?" asks the angel. 

"I don't want her to have too much patience, or she will drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it. I watched her today. She has that feeling of self and independence that is so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I am going to give her has her own world. She has to make it live in her world and that's not going to be easy." 

"But, Lord, I don't think she even believes in you." 

God smiles. "No matter. I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness." 

The angel gasps. "Selfishness? Is that a virtue?" 

God nods. "If she cannot separate herself from the child occasionally, she will never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with less than perfect." 

"She does not realize it yet, but she is to be envied. I will permit her to see clearly the things I see .... ignorance, cruelty, prejudice ... and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as if she is here by my side." 

"And what about her patron saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in mid air. God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."

by Erma Bombeck

syringe shortage

I knew I was running low on insulin syringes. It had been a couple months of daily shots afterall. So when I checked on Monday and we were completely out, I went right away to the pharmacy to get more.  They were out but could get them in the following morning.  I wasn't too happy about this cuz multiple trips to the pharmacy with three kids (or even just 2) is not easy, plus Bryce needs his insulin!  Luckily I found two syringes with our testing kit.  Perfect, that would get us through dinner and breakfast then our syringes would be in.  At least that was what I thought until I got a phone call the next afternoon saying that our order did not arrive!  I wasn't sure what I was going to do.  I had already scoured the house looking for extra syringes to no avail.  Yes, I could go to a different pharmacy but what a pain!  I then realized that Jaden's classmate who also has diabetes, may have extra syringes.  I called her mom and got her just before she was headed out for pick up.  She brought me three syringes.   What a life saver!  I am very fortunate to have a family that knows what we are going through because they have been here themselves.  In the future, I will make sure to get my refill well before I run out!!

so much for so little

Those little containers of Tillamook yogurt have 39g of carbs in them!!!  To put that into perspective, Bryce gets 30g each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and only 15g for snacks.  So one tiny 6oz yogurt is more that he can have for one meal!  Well my boys all love yogurt and Bryce really wanted one of the Tillamook ones so he opted to get an extra shot of insulin to cover the high carbs.  Hope it was worth it...

HIgh

Over winter break, Bryce's blood sugar levels were all over the board which I chalked up to the fact that our schedule was all off plus we were doing a lot of guestimates on the carb count for the various holiday yummies.  Now that we are back into our everyday routine and eating schedule, Bryce's levels have been consistently high.  We have adjusted his insulin a couple times now, but it doesn't seem to be having an effect.  Anytime we up his insulin, I worry about him going low. Not the case lately, in fact, he has been so high that he has required an additional shot at lunch time. And even that hasn't dropped him low.  The thing that sucks is that anything could be causing this from a growth spurt, to fighting off a cold, to the honeymoon period coming to an end (after a person is diagnosed, they go through a 'honeymoon' where their body starts to make some of its own insulin.  this can last a few weeks to a couple years)  Does this get easier?  I don't believe so, we just learn to roll with it and make the adjustments needed.  

2008 summary

I didn't write a newsletter this year like I usually do.  It isn't that I didn't have anything to write about.  Quite the contrary, it was a very busy year.  We had a couple trips to California including visiting San Francisco twice and So Cal for my brother in law's wedding and a couple days at Disneyland.  Drew was born and he is such an awesome baby that fills our home and hearts with such joy.  Jaden learned to read and continues to draw and write amazing stories. He started Kindergarten (I contemplated the homeschooling thing but decided he needed time away, as did I)  Bryce started preschool where Jaden used to go.  Both boys took swim lessons and are doing so well in the water.  We braved another camping trip, this time with a newborn and this time it was a huge success and lots of fun.  Anyhow, lots of fun happened in 2008 but with that, it was also a very challenging year for us (as it was for many families)  Our greyhound, Jasmine, got congenital heart failure and had to be put down...we still look for her to come greet us at the door.  Of course our biggest challenge was Bryce's diagnosis of diabetes.  While at the time I thought our world was falling apart.  Now that we have lived with it for over 2 months, it isn't so bad afterall.  Wouldn't wish it on anyone but it is managable.  I love my sweet little guy (I love all my sweet little guys...and I have plenty of them!!)  May 2009 be an enjoyable, healthy year!