Thursday, September 27, 2012

Diabetes Sucks!!

Yes ladies and gentlemen I have said it!!! Diabetes SUCKS!!



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Monday, September 24, 2012

Diabetes is a mean bully

Today has not been our best day with respects to Alys diabetes. Ever since this after noon Aly has been anywhere from HIGH to no lower than 530.

I have given her a shot of Apidra to bypass the pump and am also changing her site.

We never really have issues with using her stomach for her sites so I am not sure what is going on.

Diabetes is being a mean bully today

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Like an infant

In my opinion having a diabetic child in your home is in some ways like having an infant in your home.

With an infant as the parent you have many responsibilities to take care of your child especially through the night ... You get up every few hours to feed them and re diaper them, you stay up at night when they are fussy, and you check on them frequently to make sure they are still breathing

Well ladies and gentleman ... This is exact ally what us parents of Type 1 diabetics do every single night from the night of diagnosis until the night that our children leave our homes and go off into the world.

We as parents of Type 1 diabetics have to get up every few hours to check our child\'s blood sugars to make sure that they are in a safe range, if our child\'s blood sugar is low we have to wake our children up to eat/drink to bring their blood sugars up to a safe and stable range. If our child\'s blood sugar is high we have to give them a correction dose (bolus) of insulin to make sure that their blood sugar comes back down to a stable range. When our child\'s numbers are out of range that means we must wake up even more frequently that night to check their blood sugar levels and make sure they stay in the safe range.

As the parents of Type 1 diabetics some of us also have to check our children for restroom accidents. Yes this is not as common in most cases but when a Type 1 Diabetics blood sugars are high to get rid of the extra glucose in their system the body\'s response is to get it out via urination. In these cases some children with Type 1 diabetes wear pull ups to bed and should an accident occur we parents must deal with those pull up changes.

We also as parents of Type 1 diabetics just like parents of newborns dread what is referred to in the diabetes realm as dead in bed, this is where a Type 1 diabetic does to bed as usual and never awakes, just like what would happen in a SIDS infant. This is a rare occurrence but all of us parents wether you have an infant, a non diabetic child, or a diabetic child fear losing our children, I know I do! I know I as a mom to a Type 1 diabetic fear this happening every night!!

So like I said in my opinion in many ways I think raising a child with Type 1 diabetes is like raising an infant except our children don\'t grow out of this disease so while it is our routine now .. It will be our child\'s routine when they start managing their own diabetes

Sunday, September 16, 2012

So eternally grateful!!

I am so eternally grateful to my church family at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.

A few months ago my daughters Medtronic insulin pump that we have had which was no longer under warranty stopped working properly, we got continuous "motor errors". I contacted Medtronic and they advised us that they could send us a loaner pump for 90 days but after that we would need to purchase a new insulin pump and our copayment was going to be $2500.

As a family my husband and I were concerned as to how we would get this amount of money to be able to pay for a new insulin pump while also still trying to pay our bills.

My church found out that we were in need of money to cover Alys insulin pump and today I found out that our Women's League is generously donating funding to us to help cover a portion of Alys insulin pump costs.

I am so thankful to this amazing church family. We will never be able to repay their generosity but we will be forever thankful.

This amazing group of people are going to help us keep great control of Alys blood sugars and help give Aly the best life possible.

Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!!!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

It's official

A few months ago Alys insulin pump after 5 years of use decided that it was done, it had served it's time in the work force and we kept getting motor errors. Luckily Medtronic sent us a 90 day loaner to get us through until we decided our next step.

Luckily for me right after her pump crapped out I had the pleasure of going to the AADE12 conference and getting to play with all the pumps out there n the market, some that aren't even out yet, and One I had never even heard of.

There are so many amazing choices out there, tubeless pumps, pumps with remote, touch screen pumps, and a few other options. Before you choose an insulin pump for yourself or your child I personally say check them ALL out, they all offer the same basic concepts but different amenities.

I was really impressed with the Animas OneTouch Ping, it is waterproof for up to 24 hours at 12 feet deep (we WILL NOT be testing that max), it has a remote that is also your blood glucose meter, it uses the One Touch Ultra test strips that we already use, and it comes with great reviews from other users that I have had the pleasure of speaking with.

So it is official, we got the insurance approval today to purchase the One Touch Ping, we look forward to being Animas customers