Diabetes Sucks!!

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

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

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

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!!!

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

Challenge Accepted

I have accepted the challenge of being a parent to 2 amazing child, Aly (8) and Joel (2), but believe me parenting is not all Unicorns, Rainbows, and Glitter. 

No parenting is hard 24/7/365 never ending work. For at least 18 years and then many more you are attached to your children through the good, glad, ugly, and disgusting times. 

Most parents would never change that they became parents and still will do everything in their power to raise the best, productive, honest, courteous, amazing adults that they can.

I accepting the role of parent at the young ripe age of 20 and definitely have different parenting styles now with my son than I did with my daughter. I have learned more and had a lot more practice parenting when my son came along.

Like I said though parenting is not all glamorous even though we would all love to think it is. Parenting is never ending even once they grow up, are married, and may loves miles and miles away. We are still their parents and are there for them if they need us.

There are a few things that challenge me in my parenting skills even to this day like

What behaviors should I punish and which ones should I let go?

We as parents have probably heard the saying "Pick your battles wisely", as most of you know my daughter Aly has Type 1 diabetes, when a Type 1 diabetics blood sugars are out of whack either high or low this can lead to temperament issues and disobedience, not always intentional. 

So I am challenged with when her blood sugars are not in range what behaviors do I punish and which do I let slide because of her diabetes? When is the appropriate time for those punishments? Will she really get the lesson from what I am trying to teach her by receiving punishment since she is not feeling food? If her numbers are in range and she gets scolded, did she do it because she was spiking upward quickly or plummeting to a low blood sugar quickly. 

There are just so many what if, why nots, and how comes in punishment.

Getting my children to eat all their food.

Meal time for me is not easy some days with both of my children like many households across the world. For my daughter Aly I have to count every angle carbohydrate that is going to go through her body and give her the appropriate insulin amount to cover those carbohydrates BEFORE she eats! This can cause issues on days that she decides that she does not want to finish her meals because she either doesn't like what is on her plate, gets full, or just wants to go play. On days like this I have to be the evil mommy and make her sit there until all food has been consumed in a timely manner.

Aly is a picky eater like myself so I have sworn to myself that with my son Joel I will introduce him to more foods than I ever did with Aly even though I don't even eat most of the foods I give him to try/eat. Now Joel is not a Type 1 diabetic but I still want Jim to just like his sister eat everything on his plate. Now if you are a parent you know how lets call it "fun" that it can be to try and get a 2 year old to listen.

I work on this challenge daily!

Cleaning

Cleaning in this household is a fight! My daughter HATES to clean and will throw hour long fits when cleaning comes up, she hates it and refuses to do it. She has excuse Ayer excuse as towhy she won't do it  .. I didn't make the mess my friends did, my brother made the mess, I don't want to, I don't care if it is messy, and the list of excuses goes on.

My son Joel now he is another story, he will help clean up in a heart beat. 

I will admit that I am not the best housewife out there but I work on this daily to better myself and my daughter. Cleaning is something that is never going to go away for her or myself so my challenge to myself in parenting is to teach her that cleaning is a necessity and must be done without a fight.

Now I know I am not the only parent out there will challenges thatI face in regars to parenting ... What are some of YOUR challenges?

Challenge accepted! Today is Day 3 of #A4Amonth carnival. The prompt is: write about challenges you face as a parent, caregiver, or advocate

Favorite Things

#A4AMonth

August 22 

Day 2: These are A Few of My Favorite Things Post

List time! 

Write 5-10 of your favorite things about your loved one. Celebrate their uniqueness and be sure to tell us why those are your favorite things. 

So this week I am participating in the WEGO Health Advocating For Another Blog Carnival, today's topics is 5-10 of my favorite things about my daughter Alyse.

There are so many things that I love about my daughter and her personality but I will narrow it down a bit.

 The first thing that I love about my daughter is that she never lets anything hold her back. When she sets her mind to getting something done she gets it done. (now she is only 8 so some days this is better than others)

I love that my daughter is coming out of her shell with children her age. She usually is a shy child and will not stick up for herself in situations. This year she was placed in a class with a girl that she had issues with last year, Aly talked to the girl the 2nd day into school and explained that her pump site had a metal needle that is in her at all times and when the girl would push her it hurt. The girl apologized and said she never knew. While the girl was in the wrong for pushing Aly last year I was proud of my daughter for talking to this child and explaining how she felt.

Aly is the best big sister around. She is always looking out for her little brother and most of the she tries to include  him in the things that she is doing

Another favorite things is that's he tells me that my cooking is better than all the restraurants. She loves her mom as cooking

My last but not final favorite thing about Aly is that she is my fighter, my daughter, the reason I am the person that I am today. She looks like me, talks like me, acts like me, and well is just a mini me all around and she is my hero. 

These are a few of my favorite things :)