Difficult Conversations

Over the summer, I got an email from JDRF telling me about a free diabetes weekend camp that was coming up in October.  The camp would pick 20 T1 (ages 8-12 I think) kids from Arizona and host them for a weekend with full medical staff, etc.  They were going to pick the kids lottery style, fill out all the paperwork, get it returned by the deadline and they'd draw names and let us know who got picked.  I didn't even tell Kortnie that I was going to put her paperwork in, no sense in getting her hopes up just in case she didn't get picked.  Well, last week, I got an email, and she did get picked to go.  I was excited for her and told her about it.

Me:  Kork!  You got picked to go to a FREE diabetes camp, for a weekend in October, in Sedona!!

Kork:  What camp?  Where is Sedona, how come I can't go to my regular camp in Payson?

Me:  It's just like your regular camp, but only 3 days, and in October, and FREE!

Kork:  Will I know anyone there?  I read her the names of the other campers picked, she unfortunatly didn't recognize any of them.  Um, I don't know, I don't know if I should go, who will take care of me?

Me:  Kork, it's a camp that has special camping weekends for kids with illness, they have doctors and nurses and JDRF will be there too, it'll be fun, they have horses and archery.....I get on the website....Camp Soaring Eagle.....and read her this description....."Camp Soaring Eagle provides year round, medically supervised, camping programs to children and family members from across Arizona with chronic and life threatening illnesses."

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS DIFFICULT

Kork:  What does Chronic and Life Threatening illness mean?

Me:  Um, well, Chronic means forever, you will have diabetes forever or until they get a cure, so diabetes is a Chronic Illness.

Kork: What is life threatening?

Me:  Um, well, ya know, um, well, like, uh....like I'm always telling you to take care of yourself and listen to your body and take care of your blood sugars and stuff?

Kork:  Yeeeeeeessssssssss......

Me:  Well, you know how I say we need to take care of your diabetes so that you don't get sick.

Kork:  Yeeeeeeeeessssssss...........

Me:  Well, if you don't take care of it, you can get sick, and if you get too much sick, you could die, that is what life threatening means.

Kork:  So, I could die from diabetes?

Me:  Well, I guess.....but, we won't let that happen....we will always make sure you are taken care of.

That's it folks, that is it right there.  She could die because of stupid diabetes.  It is Chronic and it is Life Threatening.  

No parent ever imagines having this kind of a conversation with their kids.

When she was first diagnosed almost 4 years ago, we were in the hospital, and she was confused about what was happening to her.  We were trying to tell her that she had this disease and a part of her body didn't work right, so she had to have shots every day to help her body  do the things it needed to do.  She was just barely 5 and she just didn't understand completely.  She kept asking us over and over, "I will have to do this until I die?" and I kept answering back with "for the rest of your life, you will have to do this".  I was too shocked and devastated and I couldn't bear to hear her say "until I die" so I kept correcting it to "for the rest of your life".

Somehow, we must have glossed over the fact that diabetes can kill.  And, that's okay, she didn't really need to know at age 5, 6, 7, 8, or even now, did she?  Somehow, I let the cat out of the bag.  I felt pretty crappy about it, but I made sure to let her know that I would never let that happen.  She went off to school and seemed fine with that new information, but there have been little things here and there that make me think that while she's "okay" she's also thinking about it.

Over the weekend, she showed me that she had put a bottle of glucose tabs, a juice box, a glucagon, and 2 vials of test strips next to her bed.

She's been asking me every morning what her blood sugar was overnight.  "What were my numbers last night, mom?"

Yesterday, on the way to her music theater class I had her check her blood sugar in the car.  She was 59.  I told her "have a juice, and lower your basal -90% for one hour", she says to me.  "I guess I should do better about checking myself right when I feel low, sometimes I'm just playing and having fun, and I feel low, but I don't feel like checking, and I just think 'oh, it's almost lunch' or 'oh, we are going to music theater in a minute and mom will tell me to check' so I keep playing because it's fun, I guess I should check when I feel low". 

 She had been jumping on the trampoline with her sister right before we left for her class.  I figured she must have felt low on the trampoline but didn't want to stop jumping.  So, I just said to her, "yeah, you should check when you feel low, you know, you can check whenever you need to, you don't have to wait for lunch or when I tell you to check"  We've always told her that she can check her BG whenever she wants.

Somehow, I guess, that conversation was a turning point, I'm sure there'll be many turning points over the years.  Bittersweet is the only way to describe it.  

She's thinking about her T1 and she's thinking about how she feels and what she needs to do to take care of herself, and that is good.

No 9 year old kid should have to think about how to keep themselves alive.

No kid at any age should have to think about how to keep themselves alive.

No one at all should have to put so much thought into not dying.

This kid,especially, shouldn't have to think about dying.

Screw You Diabetes, Screw You.

Happy Birthday Kortnie!

Today Kortnie turns 9!

 

 

Time flies by and all of a sudden my crazy blonde baby girl is 9 years old. 

 

Holy Cow!

 

What an amazing ride it's been, and we all look forward to 100 more years of amazing.

 

Kortnie has had T1D for 3 years and 7 months, over a third of her short life.

 

Kortnie has been pumping insulin for 3 years and 2 weeks, still over a third of her life.

 

 

Despite all the craziness in her personal life she keeps on keeping on.

She likes to play Soccer, she likes to Dance, she loves to go fishing and camping.  She loves to play with her friends, she loves her little brother and big sister, and she likes to help me with my daycare kids.  She likes to go on bike rides and she likes to go to the driving range to hit some balls. She likes jumping on the trampoline.  She loves all animals and knows many off the wall facts about them. She likes school and does well in it.  She is kind, loving, caring, compassionate, smart, pretty, talented, witty, funny, silly, and the best middle kid that Brian and I ever had!

 

She has Type 1 Diabetes but it doesn't have her. 

 

We've come a long way baby.  At one point I wasn't so sure we'd ever make it, but we are making it, one day at a time.

Here is a post on our family blog about her first birthday after diagnosis.

 

Here are a few pictures of my girl throughout the years.

 

Kortnie around 1

Kork at her 3rd birthday

5 years old-just months before diagnosis

Kork at 6 in Denver!

 

Korky at 7

Almost 4 years old in Hawaii

Korky at 8 shopping for new clothes in Phoenix

 

Everyone Loves You Kortnie!  Hope you have a fantastic birthday!

 

In honor of Kortnie's 9th birthday we are asking if anyone is willing to donate towards her JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes fundraising page.  How about $9 for her 9th birthday, or $3 for living 1/3rd of her life with pumping with an insulin pump, or how about $3.70 for living 3 years 7 months with D.

 

 



Recital Night

It's Kortnie's recital night tonight.  I just dropped her off at her show (my family and I are going to tomorrow's show, we couldn't get tickets for both nights).  I dropped her off with her test kit, a few snacks, some glucose tabs and juice box, and a couple water bottles and her cell phone.  She goes on as performance #26 so she'll be hanging out backstage with her pals for a good while.  I could have stayed backstage with her, but she wanted to do it on her own, so I let her.  I will be going down to check on her a few times, and once my husband gets home from work, I may just go sit there with her.  Usually at dance practice she drops low and I put her pump on a  -50% basal rate, but tonight she was high when I dropped her off 386, probably because she was excited and nervous.  I told her to check her BG again and call me in an hour.  By then Brian will be home and I'll be headed down there to check on her.  Check on her BG, check on her hair and makeup. 

 

Here she is all ready to go, looking all grown up with her stage makeup.  Sweet and Sassy, I can't wait to see her dance tomorrow night!

 



Mom Goes a Little Crazy

This past weekend, the kids and I took a trip to Utah.  The reason for the trip was a baby blessing (like a christening...sorta) on our new niece.  My parents don't live far from where we were going to be, so they came up for a day to see us too.  So we spent one day with my side of the family, and one day with my husband's side of the family.

 

We left Friday after school.  Usually when we travel long distances Kortnie's BG is higher than normal, I guess it's all that sitting.  So, I checked her when I picked her up, she was in range, I let her have a cookie and a cheese stick, bolused for the cookie, and upped her basal rate 50%, that is pretty standard for us to do on road trips.

 

We drove nine hours, the kids did great, we only stopped twice, Kortnie's blood sugar stayed in range with the help of that +50% basal increase.  We got to our hotel at midnight, I checked her BG and she was good, so I didn't set a 2:30am alarm, I just set the alarm for 6:30am.  She woke up with good numbers and I was happy.

 

Saturday we ate breakfast at the hotel, which is very carby, waffles, bagels, Danish, muffins, etc.  She had 2 mini waffles, 1/2 a bagel with peanut butter, a mini muffin, some eggs, and bacon.  That is a lot of food and a lot of carbs, but we were on vacation, so I let her have it.  Bolused and set a basal increase.  We headed over to meet my parents and go to the zoo, all was well, her numbers were doing okay.  Then she got a little pissy, so I had her check, she was 318, okay, so that is why she is a little irritated, no biggie though, she had all those carbs for breakfast, gave her a bolus and a bottle of water.  All is well, around 45 minutes later we went for lunch and this is where everything went to hell.

 

She was in range, like 120's.  I should have known something was up.  We had a sandwich and a small bag of chips, I bolused her for that, she still had IOB from the 318 a little earlier, we had been walking and walking, and I still decided to give her the whole lunch bolus.  I guess I wasn't thinking. After I bolused her my mom brings out cookies.  Kortnie picks a tub of Nutter Butters.

 

 

Then my son tells me he doesn't want the crust on his sandwich so I tell him he doesn't have to eat it, well she says she doesn't want her crust either, so I said to her "I guess, you don't have to eat it, the cookies will make up for it, but eat all of the meat and cheese", well she threw away 1/2 of her bread, ate the meat and cheese and started on the cookies slowly, and then later I found out she didn't eat her chips either.  We were walking back into the zoo, and she started stumbling and grabbing at my arm.  We were there with just 3 adults and 6 kids, so I was kind of like "what are you doing?" and then I turned and looked at her and realized she was LOW, I mean by now I can tell just by looking, but she was F'd up and drunkard stumbling and just a mess.  Right then my mom who doesn't know what is going on says "oh look a bird show, lets go sit and watch", I'm like "YES, let's do it!" I'm searching in my backpack for a juice, get the juice out, dad is parking the stroller, mom is corralling 4 kids, I'm trying to get Kortnie a juice and corral my youngest, can't find the freaking straw for the juice, somehow we get sat down and I find a Quickstick in my bag, I'm ripping it open and pouring it in her mouth, getting her checker out and it says 42, but she has a lot of insulin on board.  She's crying and saying that she was walking and everything went black and her stomach hurts.  This one scared her and me too.

 

Behind Kortnie is her sister, her cousin, my dad, my nephew, and my mom, nobody knows our dilemma.

 

I found some skittles and smarties in my backpack, she wanted skittles, so I was handing her a few, the birds started flying and skimming our heads, it was pretty cool, she liked it and perked right up.  Phew!  We sat for half an hour or so, she loved the bird show, she ate a few more skittles and asked me why this low was worse than another low of 29 (twenty nine and doing just fine!) she'd had once.  I told her because I think this one came on fast, she was dropping fast and still dropping and excited about the zoo and in a different place and we'd been walking around all day and were still tired from travelling the night before.  Who knows, really, Diabetes is just crazy like that. 

 

After the bird show we go up to leave and my mom was remarking how it was nice to sit and watch the show and rest for a little bit and I said, "yes, we were having some issues and I'm glad we had a show to watch because we needed to sit and fix Kortnie up"  so mom and dad were like "what we didn't even realize!"  I said it was okay, that if I would have needed help I know they would have helped, that they don't live near us so they wouldn't catch what was going on unless it got too crazy, that they were hanging out with the other kids and that was just what I needed.  I told them what had happened and my dad says "you are a great mom, you know just what to do", and I said "no I am not a great mom, I should have made sure she ate her lunch, and I shouldn't have given her a full lunch bolus, I should have known she'd drop"  they assured me that that wasn't the case.  I got out of my bad mom slump and fed her skittles throughout the day.  Her BG was holding steady and we were doing good.   We stopped off at a gas station after the zoo and got an ice cream cone for the kids and cold drink for me.  Kortnie's BG was in the low 200's, so we bolused for the ice cream, and went to the hotel for swimming.  I checked her after ice cream, before swimming and she was 175 with IOB, so we took the pump off for swimming.  After swimming she was 125, so we put the pump back on and went to Cracker Barrel for dinner.  She ordered mac and cheese, she ate it, she was still hungry, so I gave her some of my mac and cheese and a biscuit and some of my chicken.  We ordered dessert, a double chocolate fudge coke a cola cake with ice cream.  She shared it with her 3 year old cousin.  I gave her more and more insulin for all the extra food and then after dinner set a temp basal increase because that was a lot of carbs.  By 2am she was 101 and I was happy with that. 

 

Sunday we got up, went to Ihop for breakfast, she had pancakes with banana and sugary strawberries and yogurt, carb, carb, carb.  From then on out she was High all day, I set temp basals, I changed site, I opened new insulin, I gave her an actual shot, and she just stayed high.  We went to church for the baby blessing, we went to a park after for a picnic, we walked and played, she still stayed high, no ketones but HIGH, never came below 250 at one point she was in the high 400's. 

 

This is where I went a little crazy.  The picnic had lots of desserts, I told her just one dessert, but all the other kids were having a bunch, so I let her have another.  Then I think she snuck something else.  I spend so much time telling her and everyone else that she can eat whatever she wants, she just needs insulin.  This day that came back to bite me.

 

After the picnic we went over to my brother in laws, they kept talking about ice cream in the freezer, I kept saying, no we don't want any, they kept talking about it more and more, my older daughter wanted some, I said no, Kortnie never asked for any, I know it was because she knew she was high.  She was hungry, I said we'd leave and go find dinner soon, they said they had bananas and brownies and ice cream she could have that.  I said, "no, she can't have that right now" the other kids were getting hungry, I said we'd leave soon to go find some dinner I was hoping Kort's BG would come down so I was stalling them. Again, the freakin' ice cream came up, I said no, we can't have ice cream.  It kept freaking coming up!  I finally said "let's go" say goodbye, since we are leaving early tomorrow morning."  They said, "really we have tons of ice cream take some back to your hotel"  I said, "NO, I really don't want it, I am done, we are going!" 

 

We left, we went and got some dinner, we got microwave dinners at Walmart and salads.  We went back to our hotel, we ate, I gave Kortnie a shot, I increased her temp basal, finally around 3 am she was under 200, but still 175 at breakfast.  We ate hotel breakfast, I didn't let her have as much junk as she wanted, she didn't argue.  We said goodbye to my MIL who was leaving a little after us, she asked if Kortnie's BG had come down, I said yes, but not as much as it should have, she asked why it was so high.  I told her I didn't know for sure, but probably because we'd been eating like crap all weekend.  We don't normally eat this way at home.  Cookies, waffles, bagels, brownies, dessert at every meal, biscuits, mac and cheese, etc.  I told her I was beyond irritated about the freakin' ice cream everybody kept mentioning and I was sorry I got so irritated but I was tired and PMS'ing too. 

 

On the way home it took us a little less than 9 hours, Kortnie ran high all the way home, I even gave her a +200% basal increase all day, since we've been back she's still running high, I've increased basals and have been sending her to school with a +30% basal increase, finally last night she hit a low with a 52.  I hated the low, but was glad to see something other than 200 or 300.  She took her site out last night for a change and said it bled a lot, so I guess it was a not so good site.  Hopefully we are the up and up now. 

 

It was a tough weekend and tough last few D-days.

 

I am still irritated about all the ice cream nonsense and it brings up other irritants about past dessert issues.  My husband's family seems to live for dessert, whenever we go to a family function or dinner at his mom's there are always 2 or more desserts (a lot of times there are MANY more) and I feel bad telling Kortnie that no she can't have all of it, she can only have one thing, or a little tiny bit of two things, so I let her go overboard and then we pay for it for days afterward.  No matter what we do, whenever we go to these family things she ends up high.  I guess I need to get better at putting my foot down and not only telling her no, but telling the other kids no, and telling the rest of the family, "no we can't have all of that!"

 

If you are reading this and think I'm talking about you, then I probably am.  Sorry, these are my issues, and I am working them out and trying how to say no without hurting feelings and without making my kids upset, maybe if you see this you can remember the issues I have and try not to encourage or push so many desserts next time you see us.  Yes, Kortnie can have dessert, she just can't have a crapload of it, she can have one piece of one thing, not a piece of everything, nobody needs a piece of everything.  No more saying, "oh we're on vacation, let her have it", or "oh, it's a special occasion, let her have it".  When I as the mom say no, respect it, don't push it or me.  I am about to my breaking point, someday soon I'm gonna blow and I'm going to hurt feelings and I'm going to make people mad and then I'm going to feel like an a-hole for doing it.

 



How T1 makes me bend my parenting rules

Today has been a crazy D-day. 

 

 

First, this morning, my kids woke up late, they were slacking in getting their chores done.  The rabbit was out of its cage.  Normally, before D, I would have insisted that the chores be done and the rabbit be put back in his cage before breakfast.  If you ran out of time to eat before school starts, then too bad, so sad!  You go to school without breakfast.

 

Well, a T1D kid can't really skip a meal, so I had them all come in and eat and let the rabbit roam the back yard all day.

 

Then, Kortnie called me from school at 11:25am, "I forgot my lunch".  I was out running errands, I came home and guess what?  No lunch in the fridge.  These kids are supposed to make their lunch for the next day as soon as they get home from school the previous day.  Sigh....  I didn't have time to even think about what I could grab her from home, I was in the middle of errands, I had Graham and 2 daycare kids in the car.  Normally, I would say again "too bad, so sad, you didn't make a lunch last night, you didn't make one this morning, you don't get lunch today"

 

Again,  a T1D kid can't really skip a meal, I picked her up from the nurses office, and took her over to McD's for a happy meal.

 

On the way to McD's I told her to check her BG and pre-bolus for her lunch-we were in a hurry, because I wanted her to get the food, get back to school, eat it and have time to run around the playground some.  Midday exercise is important for kids, and even more important I think for a T1D kid.  She opens her test kit, and guess what?  No test strips.  Are you freaking kidding me?  You used the last one this morning at breakfast and didn't get some more!?!!  Normally I would say again, "too bad, so sad, you were not prepared!"

But....NO, we need to check, it's 11:25 and she hasn't checked since 7:30, she needs a check, and she needs to eat.  So I tell her, "check the blue bag" (a bag of D-stuff we keep in the car for times like this)  I had just re-stocked the blue bag for our upcoming road trip.  She got the test strips out, tested, and put the vial of strips in her test kit, and bloused for her meal.  I told her "after school today, you better remember to replace those strips in the blue bag!"  We got her lunch, and I dropped her back off at school with 30 minutes still left of her lunch/recess time.

 

Around 2:10pm (school is out at 2:20) I get a call from the nurse.  "Kortnie is 58, we gave her a juice, but she says she still feels really shakey, I don't think she should ride her bike home today."  Normally, I would say....no just kidding in this situation when my kid is not feeling good, I would go get them...

 

Of course she can't walk home!  And, of course, I have one sleeping daycare kid, and Graham and the other daycare kid are playing nice.  Sigh.... I load up all 3 kids in the car, drive the 1/2 mile to pick her up, get there and she's in the office with out her stuff.  I walk her to class, get her stuff and remember that I am supposed to get her friend too.  So I get her friend and we head home. 

 

I get home and remember that she rode her bike to school and the bike is still at school. 

 

Oh well!

Fast forward to dinner tonight.  I made lasagna and garlic bread, she loves lasagna, she asked for a big piece.  I got her a big piece, and we bloused for 85 carbs (that is a lot of insulin!)  She was eating her food an said she didn't really like it and asked could she not finish it.  Normally, I would say, "no you asked for it, you eat it, or you don't get anything else!"

 

I told her to try to eat it.  She picked at it and picked at it for 45 minutes.  The sauce was spicy tonight, I didn't really like it either.  Finally she sighed and told me "I ate all the noodles out of it and finished the bread, can I not finish the sauce parts?" 

 

I guess so.  I'll just keep a close eye on her blood sugar tonight.

 

Then she asked me if she could have some chocolate almonds.  Normally I would say "no, you didn't finish dinner, you don't get a treat"  But... I figured the chocolate almonds would help the blood sugar not to drop, as she was 99 when she asked me if she could have them.  So I said yes and she got her treat. 

 

Dang it, stinkin' Diabetes, you got the best of me today, tomorrow I will get the best of you!

I wrote this last night as I was waiting out the blood sugars. 
At 8pm she was 99, she had the chocolate almonds with no insulin.
At 10pm she was 69 with 1.76 units of insulin in her system, and out like a light.  I got a juice box and coaxed her to sit up and drink it.
"Come on Kortnie, drink, you're low" I put the straw to her lips, she kept batting it away, finally she drank it.  I suspended her basal insulin for 30 minutes. I laid down and set my alarm for 11:15pm.
At 11:15pm she was 150 with  .59 units of insulin on board.  Just right.
I went back to bed and set my alarm for the normal 2:30am.
At 2:30am I apparently turned off my alarm and fell back to sleep.
At 4:29am I woke up having to use the restroom and realized I missed my 2:30am check.  I rushed into her room thinking, "please be breathing, please be breathing", I poked her and she moved.  Phew, thank goodness!  I checked her blood sugar and she was 89-a little lower than I like for sleeping.  I reduced her basal insulin by 40% for 1.5 hours, went potty, and went back to bed. 
At 6:05am my alarm went off to wake up for the day.  I went to the girls room and told them to wake up, they both wiggled around and made some noises, I went back to my room and snuggled up with Brian for a little bit.
At 6:15am my 2nd alarm went off, the girls were up and Graham was in my room snuggling with me.
I finally got up around 6:30am.
At 7am Kortnie's blood sugar was 147-not bad, not bad at all, although I do prefer her to be a bit lower first thing in the morning, but considering the day we had yesterday, I'll take a 147.

Aims testing and T1D

Last week Kortnie's school did AIMS testing, these are the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards testing.  They are apparently a big deal, the schools and school districts get funding based on the children's grades on these tests.  I believe that next year the kids will have to pass these tests in order to advance to the next grade levels.

So, Kortnie's school is pretty pro active in getting parents on board and encouraging us to get them good dinners and breakfasts before testing as well as reminding us that the kids need lots of rest.

Kortnie usually wakes up and has breakfast around 7, school starts at 7:50, so she does have a bit of a post-breakfast spike in blood sugar in the mornings.  Testing was going to start at 8:05am.  I was worried about the blood sugar spike. 

I got her up right on time, but had her eat before she got dressed.  I also prepared breakfast for them.  I don't usually cook every morning, we eat a lot of cereal and oatmeal.  The kids like it, and generally we don't buy the super sugary stuff. 

Also, the kids would be having a snack at school before the test.  This I guess the school does so that kids aren't hungry during testing-sadly there are some kids who don't get breakfast at home in the mornings.  I didn't want Kortnie to be left out, but I wasn't too keen on the snacks they were giving the kids.  Oh, the snacks were just fine, but not really what I wanted for Kortnie.  They had juice and crackers mostly I think. 

We don't have a 504 in place for Kortnie, (we are doing one next year when she moves up to the big kids school) but her teachers and the other school staff have always been open with us and worked around our needs.

Our plan for Kortnie went this way...

-The night before we tried to have good dinners, no carby pasta or pizza that makes her spike throughout the night
-To bed at 8pm, read until 8:15pm and then lights out, I was diligent about her nighttime checks, to make sure she woke up at a good number in the morning
-Wake up at 6:15am,  eat at 6:30am, made them eggs, strawberries, and peanut butter toast one day, and the other day we had egg sandwiches and strawberries, both days they had milk (Vanilla Almond Milk for Kortnie)
-I sent in snacks for her, 3 peanut butter crackers, 1 slim jim, and Healthy Balance Juice. 15 carbs
-I made her a chart to follow on taking BG and snacks
     1. Check BG
     2. If number is over 150, eat snack and bolus for 15 carbs
     3. If number is 105-150, eat snack and bolus 10 carbs
     4. If number is 85-105, eat snack and bolus 7 carbs
     5. If number is lower than 85 or higher than 250 call mom
-I also made sure that the basket we keep in Kortnie's classroom had plenty of low snacks and other supplies, because they technically were not allowed to leave the classroom during the test.  Most of the time Kortnie tests and treats in class, in extreme or stubborn low and highs she goes to the health office, with an escort of course. 
-I clarified with Nurse, Principal, and Teacher that if Kortnie had any extreme lows or highs during testing she would be able to leave the classroom, they were fine with that, but said in lieu of an escort (usually a classmate or teacher), the teacher would have to call the nurse or office staff to come get her. I also clarified that if she needed to use the bathroom then she would be able to.  I did advise Kortnie that she needed to use the bathroom before class and that she should only use her bathroom privileges if she REALLY needed to go.
-Her second sets of testing were in the afternoon after lunch.  I made sure we packed her lunch without excessive carbs and with protein.  I didn't limit her, I just paid better attention to what she was taking and helped her to make good choices.  I told her and the nurse to call me if she was High or Low at lunchtime, like above 250 or lower than 80.  I also told her at recess to run around a little, not to sit on the steps and talk with her friends.  Basically I told her to get her wiggles out, figured that might help the spike.  And then after lunch I had her follow the above plan for snacks before the test. 

Overall, she did really good.  She was responsible (with the help of her wonderful teacher), I never got a phone call about crazy numbers.  She said the tests were easy, but it wasn't any fun to have to sit still and quiet while the other kids finished (they had to sit and read books if they finished early).  I looked thru her meter and her numbers were all good, I can't remember what they were exactly, but I do remember thinking they were good numbers and I wished we could have numbers like that all the time. 

It does go to show that with planning, diligence, good cooking, rest, and hard work from both Kortnie and I we can keep better numbers.  I'm not going to lie though, it was exhausting, the planning, a few extra checks, making sure our "team" was all on the same page.  And luckily Kortnie's body was cooperating and not growing or trying to get sick or anything.  I am all on board with doing the extra work to keep her healthy, but sometimes a kids gotta be a kid and sometimes, a mom has to let them.

Spare A Rose, Save a Child

Today is Valentines Day.

 

A day for love, kisses, hearts, flowers, candy, unicorns, and glitter.

 

On this day in 2001 my Brian asked me to marry him, and from then on we have grown a beautiful family, full of love and fun. 

 

On this day and everyday I am thankful to live in a land where I am able to provide for my children.  Provide them easily with all of the things they need to grow; food, shelter, water, clean air to breathe, clothing, shoes, education,  LOVE, hugs, kisses, fun, and most importantly, in Kortnie's case, INSULIN!

 

There are children and adults in some countries who do not have access to insulin, it is just not available or they can't afford it.  With out insulin, a Type 1 Diabetic will die, we all need insulin to live, most of us produce our own, but Type 1's do not.

 

I don't even want to imagine what it would be like to live in an under-developed country, much less what it would be like to live there, have my child diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and have to watch them die, because I can't get the life saving medication that they need. 

 

Life For A Child.  is an International Diabetes Federation program that provides life saving insulin, education, and tools to children and their families in developing countries. 

 

Just $1 a day provides a child with regular insulin, blood sugar monitoring equipment, clinical care, diabetes education materials, and diabetes trained medical staff.

 

Spare a Rose, Save a Child is a campaign within the DOC (Diabetes Online Community) to help raise funds for Life For A Child.  The idea is that on this Valentines Day, if you planned on buying roses or even chocolate covered strawberries for your sweetie, you buy your 11 roses and take the money you'd spend on the 12th rose and donate to the Life For A Child campaign.

 

 

 

I donated $5 yesterday, can you spare a dollar or two, or five?  Even if you can't today, I hope you remember this programme and maybe you will have a few bucks to spare at some other time.

 

Happy Valentines Day from Kortnie's D-Life.

Kortnie is happy to have access to the tools and medications she needs to stay alive.