Typical Type 1 Thanksgiving... "For our family anyway ;)"

Well, what began as a very nice Thanksgiving turned into a bit of a diabetic crisis this evening.  As we sat around a lovely table enjoying our feast with family, my son, Michael, came to me to say that he had finished his dinner and was ready to move on to dessert.  I took his omnipod out of my purse to cover for all of the delicious carbs. that he had devoured.  As I programmed the carbohydrate count into the omnipod, the pdm read... "PDM failure, Insulin delivery stopped, change pod now."  along with a 1-800 #  to contact.  As you can imagine, I became so frustrated.  I mean really....  what timing! Couldn't this have happened on an uneventful day at home??   NO!!!..  It had to happen while we were visiting family for Thanksgiving, right after a huge meal.  I quickly got up from the table and contacted the 800 number.  The customer service rep. was apologetic and gave me instructions on how to reset the pdm.  Suddenly the pdm began flashing on and off with lines through it.  Oh my gosh...  something was very wrong with this pump!  The customer service rep explained that the pump had absolutely failed.  Michael was getting no insulin.  I went into a brief panic then got myself together enough to remember that I had an extra pdm at home.  I quickly found the car keys and headed out the door to my house..  (only 10 minutes away, thankfully.)  At home, I grabbed the new pdm, pod, needles, extra Novelog, even Lantus, just in case I could not get the new pdm to work, (Although the scary thing is...  it has been so long since we have used Lantus, I was unsure how many units to safely administer).  I had placed my notebook with Michael's info on the settings such as basals, carb to insulin ratios, and correction factors in such a safe place that even I could not find it!  Panic!  I had to guess on all of Michael's settings as I programmed this pdm.  As I sat in a room full of people trying to think clearly, I realized that not one person in the room could help me and I felt so completely alone, knowing that I was the only one that could fix this for my son.. and praying that I would do it accurately.  I pretended to be calm but my flushed face and the hives on my chest were giving my "fake calm" away.  Michael's pod was changed, his blood sugar was tested and his pdm was set up, but hours later, the lump in my throat still remained, as did the hives.  We are home now, and Michael is tucked into bed for the night.  He seems to have not a care in the world. I am thankful that my anxiety did not affect him this evening...  So tonight, while most of the world sleeps,  I will be continuously checking my sons blood sugar to be sure that the settings I have programmed into the pdm were close to accurate...  I wish it could have been a drama free Thanksgiving but then again....  all of the Type 1 parents understand that this is just part of our reality!!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone....  I am still keeping my hopes up for a "Crisis free Christmas"...  ;)

Thankfulness.. Not for Type 1 but, for some of the lessons that have come from it ....

I am thankful for so many things but the hustle and bustle of every day life in general can cause one to lose sight of  that which truly matters.  I will never say that I am grateful for Type 1 diabetes because I AM NOT.  Although I can actually say that Type 1 has taught me some valuable lessons along the way.  When my daughter was diagnosed eight years ago it put life into perspective.  The material/frivolous "things"  no longer mattered.  My focus was entirely on my family.  I realized that in a blink on an eye...  life could change.  Our world was changed forever over night. Type 1 also gave me a sense of what is actually "important" in life.  I no longer cared so much as to what others thought of me.... My days of out to please people were over.  It became about doing what was good for my family and this has seemed to work out for us over the years.  Type 1 has a way of causing you to not worry so much about the laundry, the bills, and the plumbing problems (Lord knows we have plumbing problems).....  At the end of the day all of those issues will still be there... But the moments that we cherish with our family are not guaranteed to any of us.  So...  I will take the lessons that I have learned from my children's diagnosis of Type 1 and try to better myself from them...  I can actually say that I am grateful for these life lessons but I will NEVER say that I am grateful for Type 1 diabetes... just for the valuable lessons that have come along with it!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone.... enjoy the Turkey! It's free in carbs....;)

"A Free Pass"... would be nice ;)

Doesn't it seem that with everything that children with Type 1 have to go through on a daily basis;  they should have a "free pass" for things to come a little easier for them?  Well, I feel, as a mom, that life in general should go smoother for these kids but unfortunately life definitely does not work this way.  I had my son Michael's 6th grade parent teacher conference today.  It was full of lots of  "Michael is a wonderful child," "Michael does so well," "Michael is so kind," comments, which could not make a mom more proud but, my sweet boy Michael has had to work extremely hard for everything that comes to him.  The one statement that was repeated by his teacher was, "Michael works so hard at everything that he does."  As a parent, I couldn't ask for more effort than what  he puts forth... Studying and time put into homework that brings us into some very late nights. As I sat there listening to the teachers speak so positively of Michael...  I couldn't help but fill up with tears...  I tried desperately to hold them back, as not to look like a crazy, over-emotional mother.  In my head all I kept thinking was...  "He should not have to work so hard for this."  Of  course, I did not say that, but having to see all that my eleven year old has to go through every day just caring for his diabetes..... in my heart of hearts I feel like he should have a "free pass" for things to come easy!  It sounds absolutely ridiculous, I'm sure, to some of you out there.  We are so proud of Michael efforts  but.... for my "baby"  who goes through so much with his health alone...  I WANT LIFE TO BE EASY!!  All of the adults reading this are laughing, I'm sure, as having lived life a little everyone knows that it is not always fair but I am just expressing the feelings of a mom that wishes with all of her heart that she could take this disease from her children and carry the entire burden of it herself..  No parents, life certainly is not easy but all that I hope and pray for (besides a cure) is that my Michael's hard work will make him appreciate all of the positive that comes from his effort....  But it still doesn't take away from the fact that as a mom who sees first hand the daily struggles that these totally resilient kids have to go through every day, I wish more than anything that they all could get a "Free Pass" for the other aspects of life to come a little easier.  Unfortunately life does not work this way and because it doesn't I find that that these Type 1 kids have a strength within them that goes deeper than I can comprehend.  They are the  most admirable of all....  but a "free pass" wouldn't be so bad, Now would it?? ;) 

Technology... When it works it's terrific, but when it doesn't.. What havic!!! :(

Okay....  so things seemed to be going well last night.  The kids got settled in at a fairly decent hour and everyones blood sugar seemed to be under control.  I woke up at about 1 a.m to check on Michael and Kalee.  Michael's blood sugar was a perfect 130 (perfect in my book for sleeping) and Kalee's continuous glucose meter (Dexcom) read 164 (a little on the high side but still decent).  I decided not to correct and check in an hour to see if she would come down on her own.  About an hour later I woke up and saw that Kalee's Dexcom still read in the 160 range...  for some reason, I decided to do a quick finger stick so that I could rest peacfully...  The meter read 374!....  ARE YOU KIDDING ME???  How could the Dexcom be so off from her actual blood sugar?  I decided to check it again, after cleaning off her finger with an alcohol swab, in hopes that maybe a lotion or a soap was causing the high reading. NOPE... 376, okay...  it is not the finger stick that is the problem it is the continous glucose meter!!  UGH!!  When technology works it is a God send but when it doesn't it can really wreak havic.  Of course, this is typical, that it is occuring at 2 a.m and not in the middle of the day...  Why does everything have to happen at night (or the wee hours of the morning)?  Really, is it not meant for us moms to sleep?  Even when the kids were small, everything always happened at night, the fevers, the earaches, the croupy coughs!  So now here I am with my 14 year old daughter still up at night!  First I acted quickly and gave her an injection of novelog...  to be certain that she was getting insulin. Then, I changed her omnipod... Now it was time to change out her Dexcom only to wake in two more hours to calibrate it!!!! Thats technology for you.  Sometimes it can make your life less complicated and more convenient and other times it can be a disaster!!  By 5 a.m Kalee's blood sugar was already down to 174.  The Dexcom was reading accuratly and the omnipod seemed to be administering the insulin accordingly so....  at 6:30 a.m Kalee was feeling good and getting ready for school...  packing up her meters and recievers... almost as if nothing had gone haywire 4 hours prior.  Type 1 has a way of making me think I am losing my mind sometimes..  Well,  I am glad that Kalee is feeling well and all of her gadgets are working properly.  As for myself....  I will plug away through the day in hopes that technology will come through for us tonight so that we all can actually get some sleep!!