NYC At Christmas Time... It Can Be Tricky but...It Can Be Done ;)

Well...  Yesterday we decided to take our annual 2 1/2 hour road trip into NYC for some Manahttan Christmas sight-seeing and shopping.  We have tried to make this a tradition since the kids were small and the city is so beautifully clad with decoration at Christmas time.  I must say having to pack the extra insulin, pump supplies, test strips, sugar tabs. and meters does take a little bit of the "magic" from the trip but I refused to let it damper my spirit..  Once we were on the road and I checked and rechecked my bags about 50 times to be sure that I had all of the needed supplies, I took a deep breath as the kids excitment for Christmas in NYC escalated. We had a wonderful time in Rockefellar Center, seeing the tree and walking Fifth Ave..  Taking in all of the magically decorated store windows.  I should not leave out the chestnuts/hotdogs and pretzels which are part of the tradition of the city.  We have gotten pretty good over the years with testing blood sugars on the corner of fifth and park ave.  Although it Can be tricky....  It Can be done!  Somewhere between Central Park and Herald Square at 34th St. one of the kids usually goes low...  Of course they do.  It is tons of walking!!!  That is where fruit snacks and sugar tablets in the pockets come in handy.  At home we use juice boxes to treat a low but in the city they are a bit too much to carry around.  In Macy's, after Santa Land, we stop for a hot chocolate and a gingerbread cookie with lots of carbs....  (That is what I am thinking silently, to myself, the entire time that the kids are happily savoring their treats).  I know that only you Type 1 parents understand that thought process ;).  As we head into Time Square,  Michael has another low (which he is thrilled about because he loves the fruit snacks)....  As he munches, we keep walking toward our final destination.  In Time Square, after visiting the M&M and Hershey Store, The Disney Store, and Toys r Us  (FAO Schwarz is still my favorite toy store- even if it doesn't have an indoor ferris wheel) we moved on to our dinner reservation.  Not before taking a picture in front of the the 2012 New Years' Ball that drops every year in Time Square.  So I would say that our family traditon of NYC at Christmas time was a success, with only a few high and low blood sugars here and there (to be expected)..  In the world of Type 1....  It was a day that went off as close to "Without a Hitch" as they come ;)  Enjoy your family traditions and try not to let the little (and sometimes BIG) inconveniences of Type 1 Diabetes prevent you from having fun <3

Tis' the Season...

The holidays are here!!  This is the time of year when the Christmas parties and family gatherings are in full force.  With the parties come all of the delicious treats: cakes, candies, cookies..  (canolli's- if you are Italian ;)  Sometimes, as you Type1 parents know, these goodies can wreak a lot of havoc on the blood sugars.  The counting carb. part of my brain goes into overdrive (sometimes overload) at this time of year!  I do my best to keep watch as to what my children are eating, although not always an easy task.  We try to enjoy the festivities as much as possible.  In the early years of the Type 1 diagnoses....  these parties were more of an anxiety festival for me but as experience would have it....  I embrace the holiday gatherings, a bit more than I had in the past.  I do the best that I can to work with the kids on figuring out all of the carbs that they are taking in... (Although sometimes we are very off. Other times we are right on!).  My advice to the parents heading into the holiday season..  is to try as much as possible to enjoy it.  It is once a year, and they won't be little forever...  We make mistakes with the carb. counting and the insulin bolus's might be wrong but mistakes happen...  Correct the high's and lows, and try, if you can to move on and enjoy yourself.  It is not healthy for anyone to worry sick over carb. counting.  Believe me... I know! Carry extra insulin and extra sugar with you for those mistakes which happen from time to time.  Don't beat yourself up over the mistakes...  we ALL make them.  I try as much as possible not to say "no" to the treats at these parties..  After all, it is Christmas time.  My hope is that as the kids get older they will use better discretion in deciding whether or not to have that third and fourth cookie..  We are definitely not there yet:( So in the mean time we will ride through these holidays "guesstimating" the carbs and praying for a good A1C!  Happy Holidays to all of you Type 1 Families.  You hold a special  place in my heart.  I especially understand that even the most happiest of occasions can be stressful in the world of Type 1 <3 

When It Rains, It Pours... ;)

Well, I am fairly certain that from reading my past few blogs here and there you can probably get the picture that "Things" in general, have been far from perfect in this household lately ;)   Today is Friday and to put it mildly, I am glad that this week is winding down.  My husband left Monday for his last week of training in New Hampshire. The same Monday that Michael's insulin pump randomly deactivated his omnipod as the school bus was coming down the road to pick him up for the start of the new school week :(  Thank God for Grandma- who lives across the street, and was awake, dressed and willing to drive Michael to school once a new omnipod had been replaced...  This is the same Monday that my cell phone (which the kids call and text me with blood sugars through out the day on) decided to stop taking incoming calls!!  After hours of frustrating conversations with my celluar company, it seems, for now, that the problem has been resolved...  Okay, sigh.... Monday's crisis seems to be winding down. Tuesday morning...  6 a.m..  Wake up time!  The kids blood sugars seem fairly stable, everyone has gotten themselves together in a timely fashion and Michael has ten minutes to spare before the arrival of the school bus.  He turns the televesion on and drops the remote...  Okay, not a big deal, this happens frequently in our house.  The t.v screen turns an odd bluish color so I unplug the t.v and the cable to reset the televesion.  The picture comes up beautifully after a few minutes but...  there is absolutly no sound!!  Oh my goodness..  Maybe it is the mute button..  NOPE. The t.v is not on mute..  Trying to hide my frustration, as the bus is now heading down the street...  I grab Michaels backpack and send him on his way...  All the while in a state of panic, as now...  I have no t.v.  It is broken :(  Somethings in life I do not hesitate to replace  immediatly..  The washer, the dryer and of course the t.v!  I quickly got on-line, in a frenzy, determined to purchase a new one, when the voice of rational (my mother) tried to persuade me to contact the cable company.  I explain, to her, that the sound going on a t.v is not a cable issue..  it is a television issue but Mom convinces me to call.  After a half and hour on hold and fifteen minutes of directions and a walk thru on how to get into seven different screens, from "Mike the cable guy" the problem had been resolved...  My mother (and Mike the cable guy had just saved me $500.00!).  Okay, Tuesdays crisis seems to be resolved!  Wed. went by unscathed, with just a few night time high blood sugars which came down nicely by morning.   As Thursday came around I was feeling like just maybe we would come out of this week with our sanity in tact..  The day went well..  Kalee had a late afternoon six month check up, at the Albany Med. Neuro. Dept. (Just to check in for migraines.)  We got a good report from the Dr. and were about to leave, when this hot, faint feeling came over me.  I said to Kalee, "Lets just take a seat in the waiting room for a moment until this feeling passes."  We sat and about three minute later I was ready to head through the hospital and out the doors to the parking lot.  Once in the car, Kalee tells me that she can't find her cell phone...  Really??  You have got to be kidding me, right??  No.. NOT KIDDING.  She had it in the neurolgy office and now it is gone.  After pulling myself together enough to stop ranting we walked through the parking lot, into the hospital, up the elevator into the office... where there was no cell phone.  We moved chairs and called it about 100 times but to no avail.  I finally gave up and decided to leave.  We got in the car and headed home.  I wasn't speaking because I knew I'd cry and rant, once home, Kalee takes her coat off and casually says.. "Oh my goodness, here is my phone in this hidden pocket." I was relieved  but wanted to scream at the same time...  By midnight the stomach bug had hit me, thus explaining the hot faint feeling that came over in the Neurologist office.  So now it Friday...  My husband is home, my stomach thing seems better and the week is winding down..  But I think this past Monday through Friday could be titled: Our Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week.  Much like children's book written by Judith Viorist about Alexandars Terrible, Horrible , No Good, Very Bad day...  ;(  Hopes for a better weekend to come!

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!!