Day 98

This worries me...

Does she look low??

Madi was just sitting here..coloring and loving it!! We were getting ready for church so I was glad she was happily coloring...I thought I should check her since we were getting ready to leave..

And her number was 66..

That worries me that she had no feelings (or was ignoring them), and showed no signs of being low... THIS is what stresses me out about school for her next year..or letting anyone babysit her..or leaving her for nay amount of time..She just isnt old enough yet to listen to those feelings..every time.

Sometimes she will tell us she feels low..and she is.. but like today, sometimes we have no clues she is low...

 

she didnt even want to stop coloring to have her juice!

Day 97

Madi loves to look at "her" blog!

Today she made this picture and said it was for her diabetes blog..


"This is for my diabetes blog...Put it on there mom!"

So here it is:) a lovely picture from Madi!

Day 96

First its the decision of where...arm? leg? tush? tummy??

She debates where she will get it..out loud..

Her little body showing stress as she decides..

"Okay mom, can we do arm?"

Ok Madi.......

As I grab her soft baby like skin...

and pinch it to prep it for her shot..

I look at her perfect skin..and tell myself she NEEDS this....

slowly getting closer with the needle...

she grabs my arm with her tiny fingers.......

clenches harder as the needle pierces her skin.......

I press down and I inject the insulin.....

Her eyes wince and a soft "ouch" comes from her little voice.....

I pull the needle our of her skin and her clench softens....

I kiss on her forehead and a "You are so brave Madi"...

and we are done...for a few hours



Madi does the same thing..every time I give her insulin...every..time...

I wish there were an easier way......This doesnt get easier the more times I do it either......

Day 95

Do you have a T1D Athlete??

well we do..

Today I thought I would share a few things having to do with that..

When Craig was first diagnosed 8 months ago (I cannot believe its only been 8 months!), we really wanted him to be able to "go on with his life" and keep doing the things he loves.. Baseball being one of them.

In the beginning this was very hard.... We only knew that if he was active, his numbers should be a little higher than normal and that he would need carbs to help sustain a good number as he was using so much energy..

This was a lot more intricate than you might think..

First off, he could start at a good number, then have gatorade to help keep his numbers up, but then that would get him too high...Then he would drink more water and have a small carb snack that he did not get a shot for.. But after he was done with practice, he would drop quick..
When he has early morning practices, he runs high for some reason..So we have to bring insulin too just in case he needs insulin. 

It really took us a while to figure out just how his body works and what HE needs to be athletic with T1D.

Every child is different! Here are a few tips from our point of view, what we have done, learned and what works for us:

• Check glucose before practice. If it is around 200, that is great..It gives them a little leeway with dropping or raising.. If is is low, under 140, then have them eat a small maybe 15 carb snack that has protien as well.  This snack will help get them at a good range while also helping them to keep a good number while at practice. If they are high, above 300, they should check for Ketones and drink a lot of water. If the child has ketones, they should not participate.
• Have you essentials for an athlete: gatorade (or half water, half gatorade that they can sip on), lots of water, carb snacks, protein (jerky or nuts are good), tablets or quick sugars, Glucagon (very important because you should have this in any emergency), Meter and insulin as well.
• Check glucose every hour of activity. 
• Keep good communication with your childs coach.  Train them in the glucagon, signs of highs and lows and make sure they are comfortable as well.
• Educate the players too!! Just have a quick meeting where everyone is there and you can tell them about type 1.  Make sure they know the seriousness of this disease..Let them know signs of highs and lows, and why your child needs to check their glucose.  The more people around your child who are educated, the safer your child will be!
• Keep a log when the child is active, soon you will begin to see patterns and can guesstimate more about what your child needs specifically when they are active.
• After the athletic activity, check glucose. If it is under 200, give your child a carb/protien snack.  Why?? Because this whole time, your child has been using a lot of energy.. Soon after they are done, their blood sugar will drop.  If they have a snack, it is less likely to drop to a dangerous range.  This is especially important in the evening.  A lot of times Craig has late games.. If they do come home and go to bed within an hour after their excersize, I would for sure do an evening check.. Like I said, their blood sugar will drop...Its not  a good idea to go straight to bed after activity.. Craig always stays up a bit just to be sure.. He has had some lows at night in the beginning and now we just make sure he is good..Get that protein!!
• Make sure your child KNOWS that its ok to stop playing or practicing if they are feeling weird.. They could be high or low..shaky or sweaty..They should not feel "bad" or like the game is more important.. Craig has had to get gatorade on the mound before....An done time he was playing short stop and my husband and I looked at him and could tell something was "off"".   We told the coach and Craig checked..yep, he was low.. He looked as if he were moving in slow motion...But he didnt know it (this was in the beginning after dx, he is much better about feeling and listening to those feelings now)...

Its very hard at first to know when and what to do.. For us, it was trial and error..practice and preparation...Now things are much easier when Craig is active.. Although with Type 1, things are always changing and his numbers are always different, but we can see his patterns now and know what HIS body needs when he is active..

Its a lot harder for madi..She gets super low when she is swimming..and she drops quick! So we know to make her snack the whole time when she is active since she has a hard time telling us when she "feels" low...

Good luck!!

this is Craig just a month and a half after DX..Championship ring!!

One thing that is so important to teach kids (in my opinion), is that Type 1 doesnt have to rule your life..You can still do the things you love, you can still achieve your dreams and you can still do what others can..It just takes a lot more preparation and work..But it IS possible:)

Day 94

I am LOVING Halloween time.... Ok, so its not really Halloween time, but all of the stores think it is!!

A lot of the stores have alternatives to candy, like bags of popcorn, pretzels, chocolate covered pretzels, Pirates Booty, Goldfish and more!

Whats so great about this??

Well, the normal snack pack sizes have twice as many carbs (or more!!) ..these smaller Halloween sized packs have typically 8 carbs per bag..This is wonderful!!

That means madi can go grab a bag and not need insulin..and I dont have to make her only eat half of the bag, or choose to get insulin..

To a lot of people, this may not be a big deal, but we are stocking up on all of these snacks!!

Its perfect for her preschool snack time (no shot for just 8 carbs!!).

Day 93

Last night Madi woke up several times...I checked her every time because when she usually wakes up crying, she is low... But every time I checked her, she was in a good range..

Then this morning she woke up and I was trying to help her get ready for preschool but she was tired and limp...She woke up at 178 so I thought she was fine..

Especially when the kids get sick, they tend to have high numbers for a few days before, or at least the day of ...but she has been fine..

 She got dressed and had breakfast and we went to take Craig to school then Madi just said she was way too tired to go to preschool.
She just laid on the stairs.. didnt want to climb them at all!! Poor girl..My stomach sunk..is she sick?, getting sick?, whats going on... Normally when my kids are liek this, I could say ok, go get in bed and rest.. no big deal, keep an eye on them and let them rest it out..But T1D changes all of that.. Sickness means a lot more than just "rest" and possible meds....

I brought her home and she went back to sleep..

I figure she was just tired because she woke up feeling tons better, ate and wanted to play and help clean..

When the kids get sick, its just so hard..checking for ketones and waiting those few seconds to see what their number is..and if its good news or bad news..you know??

Im glad she isnt sick..maybe she slept bad (obviously since she got up a bunch), bad dreams or something...Im just so glad her numbers are good today and she isnt sick!!

Day 92

Both kids woke up this morning at he same number..They thought it was funny.. 204..both of them:)

Day 91

Craig is a boy scout..And Boy Scouts go on  a lot of camp outs, hikes, backpacking trips, ect..

What does that mean to Craig??

A lot of preparation!! Packing for his trip, and making sure he has extras of everything he packed, just in case he is low, high, or loses something..

 

 

In his case, not having certain items could mean life or death..

First things first..When Craig was diagnosed and we decided it was time that he could go on camp outs again, I went into his scout group and educated all of the boys on his condition.. Warning signs, what helps him, and what Type 1 means... The leaders were there as well..

SO everyone around him at these camp outs will know what to look for and how to help Craig if he needs it.

He has been on a few (my husband went on the first few after dx ) camp outs since dx and I am super confident in his leaders so that helps me a lot!!

Craig packs all of his supplies and we go through an re-check and make sure he has all he needs.

Some things we include are beef jerky,

 gatorade packets (gatorade powder he can add to water if he needs extra carbs),

  skittles (juice could spill and make a mess in his pack),

 extra carb snacks, crackers and pb, lots of water, extra needles, lancets, a small sharps container, an extra meter, insulin and something to keep it cool, glucagon (and tell the leaders where it is when I drop him off)...

This weekend he is off to a backpacking trip. He is excited..Im so glad he enjoys scouts because it is such a great program for boys.. Im very glad he has responsible and caring leaders who look out for him as well.  So thankful he can still participate in the things he loves!!

Day 90

Today was a good day.. Madi had pretty good numbers, a low, but only 70, so not too bad.. Craig had good numbers too and enjoyed baseball practice.. 25 suicides (a running exercise)... thats rough!! Its good for him though... some good conditioning!!

One thing we did today is we went to meet the nurse at the school Madi will go to next year.  There are 3 Type 1 kids at the elementary school..All in 1st grade and 1 kinder...

I have to say, I was happy that the school had some experience with Type 1...
Although Ill still have a lot of questions for them and want to make sure they know all they need to to keep Madi safe...It was a relief that they werent at square 1...

Madi took comfort in the fact that there were other kids there with type 1 too.

Although its almost a year away, Madi starting Kindergarten is a huge thing and will take a lot of preparation...

Craigs arm

Well we got him into the doctors today..Its not scar tissue..yay!! What a relief!
He just has inflammation because of the injections..he will give that arm a break and the doctor says it should go away...

Day 89

Last night was rough.....

We noticed a lump in Craigs arm where he gets his injections and it pushed me over the edge...
After a very long busy weekend, then that, I was just completely overwhelmed.  I was scared, worried, stressed, and felt terrible about it.

Its very hard having 2 kids with type 1..
Thats 2 kids with several checks a day, 2 kids with highs and lows, corrections, carb and protein helps, injections, 2 kids with constant worries about numbers and making them good...

I think we pay a lot more attention to madi just because she is completely dependent, as where Craig is somewhat independent.  He gives all of his own injections except for his evening dose of Lantis...

So I felt terrible when we found the lump..Like I should have been on him more about rotating sites.. I mean I tell him to, but I should have been making sure he was...

There are so many "things" to do when you have diabetes.. and just trying to be a kid at the same time..Its a huge burden/ responsibility for a kid. 

I didnt want him to think it was his fault that he has this lump..of possibly scar tissue..He should not have to feel bad or worry about things like this....

And last night all of these thoughts went through my head over and over again..
I had a complete break down..I tried to sleep, but kept crying..
I tried to not think of it, but couldnt stop.

Finally I got out of bed and folded loads of laundry, matched socks then fell asleep on the floor.. I woke up and get back in bed...It seemed like a long night...

I woke up tired..and called the doctor about his arm, He has an appointment this afternoon to get it checked out. 

Some people think diabetes gets "normal" after  a while..but it doesnt...
Some people think my kids cant have carbs or foods with any sugar, but they can..In fact, if all Craig ate was fruit and vegetables, he would still need insulin.. He needs 1 unit to eat an apple....
Some people think everything gets easier after time, but it hasnt,,,it is a constant changing disease..Their bodies are constantly changing and so there are always changes in doses to be made..

Last night I just wanted to yell "I hate diabetes" as loud as I could...

The thought of Craig having scar tissue in his arm just killed my heart... The possible complications ahead did as well...

It is so hard for a parent to see their child go through all of this... I may be venting now..Im sorry....
There are a lot of things to be thankful for and I try to stay positive on this blog..but I have to share the difficult times as well....so this can be an honest blog....Diabetes is hard....it just is....

Day 88

Well today is a new day..with new issues..Craig has a lump on his arm where he has been injecting.. He uses the pen at school, so we are not there to see where he does it, we just assumed because we said he needs to rotate sites...that he was.. Apparently he was not... And now he has a large lump..I am freaking out a bit..Will call doctor tomorrow...
But I am assuming its scar tissue.... its scary...

Day 87

Some days its like a never ending rollercoaster and we can get off...

Yesterday was one of those days...

We had a busy day ahead of us, an all day tournament for Craig.
It was over an hour drive there so I had to make sure we had everything we needed..

It started early in the morning.  Craig and madi had quite high numbers to start with...

By the time we were about half an hour into our drive, Madi got really tired..then whiny. I had Landon check her blood since I was driving on the freeway.

He yelled from the back of the van "Its 512!"

Me: " ya right Landon, what is it?"

Landon: "No really, it was!"

So I made him sanitize her hands and recheck again to see if maybe it was a mis reading... but the second reading was 486, so I had to pull over on the side of the freeway....

I got out and got her insulin from the cooler in the back,,the van was shaking as every car drove by...

I hurriedly gave her insulin to get her numbers down and gave her a water bottle as well... In about 15 minutes, she was loud and happy again..

Back on the freeway we went.... to finish our long drive to the tournament.. Craig checked himself when we got there and he was 386...

What the heck!!!

SO he got insulin and I pushed lots of fluids!!

DRINK WATER!!!

I had no ketone strips with us so we couldnt check either kiddo...

I knew Craig had to get his numbers down or I would have to tell him that he could not play...

I really want him to know he can still do the things he loves, but sometimes his body doesnt want to cooperate...and safety comes first...

By the time he was ready to play, he was down to 298..
Better, but not great....

He pitched first and let me tell you..It was SO painful to watch him.. He is a good ball player..And Im not just saying that because Im his mom.. He is dedicated to the game..tries his best, puts his whole heart into it, and is a smart player..
So when all he was throwing was balls, I knew he wasnt right...
After,  he said he was shaky a little.

 

It was so hard to watch him struggle, and knowing that Im the only one who knows that he is high....and that he was struggling because his body was not functioning right...

 and he had no control over it..

 It wasnt because he hadnt practiced, or wasnt trying.. Its hard to hear other parents comments when you know he is struggling on the mound..I was almost in tears..  ...a few times..
 I was just getting so emotional because I want his body to work "right"...for him to be able to just play like everyone else and not be affected by these "numbers"...Its just hard sometimes..

By the second game his numbers were much better and he was back in the game as short stop and second base..

Of course no one will play perfectly all the time, or ever, but knowing your child isnt doing their best because of type 1 is sad for me.. And Im not making excuses..I just know my child, and I know when he is off...

Madi was consistently high all day too, so we had to change a few calculations.. She had been in the high 200s and low 300s for a few days (I had been keeping a log once I saw a pattern)..

Well the tournament was over after a long day...

We were on our way home and a few of the kids fell asleep on the drive.. About 10 minutes before getting home, Madi woke up and started crying..she was crying for 5 minutes..
I thought it was probably because she had fallen asleep and woke up so she was irritated..

When we got home just a few minutes later, she started crying again and I found that she had an accident.. No worries, I told her to calm down, it was okay and we would get a quick shower..
My husband carried her upstairs while I got her seat cleaned out..She had a quick shower then started crying again..I though I should check her just to be sure..

he was 51....I got scared...and yelled to my husband downstairs to please bring up a juice fast, madi was low...

I was so upset..after such a long day and a crazy low..what if I had to give her Glucagon? What if she had a seizure? What if I put her to bed without checking?  There are a lot of worries...

So after an hour, she was back at a good number and ready for bed...

The day was long...lots of testing, high numbers, and a crazy low.....
It was a very emotional day for me..I was having a hard time with it all...My husband stayed home from work and I was SO thankful:)  After such a long day, I needed him home....

Sometimes diabetes feels like this rollercoaster that you cannot get off of.....Yesterday was one of those days!!

Day 86

 Today Madi had her first ever field trip..For Preschool.  She got to go to a fire station.  She loved it so much.  I love this smile!!

 This little girl is so amazing! She is strong, smart, independent, silly and very strong willed! She knows what she wants...She loves to color, play and really loves playing cards..crazy 8s, old maid, go fish, memory..anything!!! I'm just really not ready for her to be growing up so fast! She has been talking about her birthday party lately too... AHH, if only we could stop time, only for a while:)

Day 85

AAhh I have had a hard time posting this past week..... Just been so busy with the kids!

The other Day Madi and I had a short conversation...

 Madi: mommy, do you wish you didnt have a baby if it had diabetes?
Me: no, I wanted you even if you have diabetes, I love you
Madi: well I wished I never had diabetes.
Me: I know. Im sorry
Madi: I never even wanted diabetes...

It made me sad..and then I thought if Craig even had these thoughts but just didnt talk about them..because he is almost 13 and all....

I hope I can make them KNOW that their diabetes is not a burden on our family... Its just how we are and part of our family.... I love them so much and it made me sad to think that she had those questions... 

We did go and get all of us tested for the gene..6 weeks ago... we are still waiting for the results... impatiently:) I almost dont want to know, but then I cant wait to find out..Its just weird....

Madi was right in there..trying to make them be brave..She was a good helper:)

Day 84

Faith...

Today in church we had a lesson on having faith... I kept thinking about my kiddos...

You see when Craig was diagnosed, he would ask in the hospital, "why do you think I got this?"

I didnt know the answer..., but all I could do was be comforting

"I know its hard for you and a difficult thing to deal with"

and bear him my testimony that I knew that Heavenly Father has a plan for him, and that for some reason "this" was part of His plan.  

Throughout the 4 day stay in the hospital, I kept feeling the need to share that with him....
I wanted him to know as well as I did, that there was a reason this was happening...

Did I know the reason?

no......but Heavenly Father knows..and we must have faith in that knowledge..

Then in as little as 3 months later, Madi was diagnosed...

I knew right away why Craig had "this"....

He knew too..He even said, "I guess I got diabetes first so I could help Madi"

When madi was in the hospital, she could totally relate to the things Craig had been doing for 3 months..
She called him from the hospital to talk about how she hated her IV..and he offered her comfort telling her that he didnt like it either, but that she would get better... 
She smiled at me as she talked to him on the phone..
It was such a sweet moment.....
She had a sweet feeling that her big brother could relate to the hard time she was having at the hospital.  She really took comfort in that.
She asked for him often in the hospital and wanted him to come visit.  When she came home, she would watch him get his shots before her and it made her feel better knowing she wasnt the only one...

She will always be able to relate to him and to his diabetes.. He will always be able to help her and to know what she is going through with all of the shots and pokes..

In life, things happen to us, trials as some people call them.. life experiences... sickness, hardships..
And in all of it, we must have faith ...Faith that good will come out of it..faith that all will be well..Faith that this is His plan and that He will give us strength to get through..

Its very hard..especially in the middle of the trial and the fog... 

yes, I was telling him that I knew there was a purpose in this, but inside I was desperately looking for that answer as well...

There have been many times in the past 9 months that I have completely been overwhelmed, stressed,saddened by the pain this all is for my kids... but Heavenly Father has really helped me to get through it... I am thankful for faith...

And although everyday is a new day...and a new struggle with Type 1..Some days I cry...and some days we just endure it..... but we can do this, and we can do it with faith....

Day 83

When I started this blog, my intention was to reach out to others who may have kids with Type 1, educate people who didnt know much, and just share our life experiences with our 2 Type 1-ers... One fun thing a bout blogger is that you can see where people live who are checking your blog! In the past month, people from all of these countries have read our blog! United States
Russia
United Kingdom
Canada
Germany
Malaysia
China
France
Ireland
Japan I love that!  Now if I could get all of you guys to leave a comment:)  I would love to hear from you!! Thank you for reading our blog...

Day 82

Well I thought I would update you on the kiddos..
Craig:
Is busy in 8th grade.  He is very invloved in baseball.  He plays for a travel team and is very excited for High School Ball next year! He has a passion for baseball and is super determined and dedicated to be his best.  He likes to pitch and do shortstop.. He tends to play second base and pitcher though.  He just loves to be in the game.  I am so glad he has a passion for something.  And he is very good at it! I love watching him play.
He is also involved in boy Scouts.  He is working towards his Life Badge now.  He goes every Wednesday and enjoys the camp outs and hikes on saturdays once a month. 
So, we have family night Monday, Baseball Tuesday, Scouts Wednesday, Baseball Thursday, not much friday, Baseball or scouts Saturday and Church Sunday... He is one busy kid! I have no idea how he keeps it all together and gets good grades at the same time!! He's a pretty awesome kid!

He still is using the pen and prefers it to syringes.  He still has no interest in a pump, so I'm not pushing it.   His numbers have been pretty good lately!

Madi:
Is loving preschool.  She loves to learn and be social.  She finds it all very exciting!
She is very into coloring right now.. Give her some colored pencils and a color book and she is set for an hour or more..No joke..after breakfast she is coloring, in the car she is coloring, all days she is coloring!! I guess color crayons weren't sophisticated enough for her..Once she discovered colored pencils, she was hooked!
She really wants someone to play with all the time..She is always asking me to "play with her".
She will really be ready for Kinder next year!
She loves to play with Legos, and all of her animals and dolls.

She is still on syringes and has no interest in the PEN!  She has asked about a pump, but any new thing, she isnt really, truly interested in trying.  It would be nice to get both kids on the same thing, but oh well...

These kids keep me one busy mom!!

Day 81

awe..Insulin....

Well today is the day we switch out the insulin.. It expires after 30 days...But Madi doesnt use much..So it seems so wasteful to throw it away... Craig uses the Pen, and it is great in the way that he uses the cartridge before it expires, so we waste none.I wish Madi would try the pen, but she wont and thats ok...


On another note..Miss Madi got 4 shots today..4 year old booster shots..Both legs are sore and she was NOT happy about it..Poor girl....

Day 80

Today we took Madi to the splash park.. We had to check her because she had been running around a lot. 

I looked at her little hands all wrinkly and you could see all of her little finger pricks.. Little dots where she had pricked her fingers over the past few months.  It made me sad...

Day 79

Well yesterday we had a busy day of baseball.. Craig had a tournament and he had 1 game after the other.. That meant a very long day... First I had to make sure we had enough snacks, insulin and all of their supplies for the 7 hours we would not be home.. Plus its Arizona, and it was 100 degrees, so add in tons of water bottles and gatorade for Craig.. lots of jerky too!! We had to take a cooler as well, but the sports park doesnt allow coolers, so I had to call ahead of time and let them know we have 2 diabetics and a lot of supplies and we will have to bring  a cooler to keep their insulin and water cold..especially in Arizona.. We got some slack when we got to the gate,but after I explained, they let us bring it.. There was no fighting it, I was bringing a cooler!

Overall, he had pretty good numbers throughout the games, which is great! And after, he didnt drop too much!

When he is playing he has to constantly eat jerky or other protein and sip of gatorade while also making sure he has enough water to not get dehydrated.. Well if you have played sports before you know that when you are playing and its hot and you are tired and in the moment of watching the runs, hitting the ball ect..that last thing you probably want to do it eat.. But he does pretty good.. A few times he said "i really dont want to eat, Im not hungry!"


But he has to keep up on it because when he is active, he can get low and if he doesnt keep up on the protein, he will drop really quick after the game, which has happened before..

I really love to watch him play baseball..If bring some so much joy to see him play.  He takes it very seriously and really puts his heart into the game, which is a lot of fun to watch..Here are a few pictures of his play by play pitch and him stealing third base! He is pretty fearless:)

 Some seeds of course..protein!  And of course Big League Chew Gum..........

And here he is stealing 3rd base........