I'm not sure if it's helpful to El yet or not, but I like to point out other people who are dealing with T1D because I think it helps her realize that she's not alone in battling this. It's funny how it seems like I'm starting to find more and more people that I know who are T1D but I was never aware of it! Tuesday night I had an opportunity to introduce Ellee to a lady who has been battling it for 18 years!
A guy that I grew up with opened a gym right down the road from me, and a few of the girls that I went to school with have been talking about going there for cardio classes. I checked into it and decided to try it, because it would be a good change of pace (and more challenging) than just doing work out videos at home! I was told a few months ago that the instructor was T1D, and I found it encouraging that she's as active as she is! Although, after one step class with her, "active" is not quite the word to describe her, more like "insanely energetic"!
Through out the whole class, I was just amazed at her energy level and kept wondering how much her blood sugar was dropping from this workout! To finish off the class, we got on the mats and did some ab work and push-ups. In the middle of a set of crunches I hear "MOMMY!!". Ellee was ready to jump on me and give me a big hug! Josh had brought the girls in to sign a contract for the fight on December 19. As soon as I finished, I went over to talk to "A" and asked if I understood right that she was Type 1. She didn't know me before the class, but it's like she immediately knew because all I got out was "Can I introduce..." when she smiled and said yes, instantly following me back to the play area where the girls were.
She started shooting the standard questions - When, How Old, Symptoms, Diagnosed Level, Meds, etc. We chatted and exchanged diagnosis stories for about 15 minutes! She was in college and is fairly certain that hers came from a bout with mono in high school.
She told me about her bad experience with the pump, which I was very disappointed to hear, but I knew that we will still be looking into it in a few years. I was very interested to hear that she takes very little fast-acting insulin - she prefers to control hers with exercise! She's proof that staying active helps the body naturally regulate sugar levels! It's very encouraging because I was starting to wonder if it was all a myth! Ellee is still honeymooning (her body is still able to produce a small amount of insulin on its own) her body's reaction to exercise has been mixed - one time it raises her sugar quite a bit and another time it drops it dramatically. I have a feeling that for as active as Ellee is, that she'll be able to use this to her advantage down the road!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
You know you're the parent of a child with diabetes when ...
- Your 10-year-old daughter looks at a beautiful, pinkish-purple sunset and declares, "That is so pretty! It looks like an infected site!"
- You don't bat an eye when your teen says, "I have alcohol in my room."
- Your child practices her math facts using MultiClix as counters!
- Your non-D child refers to all numbers as carbs - "I'm 3 carbs old!"
- Your six-year-old child announces that she didn't get high at that party and you know exactly what she meant, but the person next to you just looks at the two of you with a concerned face.
- You wake up in the night, see the projection clock that says "5:30" and panic thinking that your child's blood sugar is 530!
- You notice someone giving you a concerned look and realize that they have overheard your cell phone conversation with your teen daughter that went something like this: "You are high? You were high last night too at about this time."
- In your search for change at the bottom of your purse to pay for an item at the register, you also find used test strips
- Your three year old who doesn't have diabetes is pretending to read the carbohydrate information on all the boxes at the grocery store and is saying, "Nope too many carbs for sister" on everything she picks up.
- You come home and ask you son how he is doing and he answers with a number.
- Your child never gets the broken crackers from the box -- it's too hard to count carbs on those broken pieces!
- Everyone in the family says they are "low" instead of hungry!
- You go through a drive-in at Dunkin' Donuts and see the sign that said "High Curb" and you start laughing because you think it said "HIGH CARB."
- You are practicing spelling the word "S-I G-H-T" and your child asks if he should spell the "sight" with his eyes or the "site" on his butt.
- Your six year old runs to the bathroom yelling "I've got to go Type 2!"
- Everytime any one pricks or cut your finger you run for the meter -- you wouldn't what to waste ANY blood.
- You buy laundry detergent not based on brand preference, but on whether the bottle would make a good sharps container.
- Your two-year-old non diabetic says "me too" to get her blood checked and wears an old monitor around her waste in a pump pouch
- For Halloween your child dresses up as a sharps box.
- Your 6-year-old child with diabetes decides to leave syringes and Lantus out for Santa and his reindeer.
- You have the coolest first grader in the entire school -- none of other children have a "beeper" and personal nurse who follows them everywhere they go.
- You ask your child how their day at school went and instead of saying "fine" they start rattling off blood sugar numbers
- You ask your child what they had for lunch and they reply 45 carbs!
- Your 3-year-old son with diabetes asks every person who drinks juice, "Are you low?"
- You look in your rear view mirror as your D toddler falls asleep in the car and hope it's not a coma.
- You decide that cavities are a lesser evil than seizures when you're giving your child yogurt in the middle of the night
- You no longer say it's time for dinner -- instead you yell that it's time to check blood sugars.
- You glance at the subject line of an email and it reads "I did my first insertion!" and it's not a porn spam!
- You catch yourself counting the carbs in all the food you or anyone else eats.
- Your child refers to sequel movies as "Type 2".
- You know when School Nurse's Day is and you observe it.
- The only thing worse than a substitute teacher is a substitute school nurse.
- You evaluate measuring cups by how well they will work as serving spoons.
- You can't remember your child's grades, but can recite the A1c and last three blood glucose values any time.
- You never throw needles in the garbage, but you occasionally forget and throw garbage in the sharps box.
- Asked what's sexy in a man, you quickly respond, "Good injection technique and a willingness to do 3 a.m. checks."
- You thought 2 a.m. feedings were a thing of the past once your child was no longer an infant.
- Your child says, "Do I HAVE to take that nasty tasting medicine? Will you ask the doctor if it comes in an injectable form?"
- You realize the saying "Don't cry over spilt milk" was said by someone who never had to look at that milky puddle and try and guess how many carbs it contains.
- Complete strangers come up to your daughter, lift their shirt as high as their waist band and say "Look, I have one too." (meaning a pump, not a belly button!)
- In December, your D child is asked by someone if they're looking forward to Christmas and your child answers, "I'm looking forward to a cure."
- You're at a birthday party and the cake is being handed out and your D child says "It doesn't look good enough for a shot."
- Your three year old child already knows his two and three digit numbers from reading his glucose meter.
- You test your non-D child whenever she begins drinking too much
- You base your entire self-worth on your kid's last A1C!
- Your year is broken up into endo visits every quarter.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Jealousy
When you think of Type 1 Diabetes and the multiple daily injections... chances are the first things that come to mind are NOT jealousy. But believe it or not, there is one person jealous of Ellee and that person is Danica!
I feel so bad for both of them. For Ellee who has to get the shots because no one in their right minds LIKES them, and for Dani who has no idea what is going on but knows that Ellee gets lots of attention with the shots. In a child's world, this would be along the lines of bad attention is better than no attention.
Not sure if its because Ellee is doing such a good job of tolerating the whole process, but she really does make it look easy and painless. Even if she kicks and cries about it, Danica still watches her in amazement and interest. One of the books that I picked up to read in the hospital when El was first diagnosed was written by a mother. She said that many parents often comment that they may not like what is going on (shots and finger pokes), but they like the fact that they are actually getting attention. And on that same token, I think it's the same thing for the siblings, it may not be positive attention, but some is better than none.
Danica really is fascinated by all of this. I often catch her trying to get into the "poodle bag" and get the test kit out. Or if I leave the test kit too close to the edge of the counter, she sneaks it and tries to poke her finger. One morning, shortly after diagnosis, the girls and I got up and I started making breakfast. I gave Ellee her kit to check her sugar, so she sat down on the step between the living room and kitchen with Dani anxiously watching her, or so I thought! I hear the beep of the meter and Ellee call out:
"Mom, what is Dani's number?" El is learning her numbers, but doesn't always recognize them in digital form.
"Your number is 86"
"No, it's Dani's!"
"What do you mean it's Dani's?" No sooner do I get those words out, Dani is proudly holding up her finger to show me the blood still left on there!
Dani is also fascinated by the shots, even more so since she has started counting! When we give El her shot, we count to five after pushing the plunger in before removing the needle. We do make a game out of this to take her mind off of any pain there may be. My dad is the best with it, as he doesn't count right and gets her laughing as she tries to correct him! I think it's because of the laughter that Dani thinks she's missing out on something fun. The first couple times she's indicated interest, she held her arm out and said "tickle"! Again, not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but its so darn cute! I knew right away that this may not be such a good thing, so I capped the needle, pinched the upper part of her arm, then "jabbed" her fairly hard and started counting. She rubbed her arm a little and walked away! I didn't do it hard enough to cause her great pain, but I wanted to make sure that she understood that it "wasn't nothing" and that there was pain involved with it.
We check Dani's sugar every so often. As a parent (and the grandparents too), it's always in the back of your mind to wonder if she will get it. Type 1 is mysterious because no one knows what exactly (or what virus) triggers the immune attack or if it was genetics. Because of that, I like to know where her levels are. The funny thing is that often when I check her, both of the girls have very close to the same numbers! Ellee's is of course with the help of insulin, but it's comforting to know that we have it under control!
I feel so bad for both of them. For Ellee who has to get the shots because no one in their right minds LIKES them, and for Dani who has no idea what is going on but knows that Ellee gets lots of attention with the shots. In a child's world, this would be along the lines of bad attention is better than no attention.
Not sure if its because Ellee is doing such a good job of tolerating the whole process, but she really does make it look easy and painless. Even if she kicks and cries about it, Danica still watches her in amazement and interest. One of the books that I picked up to read in the hospital when El was first diagnosed was written by a mother. She said that many parents often comment that they may not like what is going on (shots and finger pokes), but they like the fact that they are actually getting attention. And on that same token, I think it's the same thing for the siblings, it may not be positive attention, but some is better than none.
Danica really is fascinated by all of this. I often catch her trying to get into the "poodle bag" and get the test kit out. Or if I leave the test kit too close to the edge of the counter, she sneaks it and tries to poke her finger. One morning, shortly after diagnosis, the girls and I got up and I started making breakfast. I gave Ellee her kit to check her sugar, so she sat down on the step between the living room and kitchen with Dani anxiously watching her, or so I thought! I hear the beep of the meter and Ellee call out:
"Mom, what is Dani's number?" El is learning her numbers, but doesn't always recognize them in digital form.
"Your number is 86"
"No, it's Dani's!"
"What do you mean it's Dani's?" No sooner do I get those words out, Dani is proudly holding up her finger to show me the blood still left on there!
Dani is also fascinated by the shots, even more so since she has started counting! When we give El her shot, we count to five after pushing the plunger in before removing the needle. We do make a game out of this to take her mind off of any pain there may be. My dad is the best with it, as he doesn't count right and gets her laughing as she tries to correct him! I think it's because of the laughter that Dani thinks she's missing out on something fun. The first couple times she's indicated interest, she held her arm out and said "tickle"! Again, not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but its so darn cute! I knew right away that this may not be such a good thing, so I capped the needle, pinched the upper part of her arm, then "jabbed" her fairly hard and started counting. She rubbed her arm a little and walked away! I didn't do it hard enough to cause her great pain, but I wanted to make sure that she understood that it "wasn't nothing" and that there was pain involved with it.
We check Dani's sugar every so often. As a parent (and the grandparents too), it's always in the back of your mind to wonder if she will get it. Type 1 is mysterious because no one knows what exactly (or what virus) triggers the immune attack or if it was genetics. Because of that, I like to know where her levels are. The funny thing is that often when I check her, both of the girls have very close to the same numbers! Ellee's is of course with the help of insulin, but it's comforting to know that we have it under control!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Walk to Cure - East Harbor, Lake Erie
Sunday, September 20th
A few weeks after she was diagnosed, I was looking around on the JDRF.org website to see what the future for this disease looked like. There it was, a video of Kevin Kline and a link to the Walk to Cure website! I checked Ohio and found that they were having a walk up at Lake Erie... and of all places, at my favorite campground!!! DONE!!! We were going to do a walk to help raise money! Part of me hoped that we could do this every year and that Ellee would get to the point where she would want to take over and continue to do this annual event without me dragging her! You know, something that she looks forward to!
We ended up camping at Camp Perry since Dad already had the camper set up there from the weekend before. Saturday morning Mom and I took the girls over to Marblehead to that I could try to get some portraits of them. I can't say that it was a sucessful venture, but I did get a few good shots!
When we got back, the girls were bound and determined to go swimming dispite the cold wind! It really would have been great weather to spend the whole day on the beach but the wind was so cold and froze you! It took longer to get the toys, swimmies, bathing suits and everything else together than we were actually on the beach!
The Walk
Dad wasn't done at base yet, so we went over to East Harbor without him. We had no idea what to expect, but the traffic was backed up on the road heading back to the beach! Along the side of the road were little sneakers staked into the ground. I teared up, it was encouraging to see, not to mention so cute! The parking lot on the right side was packed, but we finally found a spot and made the long walk to the party!
This really was a great event, a DJ & stage, jump house, balloon animals, activities for the kids, free food, and the Coast Guard had an airboat there! They had an area set up with lots of medical brochures and other stuff. It was wonderful, they had anything from log books, insulin pens, pumps, and support brochures. Carl and Moriah called wanting to know where we were at! It was a very nice surprise because I didn't expect them to drive over from Toledo on their way home from Bass Pro & Cabelos!
When it was time to start the walk they gathered everyone up by the stage. They had all the Type 1s come up and get behind a sign for pictures and I was so disappointed that Ellee did not want to go up there! That would have made a great front page picture for a scrapbook for the event, but oh well! They had a ribon that went between the stage and the entrance to the path and they had a little 6 or 7 year old boy that was just diagnosed cut it... then we were off!!!
We had no idea where were going or how long the walk was except that the website said 3 miles. It started off on a nice grassy path, and it didn't take long for the girls to ride on Josh's & Uncle Carl's shoulders! We soon hit a point where we had to turn and walk up towards the beach. Talk about a great view! We could see the waves (it was pretty choppy that day) between the openings of trees. The path went from a grassy path to a sandy and an occasional concrete pad. We were not prepared for the walk up hill in SAND!! *Note to self - wear sandles next year!*
Ellee got a big burst of energy and wanted me to run with her! Much to our surprise, we were just about to the end! I really don't think it was a full 3 miles, but we still had fun! After everyone else finished, the girls got to play on an air boat that the Coast Guard had there.
We called Dad to see if he was done on base yet and he was just finishing up, so we meet him for dinner. Not sure what it is about being up at Lake Erie, but ice cream is a must when you're up there! Toft's is the big brand up there and it is wonderful! I think we had just as much fun sitting outside of the ice cream parlor as we did at the walk!
A few weeks after she was diagnosed, I was looking around on the JDRF.org website to see what the future for this disease looked like. There it was, a video of Kevin Kline and a link to the Walk to Cure website! I checked Ohio and found that they were having a walk up at Lake Erie... and of all places, at my favorite campground!!! DONE!!! We were going to do a walk to help raise money! Part of me hoped that we could do this every year and that Ellee would get to the point where she would want to take over and continue to do this annual event without me dragging her! You know, something that she looks forward to!
We ended up camping at Camp Perry since Dad already had the camper set up there from the weekend before. Saturday morning Mom and I took the girls over to Marblehead to that I could try to get some portraits of them. I can't say that it was a sucessful venture, but I did get a few good shots!
When we got back, the girls were bound and determined to go swimming dispite the cold wind! It really would have been great weather to spend the whole day on the beach but the wind was so cold and froze you! It took longer to get the toys, swimmies, bathing suits and everything else together than we were actually on the beach!
The Walk
Dad wasn't done at base yet, so we went over to East Harbor without him. We had no idea what to expect, but the traffic was backed up on the road heading back to the beach! Along the side of the road were little sneakers staked into the ground. I teared up, it was encouraging to see, not to mention so cute! The parking lot on the right side was packed, but we finally found a spot and made the long walk to the party!
This really was a great event, a DJ & stage, jump house, balloon animals, activities for the kids, free food, and the Coast Guard had an airboat there! They had an area set up with lots of medical brochures and other stuff. It was wonderful, they had anything from log books, insulin pens, pumps, and support brochures. Carl and Moriah called wanting to know where we were at! It was a very nice surprise because I didn't expect them to drive over from Toledo on their way home from Bass Pro & Cabelos!
When it was time to start the walk they gathered everyone up by the stage. They had all the Type 1s come up and get behind a sign for pictures and I was so disappointed that Ellee did not want to go up there! That would have made a great front page picture for a scrapbook for the event, but oh well! They had a ribon that went between the stage and the entrance to the path and they had a little 6 or 7 year old boy that was just diagnosed cut it... then we were off!!!
We had no idea where were going or how long the walk was except that the website said 3 miles. It started off on a nice grassy path, and it didn't take long for the girls to ride on Josh's & Uncle Carl's shoulders! We soon hit a point where we had to turn and walk up towards the beach. Talk about a great view! We could see the waves (it was pretty choppy that day) between the openings of trees. The path went from a grassy path to a sandy and an occasional concrete pad. We were not prepared for the walk up hill in SAND!! *Note to self - wear sandles next year!*
Ellee got a big burst of energy and wanted me to run with her! Much to our surprise, we were just about to the end! I really don't think it was a full 3 miles, but we still had fun! After everyone else finished, the girls got to play on an air boat that the Coast Guard had there.
We called Dad to see if he was done on base yet and he was just finishing up, so we meet him for dinner. Not sure what it is about being up at Lake Erie, but ice cream is a must when you're up there! Toft's is the big brand up there and it is wonderful! I think we had just as much fun sitting outside of the ice cream parlor as we did at the walk!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Life Lessons - 6 Months
Exactly 6 months ago, I was sitting in the hospital at Lima Memorial thinking that my world has come to an abrupt end and I couldn't possibly imagine how to deal with the news we were just handed. 6 months ago I scrambled for as much reading material as I could find from the library to prepare for a long hospitalization and tearfully called to tell my parents the devistation news. But here we are... 6 months later... and we're still alive!
My motto as of about 5-6 years ago has been "Prepare for the Worse, Hope for the Best" and that has helped us pull through this. I knew that if we could get past the first month, things would get easier. Just like Elizabeth was first born, I knew that if I could get through that first month that things would get easier. And just like with a child as you celebrate any of their birthdays, you look back in amasement at those first few months and are thankful that you some how survived it. Same thing with Type 1.
Don't get me wrong, T1D is a horrible disease. It makes my skin craw just thinking that any child's immune system can attack their body while you have no idea that it's going on and even if you did, you are absolutely helpless to stop it. At the same time, as we have learned to cope with it, I am thankful for T1D and that it wasn't something else, something that would not allow us to bring her home from the hospital.
One of the wonderful moms from TheMomPack said a few words of encouragement that have stuck with me... "It seems like most Diabetics are overachievers". As I see more and more people who have T1D, I believe that this is the case! People who do not let this disease control them, but control the disease. And that is my wish for Elizabeth, is that she learns to control this disease, turn the tables on it, and put it to good use. I loved seeing so many of the nurses at Childrens who were Type 1s working with the newly diagnosed. This was comforting to see that it never slowed them down and that they are using their experience to help us newbies, not just going from second hand knowledge from a textbook at nursing school.
I hate calling Ellee a Diabetic. First and foremost, she is Elizabeth! Period... Plain and simple... Elizabeth! Then secondly, just like a little side note in a book, she has diabetes. But Ellee is so strong, easy going, and has done the best of taking this in stride. She no longer fights us at meal times or complains when we tell her to check her sugar for what ever reason. Occasionally she'll complain that the shot hurts, but as soon as we are done, she has already moved on and is back to playing. My hope for her is that she continues on like this. That she doesn't let it slow her down and that she continues to control the diabetes, not let the diabetes control her.
My motto as of about 5-6 years ago has been "Prepare for the Worse, Hope for the Best" and that has helped us pull through this. I knew that if we could get past the first month, things would get easier. Just like Elizabeth was first born, I knew that if I could get through that first month that things would get easier. And just like with a child as you celebrate any of their birthdays, you look back in amasement at those first few months and are thankful that you some how survived it. Same thing with Type 1.
Don't get me wrong, T1D is a horrible disease. It makes my skin craw just thinking that any child's immune system can attack their body while you have no idea that it's going on and even if you did, you are absolutely helpless to stop it. At the same time, as we have learned to cope with it, I am thankful for T1D and that it wasn't something else, something that would not allow us to bring her home from the hospital.
One of the wonderful moms from TheMomPack said a few words of encouragement that have stuck with me... "It seems like most Diabetics are overachievers". As I see more and more people who have T1D, I believe that this is the case! People who do not let this disease control them, but control the disease. And that is my wish for Elizabeth, is that she learns to control this disease, turn the tables on it, and put it to good use. I loved seeing so many of the nurses at Childrens who were Type 1s working with the newly diagnosed. This was comforting to see that it never slowed them down and that they are using their experience to help us newbies, not just going from second hand knowledge from a textbook at nursing school.
I hate calling Ellee a Diabetic. First and foremost, she is Elizabeth! Period... Plain and simple... Elizabeth! Then secondly, just like a little side note in a book, she has diabetes. But Ellee is so strong, easy going, and has done the best of taking this in stride. She no longer fights us at meal times or complains when we tell her to check her sugar for what ever reason. Occasionally she'll complain that the shot hurts, but as soon as we are done, she has already moved on and is back to playing. My hope for her is that she continues on like this. That she doesn't let it slow her down and that she continues to control the diabetes, not let the diabetes control her.
Diabetic Mothers
I found this little story shortly after Ellee was diagnosed. This was my Holland story! (There is a side story to that a few people will get! I'll find that story and post it later.) What better way to share it than 6 months after she was diagnosed?!
HOW GOD SELECTS THE MOTHER OF A CHILD WITH DIABETES
by Erma Bombeck
Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice, a few by social pressures and a couple by habit. Did you ever wonder how mothers of children with diabetes are chosen? Somehow I visualize God hovering over earth selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to make notes in a giant ledger.
"Armstrong, Beth, son. Patron Saint Matthew."
"Forrest, Marjorie, daughter, Patron Saint Cecilia."
"Rutledge, Carrie, twins. Patron Saint Gerard. He's used to profanity."
Finally, He passes a name to an angel and smiles, "Give her a child with diabetes." The angel is curious. "Why this one, God? She's so happy."
"Exactly", smiles God. "Could I give child with diabetes to a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel".
"But has she the patience?" asks the angel.
"I don't want her to have too much patience, or she will drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it. I watched her today. She has that feeling of self and independence that is so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I am going to give her has her own world. She has to make it live in her world and that's not going to be easy."
"But, Lord, I don't think she even believes in you."
God smiles. "No matter. I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness."
The angel gasps. "Selfishness? Is that a virtue?"
God nods. "If she cannot separate herself from the child occasionally, she will never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with less than perfect."
"She does not realize it yet, but she is to be envied. I will permit her to see clearly the things I see .... ignorance, cruelty, prejudice ... and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as if she is here by my side."
"And what about her patron saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in mid air. God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."
HOW GOD SELECTS THE MOTHER OF A CHILD WITH DIABETES
by Erma Bombeck
Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice, a few by social pressures and a couple by habit. Did you ever wonder how mothers of children with diabetes are chosen? Somehow I visualize God hovering over earth selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to make notes in a giant ledger.
"Armstrong, Beth, son. Patron Saint Matthew."
"Forrest, Marjorie, daughter, Patron Saint Cecilia."
"Rutledge, Carrie, twins. Patron Saint Gerard. He's used to profanity."
Finally, He passes a name to an angel and smiles, "Give her a child with diabetes." The angel is curious. "Why this one, God? She's so happy."
"Exactly", smiles God. "Could I give child with diabetes to a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel".
"But has she the patience?" asks the angel.
"I don't want her to have too much patience, or she will drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it. I watched her today. She has that feeling of self and independence that is so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I am going to give her has her own world. She has to make it live in her world and that's not going to be easy."
"But, Lord, I don't think she even believes in you."
God smiles. "No matter. I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness."
The angel gasps. "Selfishness? Is that a virtue?"
God nods. "If she cannot separate herself from the child occasionally, she will never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with less than perfect."
"She does not realize it yet, but she is to be envied. I will permit her to see clearly the things I see .... ignorance, cruelty, prejudice ... and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as if she is here by my side."
"And what about her patron saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in mid air. God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."
Monday, October 19, 2009
Camping - with a new twist!
May 15th-17th
I got so rushed trying to get everything caught up that I left out our camping trip to Hocking Hills. That will teach me to blog more often instead of doing it all at once!
My brother Carl found a 100 mile Poker Run down in Hocking Hills that was on May 16th. Late Friday afternoon, we took off with my parents, little brother Jason, older brother Carl & his fiance Moriah.
Mom and I prepared for a while for this trip trying to figure out what she can and can't have, do we plan on doing banana boats instead of smores or vise versa. Once the doctor said that we can do the the Insulin to Carb ratio, that helped out tremendiously! It allowed us to plan a regular meal without making sure it was a certain amount of carbs for Ellee.
It was VERY late by the time we got down to Old Man's Cave Friday night. Carl and I were on the motorcycles with Dad following us in the Yukon with the big camper. Josh and Jason got impatient and went ahead to the campground to get the pop-up camper set up. We finally get there and get both campers set up and go to bed!
Late Saturday morning, Josh and I & Carl and Moriah head over to the poker run (which wasn't all that fun because it rained on us).
That evening, it was a "make your own dinner" type of thing! We had stuff for Pizza Pie Irons, Hobo Foil Packs, or Kabobs. Have I mentioned how much I like the Insulin:Carb thing lately?! This is one of those times where I would have gone crazy if I had to make El eat a certain amount of carbs! It was also nice because she didn't eat very many carbs for dinner, which allowed her to eat more of the fun stuff later on! She could eat as many smores and banana boats as she wanted, then we just had to dose her accordingly!
The weekend went really fast and we didn't even get a chance to go hiking. How can you go to Old Man's Cave and not hike?! I some how talked everyone but Mom and Moriah into going down and hiking for about half an hour before we took off. I never cease to be amazed at the differences between Ellee and Dani! I honestly think that Ellee has grandpa wrapped around her little finger because she ended up riding on his shoulders most of the time while Dani (only 18 months old) walked up and down every single step! I did have to give her a ride in a few spots to keep her away from the steep dropoffs!
As a mother, I constantly worry and panic. It's even worse with the diabetes because I think of Ellee's long-term health in addition to the short term. This is just one of the instances where I'm learning that I can't change things to conform to the diabetes, but instead I get to have the upperhand and make the diabetes conform to our life!!!
I got so rushed trying to get everything caught up that I left out our camping trip to Hocking Hills. That will teach me to blog more often instead of doing it all at once!
My brother Carl found a 100 mile Poker Run down in Hocking Hills that was on May 16th. Late Friday afternoon, we took off with my parents, little brother Jason, older brother Carl & his fiance Moriah.
Mom and I prepared for a while for this trip trying to figure out what she can and can't have, do we plan on doing banana boats instead of smores or vise versa. Once the doctor said that we can do the the Insulin to Carb ratio, that helped out tremendiously! It allowed us to plan a regular meal without making sure it was a certain amount of carbs for Ellee.
It was VERY late by the time we got down to Old Man's Cave Friday night. Carl and I were on the motorcycles with Dad following us in the Yukon with the big camper. Josh and Jason got impatient and went ahead to the campground to get the pop-up camper set up. We finally get there and get both campers set up and go to bed!
Late Saturday morning, Josh and I & Carl and Moriah head over to the poker run (which wasn't all that fun because it rained on us).
That evening, it was a "make your own dinner" type of thing! We had stuff for Pizza Pie Irons, Hobo Foil Packs, or Kabobs. Have I mentioned how much I like the Insulin:Carb thing lately?! This is one of those times where I would have gone crazy if I had to make El eat a certain amount of carbs! It was also nice because she didn't eat very many carbs for dinner, which allowed her to eat more of the fun stuff later on! She could eat as many smores and banana boats as she wanted, then we just had to dose her accordingly!
The weekend went really fast and we didn't even get a chance to go hiking. How can you go to Old Man's Cave and not hike?! I some how talked everyone but Mom and Moriah into going down and hiking for about half an hour before we took off. I never cease to be amazed at the differences between Ellee and Dani! I honestly think that Ellee has grandpa wrapped around her little finger because she ended up riding on his shoulders most of the time while Dani (only 18 months old) walked up and down every single step! I did have to give her a ride in a few spots to keep her away from the steep dropoffs!
As a mother, I constantly worry and panic. It's even worse with the diabetes because I think of Ellee's long-term health in addition to the short term. This is just one of the instances where I'm learning that I can't change things to conform to the diabetes, but instead I get to have the upperhand and make the diabetes conform to our life!!!
First Doctor's Appointment
Monday, June 8th
One reason that we chose to take Ellee to Children's Hospital in Columbus (instead of Dayton or Toledo) is because there is an doctor's office in Dublin that we could go to for her follow up appointments. We have no idea what to expect when we get there, how long it will take, or what all they will do. Ellee was especially nervous, asking if they would have to put a "straw" in her arm (an IV or blood draw from inside her elbow, she calls those big needles straws). I felt like a broken record saying "I don't know".
We stop at a Tim Horton's which is right down the road from the office to get breakfast. From the display case, Ellee picked out a jelly filled, powder coated doughnut. I hate choosing something for her to eat, but at the same time, I hate letting her pick stuff out... either way, it's a 50/50 chance of her liking it. She did do good and ate half of the doughnut, but I wrapped it back up in the little bag it came with and we went inside.
I actually like going to a doctors office and getting called back before you get all the paperwork filled out... so much better than sitting in the waiting room for hours!! The nurse took us into a little room to check her height and weight and to get a blood sample for her A1C (gives an average of blood sugars for the past 3 months). I have no idea how they are going to do this, but I'm hoping not by a blood draw! To our relief, the nurse asks if we have her test kit and if we can use the lancet to get a few drops. YAY, it's just like testing her sugar but using a different kind of meter!
We still waited a little while to see the doctor. A Diabetes Nurse Educator came in to talk with us and look over her log book. We talked about a few of the numbers that were either really high ore really low to see if we knew what caused them. Most of the time we did know, but I think she was mainly just checking to see how much we are watching and understanding the diabetes.
Dr. Monika finally came in (I call her that because I can't spell her last name without looking at it and can't pronounce it unless some one says it first!). She was a very nice, down-to-earth woman. She said that she was very happy with the numbers in the log and her A1C came back at 8.6. They want it below 8, so being just a few points over considering that her pre-diagnosis numbers were included is very good! She discussed changing Ellee's Insulin to Carb ratio so that we are giving her less insulin and she told us how to dose her if she's high and we need to bring her down.
She flat out told us that it's a learning curve and there is no set standard or guideline. It's all about finding what works best for Ellee and making adjustments as Ellee's body adjusts. It would be nice if there were a magic formula to follow, but unfortunately, there isn't.
One reason that we chose to take Ellee to Children's Hospital in Columbus (instead of Dayton or Toledo) is because there is an doctor's office in Dublin that we could go to for her follow up appointments. We have no idea what to expect when we get there, how long it will take, or what all they will do. Ellee was especially nervous, asking if they would have to put a "straw" in her arm (an IV or blood draw from inside her elbow, she calls those big needles straws). I felt like a broken record saying "I don't know".
We stop at a Tim Horton's which is right down the road from the office to get breakfast. From the display case, Ellee picked out a jelly filled, powder coated doughnut. I hate choosing something for her to eat, but at the same time, I hate letting her pick stuff out... either way, it's a 50/50 chance of her liking it. She did do good and ate half of the doughnut, but I wrapped it back up in the little bag it came with and we went inside.
I actually like going to a doctors office and getting called back before you get all the paperwork filled out... so much better than sitting in the waiting room for hours!! The nurse took us into a little room to check her height and weight and to get a blood sample for her A1C (gives an average of blood sugars for the past 3 months). I have no idea how they are going to do this, but I'm hoping not by a blood draw! To our relief, the nurse asks if we have her test kit and if we can use the lancet to get a few drops. YAY, it's just like testing her sugar but using a different kind of meter!
We still waited a little while to see the doctor. A Diabetes Nurse Educator came in to talk with us and look over her log book. We talked about a few of the numbers that were either really high ore really low to see if we knew what caused them. Most of the time we did know, but I think she was mainly just checking to see how much we are watching and understanding the diabetes.
Dr. Monika finally came in (I call her that because I can't spell her last name without looking at it and can't pronounce it unless some one says it first!). She was a very nice, down-to-earth woman. She said that she was very happy with the numbers in the log and her A1C came back at 8.6. They want it below 8, so being just a few points over considering that her pre-diagnosis numbers were included is very good! She discussed changing Ellee's Insulin to Carb ratio so that we are giving her less insulin and she told us how to dose her if she's high and we need to bring her down.
She flat out told us that it's a learning curve and there is no set standard or guideline. It's all about finding what works best for Ellee and making adjustments as Ellee's body adjusts. It would be nice if there were a magic formula to follow, but unfortunately, there isn't.
School
Wednesday, May 20th
So much for a normal preschool experience! As soon as she started preschool, Ellee's symptoms started to appear, then she was out for a week during the diagnosis, then back to finish up the last month. The good thing is that other than snack, we really don't have to worry much about food and shots during class. The pain has been making sure that she only gets around 15 carbs at snack time, so we pack her some crackers and Crystal Light lemonade to take. I didn't figure that it would take long before she felt kind of excluded for not being able to eat what the other kids had. As a comprimise, she still had to have her lemonade, but she could have what ever snack the others had. I meet with her teacher to talk about making sure that she got as close to the 15 carbs as possible.
This was their big Walk to the Library field trip day! It got pushed back a week due to the rain, but they finally got a good day! I took off work to help chaperone! Before heading out, Mrs. M took Ellee's emergency juice box out of the fridge and put it in her little bag incase she had a Hypo event while we were gone. They didn't really have that far to walk (about 5 blocks), but for little legs it was a lot! There really is nothing cute there 3, 4, & 5 year olds making animal noises when the book called for it, and dancing to a silly song!
After the librarian read a few cute books and they did a few silly songs, it was time to go. I found it a little funny that they did all that walking for a 15-20 minute activity! Oh well, it got them out of the classroom and into the sunshine! About half way back, Ellee started walking slower and getting a whiny. I pushed her to walk just the little bit further that we had to go, then grabbed her test kit out of the car. I made her go to the bathroom, then we check her sugar and she was clear down in the 60s... Yikes! I got the juice box from Mrs. M and sat out in the hallway with her while she drank it. The other kids were getting started on their daily routine and it was nice to actually be able to see some of what they do there!
It's amazing the difference in El between a Hypo event and when she's "normal" (within her sugar range). Even when she's high, I can see a little bit of a difference in her. I wonder if she can feel the difference in herself, like if she feels funny, light-headed, belly ache, or anything like that. Even if she can, I'm sure it will be another year or more before she realizes whats going on and knows to check her sugar as soon as she starts feeling that way.
Monday, June 1st
Last day of preschool! It was a short year because we didn't enroll her till mid-February, but it still went by fast! They had a little program for all of the parents and families where they sang some of the songs that they learned! I have no idea where Mrs. M gets these songs from, but they are the cutest things! I loved picking El up from school or the sitters and listening to her sing them on the way home!
I have to admit, when I first found out that we'd have to monitor and watch what she ate, I was scared to death. The first thing that came to mind is that going to different functions or places and having cookies as snacks and having to tell her that she can't have any or a little bit of one... I know I don't have the will power to pass up a cookie, why should I expect a 4 year old to??? BUT, God works in mysterious ways! At the end of the program, I checked El's sugar and she was low! Why was I excited? Because it meant she could have a cookie and I didn't have to worry about it making her sugar skyrocket over her range!
So much for a normal preschool experience! As soon as she started preschool, Ellee's symptoms started to appear, then she was out for a week during the diagnosis, then back to finish up the last month. The good thing is that other than snack, we really don't have to worry much about food and shots during class. The pain has been making sure that she only gets around 15 carbs at snack time, so we pack her some crackers and Crystal Light lemonade to take. I didn't figure that it would take long before she felt kind of excluded for not being able to eat what the other kids had. As a comprimise, she still had to have her lemonade, but she could have what ever snack the others had. I meet with her teacher to talk about making sure that she got as close to the 15 carbs as possible.
This was their big Walk to the Library field trip day! It got pushed back a week due to the rain, but they finally got a good day! I took off work to help chaperone! Before heading out, Mrs. M took Ellee's emergency juice box out of the fridge and put it in her little bag incase she had a Hypo event while we were gone. They didn't really have that far to walk (about 5 blocks), but for little legs it was a lot! There really is nothing cute there 3, 4, & 5 year olds making animal noises when the book called for it, and dancing to a silly song!
After the librarian read a few cute books and they did a few silly songs, it was time to go. I found it a little funny that they did all that walking for a 15-20 minute activity! Oh well, it got them out of the classroom and into the sunshine! About half way back, Ellee started walking slower and getting a whiny. I pushed her to walk just the little bit further that we had to go, then grabbed her test kit out of the car. I made her go to the bathroom, then we check her sugar and she was clear down in the 60s... Yikes! I got the juice box from Mrs. M and sat out in the hallway with her while she drank it. The other kids were getting started on their daily routine and it was nice to actually be able to see some of what they do there!
It's amazing the difference in El between a Hypo event and when she's "normal" (within her sugar range). Even when she's high, I can see a little bit of a difference in her. I wonder if she can feel the difference in herself, like if she feels funny, light-headed, belly ache, or anything like that. Even if she can, I'm sure it will be another year or more before she realizes whats going on and knows to check her sugar as soon as she starts feeling that way.
Monday, June 1st
Last day of preschool! It was a short year because we didn't enroll her till mid-February, but it still went by fast! They had a little program for all of the parents and families where they sang some of the songs that they learned! I have no idea where Mrs. M gets these songs from, but they are the cutest things! I loved picking El up from school or the sitters and listening to her sing them on the way home!
I have to admit, when I first found out that we'd have to monitor and watch what she ate, I was scared to death. The first thing that came to mind is that going to different functions or places and having cookies as snacks and having to tell her that she can't have any or a little bit of one... I know I don't have the will power to pass up a cookie, why should I expect a 4 year old to??? BUT, God works in mysterious ways! At the end of the program, I checked El's sugar and she was low! Why was I excited? Because it meant she could have a cookie and I didn't have to worry about it making her sugar skyrocket over her range!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Finally - Carb to Insulin Ratios!
Thursday, May 7th
Shortly after I started back to work, I spoke with the Safety Director at work. Her Grandson was diagnosed with Type 1 about 5 years ago. She told me about how he had actually gone into a coma because his sugar was so high (it was well over 1,000, but I'm thinking she said it was over 2,000 and Ellee's was 668 at diagnosis). She also said that he does his shot after he eats, figuring out how many carbs he ate as opposed to making him eat a certain amount. WOW... this sounds a lot better than trying to make Ellee eat a certain amount of carbs for a meal and panicing if she didn't eat it all.
When we were at Childrens meeting with Winnie to train Mom, Dad, and Tonya, we also had to meet with Karen, a dietition. I brought up this carb to insulin ratio with her and she agreed that it would be a good thing! She left to check with one of the doctors (because she couldn't authorize it) then came back in and instructed us on how to do this new process.
Other Type 1s have been doing Carb:Insulin for a long time, and when people are on the pump, this is how they tell the pump how much insulin to give... but for us it was a new and exciting adventure! And it was! This took so much unnecessary stress out of our lives. I hate fighting with the girls about eating. I don't want to force them to eat something they don't like and I understand that they go through growth spurts where one minute they will eat like piggies and the next they won't touch an ounce of food. Through insulin on top of this and you have World War III in the Braun household! Up until this point I tried not to make too much of a fuss about Ellee not eating something and found a substitute that she would eat. We had enough other stuff to fight about, I didn't want this to be one of them.
Before, we were instructed to give her 2 units before dinner and have her eat 40 carbs. Of course the number of units may change or the number of carbs may change depending on if she was having lots of low readings. But it was the same concept, give her a shot and make her eat a certain amount. On the other hand, Carb:Insulin Ratio works like this... based on her past sugar readings, the doctor sets a ratio for her, like 1:20 (1 unit for every 20 grams of carbs). We test her sugar before she eats, then let her eat what how ever much of her dinner she wants. If she has 10 carbs, we give her half a unit, 1 unit for 20 carbs, 2 units for 40 carbs. Every so often the doctors will look to see if an adjustment needs made based on if her sugar is too high or having too many lows. It is better than sliced bread! They couldn't send us home doing this because they needed to make sure that we understand how to count the carbs, which makes sense. Still makes me wish that they would have told us about this sooner!
Shortly after I started back to work, I spoke with the Safety Director at work. Her Grandson was diagnosed with Type 1 about 5 years ago. She told me about how he had actually gone into a coma because his sugar was so high (it was well over 1,000, but I'm thinking she said it was over 2,000 and Ellee's was 668 at diagnosis). She also said that he does his shot after he eats, figuring out how many carbs he ate as opposed to making him eat a certain amount. WOW... this sounds a lot better than trying to make Ellee eat a certain amount of carbs for a meal and panicing if she didn't eat it all.
When we were at Childrens meeting with Winnie to train Mom, Dad, and Tonya, we also had to meet with Karen, a dietition. I brought up this carb to insulin ratio with her and she agreed that it would be a good thing! She left to check with one of the doctors (because she couldn't authorize it) then came back in and instructed us on how to do this new process.
Other Type 1s have been doing Carb:Insulin for a long time, and when people are on the pump, this is how they tell the pump how much insulin to give... but for us it was a new and exciting adventure! And it was! This took so much unnecessary stress out of our lives. I hate fighting with the girls about eating. I don't want to force them to eat something they don't like and I understand that they go through growth spurts where one minute they will eat like piggies and the next they won't touch an ounce of food. Through insulin on top of this and you have World War III in the Braun household! Up until this point I tried not to make too much of a fuss about Ellee not eating something and found a substitute that she would eat. We had enough other stuff to fight about, I didn't want this to be one of them.
Before, we were instructed to give her 2 units before dinner and have her eat 40 carbs. Of course the number of units may change or the number of carbs may change depending on if she was having lots of low readings. But it was the same concept, give her a shot and make her eat a certain amount. On the other hand, Carb:Insulin Ratio works like this... based on her past sugar readings, the doctor sets a ratio for her, like 1:20 (1 unit for every 20 grams of carbs). We test her sugar before she eats, then let her eat what how ever much of her dinner she wants. If she has 10 carbs, we give her half a unit, 1 unit for 20 carbs, 2 units for 40 carbs. Every so often the doctors will look to see if an adjustment needs made based on if her sugar is too high or having too many lows. It is better than sliced bread! They couldn't send us home doing this because they needed to make sure that we understand how to count the carbs, which makes sense. Still makes me wish that they would have told us about this sooner!
First Few Days Home
Friday, April 24th
Wow... now what do we do? Josh and I both work and who ever watches the girls needs to be trained on how to give her shots, check her sugar, and count carbs. At this point Dad and Tonya are watching the girls for us and taking Ellee to Preschool for the few hours that she has class. Since we were really slow at work, my boss and I agreed that I could work half days for as long as I needed to. So, our schedule for the next month was for me to get up as early as I could in the mornings and go into work and work half a day, Josh would go to work in the afternoon.
HELP IS ON ITS WAY!!!
It was such a relief when we were able to set a date for Mom and Dad to go to Columbus to meet with Winnie to get their training done. I wasn't going to push it, but Tonya wanted to get trained because she still wanted to watch the girls. I'm not going push some one into doing this because as a parent it was hard enough for me to do it, but I'll take any help I can get!
Everyone meet at the house and we headed for Columbus. Not sure why we didn't take Aunt Susie up on the offer to watch Dani, but we didn't think it would be that bad and she might as well go with us. I think we were planning on going to the Zoo afterwards, but that didn't work out.
There is nothing funner than putting 7 adults and two little kids in a very small room with lots of needles! I'll get to the details in a second, but want to say that I acutally learned something about my little brother... and it's kind of disturbing!!! Here is how this played out:
We're sitting on one side of a table and Winnie is on the other side. She gets out the glucose meter and shows everyone the chip that you have to change with every new bottle of test strips. She then passes out alcohol pads to everyone and informs them that they'll be testing their own sugar. No big deal... right?!?! WRONG!!! Jason starts flipping out! Why??? Because he can't stand to be around needles!!! Hmmm... lets think about that. For anyone that doesn't know my brother, he's about 6'5" and 250 lbs, with 4 tattoos, volunteer fire fighter and his roommate is an EMT! I know that there are lots of people who are afraid of needles, but most of the don't have about 4 tattoos! We argued this fact with him and he still threw a big fit about it! Why did he even come in the first place? Okay, so he admitted that he was there for the lunch afterwards, but still, he knew that there would be needles in the same room! Dani was getting restless so I took her out to the waiting room to play with some toys. When we came back in, they were done testing sugar and some how managed to talk him into doing it.
Next came the shots. Everyone was to give themselves one. Again, shouldn't be a big deal, if your going to give shots to a little kid, you should know how it feels! Tonya and Dad do theirs, no big deal. Then it comes to Jason... will he do it?! NO. =( He again made a big deal about how he's not going to do it, and Josh is giving him the biggest ration of $hit you can imagine! If only I were at the other end of the table, it was the perfect opperturnity to give him a shot because he was going at it with Josh! When the laughter died down, Dad and Tonya said that they had the same thoughts but with as big as he was, they were afraid that he'd swing and do more damage than what it was worth!
For some reason, up to this point, Ellee will not let me give her a shot in the butt! We did it once in the hospital and she wouldn't let us use that spot again. When I use to get Depo shots, I preferred them there, mainly because I couldn't see the needle and it was over as soon as I felt it. So, while we were there, I told Ellee that she could give me a shot in the butt if she wanted to! Talk about estatic!!! Grandma helped her load the syringe up and Ellee gave me the shot! She was so proud of herself for doing that!
Wow... now what do we do? Josh and I both work and who ever watches the girls needs to be trained on how to give her shots, check her sugar, and count carbs. At this point Dad and Tonya are watching the girls for us and taking Ellee to Preschool for the few hours that she has class. Since we were really slow at work, my boss and I agreed that I could work half days for as long as I needed to. So, our schedule for the next month was for me to get up as early as I could in the mornings and go into work and work half a day, Josh would go to work in the afternoon.
HELP IS ON ITS WAY!!!
It was such a relief when we were able to set a date for Mom and Dad to go to Columbus to meet with Winnie to get their training done. I wasn't going to push it, but Tonya wanted to get trained because she still wanted to watch the girls. I'm not going push some one into doing this because as a parent it was hard enough for me to do it, but I'll take any help I can get!
Everyone meet at the house and we headed for Columbus. Not sure why we didn't take Aunt Susie up on the offer to watch Dani, but we didn't think it would be that bad and she might as well go with us. I think we were planning on going to the Zoo afterwards, but that didn't work out.
There is nothing funner than putting 7 adults and two little kids in a very small room with lots of needles! I'll get to the details in a second, but want to say that I acutally learned something about my little brother... and it's kind of disturbing!!! Here is how this played out:
We're sitting on one side of a table and Winnie is on the other side. She gets out the glucose meter and shows everyone the chip that you have to change with every new bottle of test strips. She then passes out alcohol pads to everyone and informs them that they'll be testing their own sugar. No big deal... right?!?! WRONG!!! Jason starts flipping out! Why??? Because he can't stand to be around needles!!! Hmmm... lets think about that. For anyone that doesn't know my brother, he's about 6'5" and 250 lbs, with 4 tattoos, volunteer fire fighter and his roommate is an EMT! I know that there are lots of people who are afraid of needles, but most of the don't have about 4 tattoos! We argued this fact with him and he still threw a big fit about it! Why did he even come in the first place? Okay, so he admitted that he was there for the lunch afterwards, but still, he knew that there would be needles in the same room! Dani was getting restless so I took her out to the waiting room to play with some toys. When we came back in, they were done testing sugar and some how managed to talk him into doing it.
Next came the shots. Everyone was to give themselves one. Again, shouldn't be a big deal, if your going to give shots to a little kid, you should know how it feels! Tonya and Dad do theirs, no big deal. Then it comes to Jason... will he do it?! NO. =( He again made a big deal about how he's not going to do it, and Josh is giving him the biggest ration of $hit you can imagine! If only I were at the other end of the table, it was the perfect opperturnity to give him a shot because he was going at it with Josh! When the laughter died down, Dad and Tonya said that they had the same thoughts but with as big as he was, they were afraid that he'd swing and do more damage than what it was worth!
For some reason, up to this point, Ellee will not let me give her a shot in the butt! We did it once in the hospital and she wouldn't let us use that spot again. When I use to get Depo shots, I preferred them there, mainly because I couldn't see the needle and it was over as soon as I felt it. So, while we were there, I told Ellee that she could give me a shot in the butt if she wanted to! Talk about estatic!!! Grandma helped her load the syringe up and Ellee gave me the shot! She was so proud of herself for doing that!
Second day at Children's
Thursday, April 23
Busy day with lots of people to meet with. They told us that we can go home tonight as long as we get all of our classes done and her numbers continue to improve.
Last night Josh and I learned how to do the sugar testing and how to give shots. It was easier to watch the nurses give the shots than for us to give them, but we had to start at some point because we couldn't take a nurse home with us!
For some reason, Ellee's sugar was up at breakfast and lunch. We watched for keytones and luckily they were negative. Shortly after lunch, they decided to keep her for one more night to try to get her levels down. That was so disappointed because we just wanted to get out of there, but at the same time, going home was just as scary.
One of the student nurses offered to take Ellee down to the playroom so that Josh and I could go get something to eat. When we got back, El and Maddy were practicing giving shots (minus the needles) to a couple of bears that we had. It was the cutest thing ever! Maddy was nice enough to get a couple of those hospital bracelets and write the bear's name on it! Ellee was so proud of herself for giving the bear a shot that she was showing everyone how to do it!
Later on, Maddy took Ellee and another little girl (3 years old) out to the rooftop playground. We are up on the 6th floor and can see this from our room. She had been begging to get out there and play and it was heartbreaking to tell her no we've had too many people to meet with. El really needed this fun break and it was nice to meet some one her age going through the same thing.
When El and I got back from the playground, they told us that we could still go home tonight as long as we got all of our classes done. It was a mad rush to get everyone in there that we needed to see still, but we managed to do it! It was a mad dash with Beth going over the rest of the "classes" that we had to go through and test on. It felt like we walked into an advanced French class and had to cram for a test without knowing a bit of the basics of the language. When Dr. Steve said that we'd be overwhelmed with classes and info, he wasn't joking - that is exactly how we felt! I completely forgot about calling Mom to tell her the good news that we'd be coming home tonight, and the next thing we know - here they are! Oops... That was a long way for them to drive, just for us to go home, but it was so nice to have them there with us!
Winnie came in to go over our meter with us and spoke with Mom and Dad about having them come down for classes. Karen also stopped in to go over some stuff with us and we spoke about her dosage. Before we were able to walk out the door, they had already dropped her dosage down a half a unit. It may not sound like much, but any sign that we have it under control or that she's entering her "honeymoon" period is a victory!
Walking out of that hospital with our daughter was a great feeling! I know that some people who enter that hospital don't get to leave with their child. I know it's a grim way of looking at things, after seeing what some of the other kids in there are going through, it made the shots a little more tolerable. If having to do 4 shots a day is the price we have to pay to be able to take her home, then that small sacrifice! The girls rode with Grandma and Grandpa, and I wanted to stop at Tuttle Mall to pick up one of those Carb Bibles and look for ID jewerly.
At Tuttle, I went to the Things Remembered and looked for a bracelet to get engraved for her to wear. It was a little disappointing to find out that most of their stuff was too big. I did manage to find a cute one that was on sale that was slightly smaller and didn't fall off when she dropped her hand. Little did I know that this would be the first of many disappointments with trying to find ID jewerly for her to wear!
We go to leave the mall, the girls are in the truck with us and we're getting ready to leave when Ellee says some thing so small, but yet it throws Josh and I into a panic... "I'm Hungry". UUURRRGGGEEE... where are the nurses when you need them?! What do we do? It's almost 9pm and there isn't very much open and we know that he have to give her something that is 15 carbs or less. Mom suggests the apples from McDonalds, so I pull out my new Carb Bible and look them up. Great! The apples are less than 15, but she loves the "apple sauce" and that would put her up to 23 carbs. We didn't really have a choice, so we went ahead and got them for her. It sounds weird and sounds like something so trivial, but for newly diagnosed parents, this was a hard decision, what do we do? Since I am writing this a while late, I will say that looking back, I can't believe that we paniced about that! Now at night we purposely give her extra carbs to raise her level up to avoid a night time low!
Busy day with lots of people to meet with. They told us that we can go home tonight as long as we get all of our classes done and her numbers continue to improve.
Last night Josh and I learned how to do the sugar testing and how to give shots. It was easier to watch the nurses give the shots than for us to give them, but we had to start at some point because we couldn't take a nurse home with us!
For some reason, Ellee's sugar was up at breakfast and lunch. We watched for keytones and luckily they were negative. Shortly after lunch, they decided to keep her for one more night to try to get her levels down. That was so disappointed because we just wanted to get out of there, but at the same time, going home was just as scary.
One of the student nurses offered to take Ellee down to the playroom so that Josh and I could go get something to eat. When we got back, El and Maddy were practicing giving shots (minus the needles) to a couple of bears that we had. It was the cutest thing ever! Maddy was nice enough to get a couple of those hospital bracelets and write the bear's name on it! Ellee was so proud of herself for giving the bear a shot that she was showing everyone how to do it!
Later on, Maddy took Ellee and another little girl (3 years old) out to the rooftop playground. We are up on the 6th floor and can see this from our room. She had been begging to get out there and play and it was heartbreaking to tell her no we've had too many people to meet with. El really needed this fun break and it was nice to meet some one her age going through the same thing.
When El and I got back from the playground, they told us that we could still go home tonight as long as we got all of our classes done. It was a mad rush to get everyone in there that we needed to see still, but we managed to do it! It was a mad dash with Beth going over the rest of the "classes" that we had to go through and test on. It felt like we walked into an advanced French class and had to cram for a test without knowing a bit of the basics of the language. When Dr. Steve said that we'd be overwhelmed with classes and info, he wasn't joking - that is exactly how we felt! I completely forgot about calling Mom to tell her the good news that we'd be coming home tonight, and the next thing we know - here they are! Oops... That was a long way for them to drive, just for us to go home, but it was so nice to have them there with us!
Winnie came in to go over our meter with us and spoke with Mom and Dad about having them come down for classes. Karen also stopped in to go over some stuff with us and we spoke about her dosage. Before we were able to walk out the door, they had already dropped her dosage down a half a unit. It may not sound like much, but any sign that we have it under control or that she's entering her "honeymoon" period is a victory!
Walking out of that hospital with our daughter was a great feeling! I know that some people who enter that hospital don't get to leave with their child. I know it's a grim way of looking at things, after seeing what some of the other kids in there are going through, it made the shots a little more tolerable. If having to do 4 shots a day is the price we have to pay to be able to take her home, then that small sacrifice! The girls rode with Grandma and Grandpa, and I wanted to stop at Tuttle Mall to pick up one of those Carb Bibles and look for ID jewerly.
At Tuttle, I went to the Things Remembered and looked for a bracelet to get engraved for her to wear. It was a little disappointing to find out that most of their stuff was too big. I did manage to find a cute one that was on sale that was slightly smaller and didn't fall off when she dropped her hand. Little did I know that this would be the first of many disappointments with trying to find ID jewerly for her to wear!
We go to leave the mall, the girls are in the truck with us and we're getting ready to leave when Ellee says some thing so small, but yet it throws Josh and I into a panic... "I'm Hungry". UUURRRGGGEEE... where are the nurses when you need them?! What do we do? It's almost 9pm and there isn't very much open and we know that he have to give her something that is 15 carbs or less. Mom suggests the apples from McDonalds, so I pull out my new Carb Bible and look them up. Great! The apples are less than 15, but she loves the "apple sauce" and that would put her up to 23 carbs. We didn't really have a choice, so we went ahead and got them for her. It sounds weird and sounds like something so trivial, but for newly diagnosed parents, this was a hard decision, what do we do? Since I am writing this a while late, I will say that looking back, I can't believe that we paniced about that! Now at night we purposely give her extra carbs to raise her level up to avoid a night time low!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
First Day at Childrens Hospital
Wednesday, April 22
We have SOOOO much to learn over the next few days. We have really didn't know how long we would be there because we didn't know how long these classes would take or how long it would take to get Ellee's levels straightened out. We met Beth, the lady who will be our day nurse for the next two days. She gave us the run down on the disease, what likely caused it and the course of action we would be taking. She also gave us a brief rundown on how to order food for Ellee. They had a neat little menu with a good assortment of food and the carbs listed behind it. For now, we had an allotment of 30-45 grams of carbs that she can eat per meal. For breakfast, that was a little hard to stick with because she loves pancakes, but for other meals, it was hard to get up to that 30.
I don't know how to explain that day other than Josh and I felt like we were stuck in slow motion and every thing around us was in fast forward. There was so much information to learn but for some reason we couldn't get past the first sentence - "your daughter has diabetes". Have you ever had to read a book for school and after you "read" the first page, the only thing that your remember and comprehend is the first line? It's like the book Tale of Two Cities, all I remember is the first line - "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".
Ellee was pretty groggy for the first part of the day. I dreaded the time when she would say that she was hungry. We had to try to get her to tell us what she wanted to eat and make sure that we had the right amount of carbs, order it, then wait about 45 minutes for it to get to the room. Then the horror show begins. By the time the food gets there, she is starving and cranky. But before she can eat, we have to poke her finger and get blood. If the meter reads above a certain number, then they have to try to fill up this little tube with blood to send down to the lab to verify the level. Next is the worse part - the shot. It would would take both of us and some times another nurse to hold and try to calm her down while Beth gave her the shot. Now she can eat, and I would pray that she would like the food because if she didn't eat it, then we'd have to substitute food that she would eat to make sure she had ingested the right amount of carbs for the insulin dose that they gave.
Shortly after lunch, Ellee started to feel better. She was smiling and was more playful & goofy. We were finally getting our Elizabeth back! That afternoon, we were so thrilled when Beth said that they would unhook the IV, but they were going to leave "the straw" in just in case they wanted one more blood draw. Figures, about the time Ellee got use to maneuvering the stand and cords when she had to go to the bathroom, they unhooked her! Okay, time for my rant... why wouldn't they put children size furniture in a CHILDREN'S hospital??? The toilet was just a tad too high for her and with the straw in her arm, she couldn't lift herself up so one of us had to go with her every time. Then the sink was just a tad too high and it made it difficult to wash her hands. Okay, I'm done!
The day was filled with meeting lots of new people . I think at one point all 5 of the people that we were suppose to meet with were in there to decide what time they would come back and go over their spiel with us. Not to mention the countless nurses who were doing their clinical that would come in and ask if they could check her stats. It was one of those things where when we were alone, no one wanted to see us, but when we had a visitor, everyone came to visit! When Wynola was talking with us, we had umpteen nurses, plus all of the Endos stop in while doing their rounds!
I remember the dietitian talking with us. Questions about her eating habits, how to calculate carbs, how much at each meal. Very over whelming. That was another moment when we felt like we were in a fog. Things were making sense, but they weren't really sinking in.
Mom had found the greatest things ever invented! Twistable Crayons!!! It doesn't sound like much to get excited over, but for a child that pushes really hard when they write and constantly break crayons... these things are wonderful! They hardly broke, and if they did, then we just lost a little bit of it. Can anything get better than that? YES... Fat Twistable Crayons!!! Mom's goody pack that she sent up with us was great! It kept Ellee busy for most of the day till we were able to go find the playroom in early evening after all the educators left for the day.
I have to say that I'm so thankful that Dad decided to take the retirement option from the State when he did. I don't know what we would have done through all of this if he wasn't able to watch Danica for us. It also helped that Mom was working the M-F day shift position that she's in now. Not having to worry about Dani so that we could concentrate made things go a lot smoother. After Mom got off of work that day, they brought Dani up to the hospital to visit.
While they were there, they told us to go some where and get some thing to eat. We went to Pizzaria Uno. We talked a little bit, but we mostly sat there holding hands and crying. We can get through this, but the next month is going to be VERY rough.
Sure enough, they wanted one more blood draw. For some reason, Ellee didn't want them to take the straw out when they were done. I think she just got use to it being in there, so it took some coaxing to get her to let them take it out. It probably hurt more to get all the tape off from the split that kept her elbow extended than it did to take the straw out!
We all three had a rough day. Josh went to sleep on the couch and El and I got a Winnie the Pooh movie out of the closet in the hall way to watch. At that point we haven't really explained to her what all was going on. She just knew that she had this IV in her arm and that she had got pokes and shots quite a bit that day. I was laying in bed with her watching the movie and we started talking. "Hunny, I know that you don't understand what is going on, but you have some thing in your body that isn't working like it should so we have to give you these shots to make up for it." "Oh, okay... Why doesn't it work?" "I wish we knew. We have to get use to these shots so because the medicine will make you feel better." "Okay. I love you mommy. Good night." "I love you too baby. Get some sleep."
I think every parent watches over their newborn baby as they sleep. That baby is the a wonderful gift that you've been given and have to figure out how to take care of it. They admire that cute little bundle that is so peaceful while sleeping, yet worry about what if something goes wrong. I laid there watching her sleep while while brushing her hair off of her face. Exactly 4 years ago we were in a hospital with her starting a new journey in our life. Here we are today, in a hospital again, on the same journey, but we had to take a slight detour.
We have SOOOO much to learn over the next few days. We have really didn't know how long we would be there because we didn't know how long these classes would take or how long it would take to get Ellee's levels straightened out. We met Beth, the lady who will be our day nurse for the next two days. She gave us the run down on the disease, what likely caused it and the course of action we would be taking. She also gave us a brief rundown on how to order food for Ellee. They had a neat little menu with a good assortment of food and the carbs listed behind it. For now, we had an allotment of 30-45 grams of carbs that she can eat per meal. For breakfast, that was a little hard to stick with because she loves pancakes, but for other meals, it was hard to get up to that 30.
I don't know how to explain that day other than Josh and I felt like we were stuck in slow motion and every thing around us was in fast forward. There was so much information to learn but for some reason we couldn't get past the first sentence - "your daughter has diabetes". Have you ever had to read a book for school and after you "read" the first page, the only thing that your remember and comprehend is the first line? It's like the book Tale of Two Cities, all I remember is the first line - "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".
Ellee was pretty groggy for the first part of the day. I dreaded the time when she would say that she was hungry. We had to try to get her to tell us what she wanted to eat and make sure that we had the right amount of carbs, order it, then wait about 45 minutes for it to get to the room. Then the horror show begins. By the time the food gets there, she is starving and cranky. But before she can eat, we have to poke her finger and get blood. If the meter reads above a certain number, then they have to try to fill up this little tube with blood to send down to the lab to verify the level. Next is the worse part - the shot. It would would take both of us and some times another nurse to hold and try to calm her down while Beth gave her the shot. Now she can eat, and I would pray that she would like the food because if she didn't eat it, then we'd have to substitute food that she would eat to make sure she had ingested the right amount of carbs for the insulin dose that they gave.
Shortly after lunch, Ellee started to feel better. She was smiling and was more playful & goofy. We were finally getting our Elizabeth back! That afternoon, we were so thrilled when Beth said that they would unhook the IV, but they were going to leave "the straw" in just in case they wanted one more blood draw. Figures, about the time Ellee got use to maneuvering the stand and cords when she had to go to the bathroom, they unhooked her! Okay, time for my rant... why wouldn't they put children size furniture in a CHILDREN'S hospital??? The toilet was just a tad too high for her and with the straw in her arm, she couldn't lift herself up so one of us had to go with her every time. Then the sink was just a tad too high and it made it difficult to wash her hands. Okay, I'm done!
The day was filled with meeting lots of new people . I think at one point all 5 of the people that we were suppose to meet with were in there to decide what time they would come back and go over their spiel with us. Not to mention the countless nurses who were doing their clinical that would come in and ask if they could check her stats. It was one of those things where when we were alone, no one wanted to see us, but when we had a visitor, everyone came to visit! When Wynola was talking with us, we had umpteen nurses, plus all of the Endos stop in while doing their rounds!
I remember the dietitian talking with us. Questions about her eating habits, how to calculate carbs, how much at each meal. Very over whelming. That was another moment when we felt like we were in a fog. Things were making sense, but they weren't really sinking in.
Mom had found the greatest things ever invented! Twistable Crayons!!! It doesn't sound like much to get excited over, but for a child that pushes really hard when they write and constantly break crayons... these things are wonderful! They hardly broke, and if they did, then we just lost a little bit of it. Can anything get better than that? YES... Fat Twistable Crayons!!! Mom's goody pack that she sent up with us was great! It kept Ellee busy for most of the day till we were able to go find the playroom in early evening after all the educators left for the day.
I have to say that I'm so thankful that Dad decided to take the retirement option from the State when he did. I don't know what we would have done through all of this if he wasn't able to watch Danica for us. It also helped that Mom was working the M-F day shift position that she's in now. Not having to worry about Dani so that we could concentrate made things go a lot smoother. After Mom got off of work that day, they brought Dani up to the hospital to visit.
While they were there, they told us to go some where and get some thing to eat. We went to Pizzaria Uno. We talked a little bit, but we mostly sat there holding hands and crying. We can get through this, but the next month is going to be VERY rough.
Sure enough, they wanted one more blood draw. For some reason, Ellee didn't want them to take the straw out when they were done. I think she just got use to it being in there, so it took some coaxing to get her to let them take it out. It probably hurt more to get all the tape off from the split that kept her elbow extended than it did to take the straw out!
We all three had a rough day. Josh went to sleep on the couch and El and I got a Winnie the Pooh movie out of the closet in the hall way to watch. At that point we haven't really explained to her what all was going on. She just knew that she had this IV in her arm and that she had got pokes and shots quite a bit that day. I was laying in bed with her watching the movie and we started talking. "Hunny, I know that you don't understand what is going on, but you have some thing in your body that isn't working like it should so we have to give you these shots to make up for it." "Oh, okay... Why doesn't it work?" "I wish we knew. We have to get use to these shots so because the medicine will make you feel better." "Okay. I love you mommy. Good night." "I love you too baby. Get some sleep."
I think every parent watches over their newborn baby as they sleep. That baby is the a wonderful gift that you've been given and have to figure out how to take care of it. They admire that cute little bundle that is so peaceful while sleeping, yet worry about what if something goes wrong. I laid there watching her sleep while while brushing her hair off of her face. Exactly 4 years ago we were in a hospital with her starting a new journey in our life. Here we are today, in a hospital again, on the same journey, but we had to take a slight detour.
Arrival at Childrens Hospital - Columbus
Tuesday, April 21
Talk about a long drive, so I was so glad when she finally fell asleep half way there! When we first started out, she couldn't really see out the back window very well because she was so low, but for some reason was trying to pick out sites that she recognized to see where we were. We were right down the road from one place I knew she'd know, so I pointed out her friend Savannah's house. We read a George book, then about the time we picked up 33 around Huntsville, she fell asleep. I chatted with the EMT for the rest of the trip. We talked about how you don't know how strong you are until you are faced with a challenge, you do what you have to do.
I was very impressed when we got to the hospital. When they wheeled us in, the gal knew exactly who we were and where we were going. Those wheels on the stretcher never stopped once from the door till we got to our room! On the way through the hall a male nurse or intern gave Ellee a beanie baby! Once we got up to our room, we got El settled into her new bed and the nurse checked her stats and sugar so that she could go back to sleep. After she went back to sleep, the nurse briefly explained what all will happen. We had 5 people that we had to meet with and 5 "classes" that we had to take. she wrote every thing up on the dry erase board with a line to x them off as we did them.
Josh got to there shortly after we did. I was exhausted so I laid down on the couch to get some sleep. I remember a nurse coming in to check her sugar in the middle of the night and Josh was up helping her. After that he couldn't get back to sleep in the chair, so we switched places.
Talk about a long drive, so I was so glad when she finally fell asleep half way there! When we first started out, she couldn't really see out the back window very well because she was so low, but for some reason was trying to pick out sites that she recognized to see where we were. We were right down the road from one place I knew she'd know, so I pointed out her friend Savannah's house. We read a George book, then about the time we picked up 33 around Huntsville, she fell asleep. I chatted with the EMT for the rest of the trip. We talked about how you don't know how strong you are until you are faced with a challenge, you do what you have to do.
I was very impressed when we got to the hospital. When they wheeled us in, the gal knew exactly who we were and where we were going. Those wheels on the stretcher never stopped once from the door till we got to our room! On the way through the hall a male nurse or intern gave Ellee a beanie baby! Once we got up to our room, we got El settled into her new bed and the nurse checked her stats and sugar so that she could go back to sleep. After she went back to sleep, the nurse briefly explained what all will happen. We had 5 people that we had to meet with and 5 "classes" that we had to take. she wrote every thing up on the dry erase board with a line to x them off as we did them.
Josh got to there shortly after we did. I was exhausted so I laid down on the couch to get some sleep. I remember a nurse coming in to check her sugar in the middle of the night and Josh was up helping her. After that he couldn't get back to sleep in the chair, so we switched places.
First Hospital - Lima Memorial
Tuesday, April 21
I hate to say it, but I'm glad that I missed the insertion of the IV. In 6 months I've had to sit with her twice through blood draws she freaks out around those "straws". In October, after a blood draw to check for lead, she talked about how that needle "bit her" for a month!
I got to the room just in time for her first finger poke and blood glucose check. 668. I was upset that it was that high. This is where the self blame comes in. Why did we let it get this high? Why didn't we bring her in earlier? Why didn't we recognize the signs earlier? Dr. Steve kept telling us not to worry about her numbers. He also put things in perspective pretty well... even if we had caught it earlier, we'd still end up in the same place. He was very right. And as I found out later on after talking with other people, her diagnosis number was quite low, compaired to what some others were when they were diagnosed. Some were around 800, and some one else I talked to was up around 1,200. The important thing is that we caught it before she went into a coma.
Ellee got her first dose of insulin. I think it took two nurses and both of us to hold her down to get it done. Poor kid, she has no idea why she's in there, why she has an IV, or why they are poking her fingers or giving her a shot. It took quite a few minutes to calm her down and I can't blame her, she has evey right to be upset. They brought her up dinner, but she just picked at it. She had a rough afternoon and just wasn't all that hungry.
They arranged for the ambulance to transport us to Columbus at 8:30. The nurses change shifts at 8 and it gave them time to come around and do vitals before we left. I don't think it was more than an hour and a half after I called mom and they were up there at the hospital. They brought at goody bag for Ellee - coloring books and crayons, and plenty of George the Monkey books to read! Josh left to get Dani from Tonya's house, then went down to Wapak to talk to his dad and brother before going home to pack clothes and head down to Columbus.
We had a few hours to kill and spent most of it over in the playroom that was right next door. It was a pretty somber mood in there until Dr. Steve came in to cheer things up! I think there were a few points where he had me laughing through my tears!
The EMT came a little early, but in a way I was glad to head out and get to Childrens to get this process started.
I hate to say it, but I'm glad that I missed the insertion of the IV. In 6 months I've had to sit with her twice through blood draws she freaks out around those "straws". In October, after a blood draw to check for lead, she talked about how that needle "bit her" for a month!
I got to the room just in time for her first finger poke and blood glucose check. 668. I was upset that it was that high. This is where the self blame comes in. Why did we let it get this high? Why didn't we bring her in earlier? Why didn't we recognize the signs earlier? Dr. Steve kept telling us not to worry about her numbers. He also put things in perspective pretty well... even if we had caught it earlier, we'd still end up in the same place. He was very right. And as I found out later on after talking with other people, her diagnosis number was quite low, compaired to what some others were when they were diagnosed. Some were around 800, and some one else I talked to was up around 1,200. The important thing is that we caught it before she went into a coma.
Ellee got her first dose of insulin. I think it took two nurses and both of us to hold her down to get it done. Poor kid, she has no idea why she's in there, why she has an IV, or why they are poking her fingers or giving her a shot. It took quite a few minutes to calm her down and I can't blame her, she has evey right to be upset. They brought her up dinner, but she just picked at it. She had a rough afternoon and just wasn't all that hungry.
They arranged for the ambulance to transport us to Columbus at 8:30. The nurses change shifts at 8 and it gave them time to come around and do vitals before we left. I don't think it was more than an hour and a half after I called mom and they were up there at the hospital. They brought at goody bag for Ellee - coloring books and crayons, and plenty of George the Monkey books to read! Josh left to get Dani from Tonya's house, then went down to Wapak to talk to his dad and brother before going home to pack clothes and head down to Columbus.
We had a few hours to kill and spent most of it over in the playroom that was right next door. It was a pretty somber mood in there until Dr. Steve came in to cheer things up! I think there were a few points where he had me laughing through my tears!
The EMT came a little early, but in a way I was glad to head out and get to Childrens to get this process started.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Second Doctors Appointment
Tuesday, April 21
After her draw, we went up stairs to the doctor's office. We waited in the waiting room briefly, then they took us back to one of the larger rooms to wait for the results of the blood test. We were hoping to meet with Dr. Steve but it was mentioned earlier that he is on call for the night and didn't get in till 4. A nurse came in and took Ellee's stats and left.
We were both on pins and needles waiting for a doctor to come in. We had no idea what all this would entail or what would happen next. Poor Ellee was so tired that she curled up on Josh's lap and fell asleep against his chest.
After a while, Dr. Mary came in to see us. "Elizabeth is Type 1 Diabetic and right now her glucose levels are sky high. You need to decide what hospital and Endocrynologist you want to use so that she can be admited as soon as possible." Those are some of the hardest words a parent can ever hear. An Endo-what??? Dr. Mary was very wonderful with explaining our options. The bad news is that the only Endo in town mainly deals with adults, not children. Now we have to decide what Children's Hospital we want to go to. Josh laid Ellee on the examining table since she was still sleeping. They brought in maps to the closest Childrens along with where their satelite offices were and left us to decide what we want to do. Josh got on the phone to call work to find out which Endos were in our network and the whole time I'm still trying to figure out how to pronounce it!
Dr. Steve came in to check on us. I think he was filled in ahead of time on Ellee's condition since he'd have to deal with us tonight. He explained that we needed to admit her as soon as possible to get her hooked up to an IV to get all of that excess sugar flushed out of her system. We all agreed that it would be best to admit her to Lima Memorial to get every thing started, then have her transfered to Childrens in Columbus after they verified that they had a bed ready for her. Knowing how much an abulance ride costs after my two rides last year, I wasn't excited about seeing that bill, but at this point, it was the least of our worries!
Josh and I had to decide who was going to stay at the hospital with her, what to do with Dani, and what seemed like a thousand other things that needed dealt with to get us through the week. Luckily, my boss assured me not to worry about work and that they would get every thing taken care of for how ever long I needed to be gone. We decided that I would stay with her at the hospital and he would get Dani and pack clothes for us. I wanted to go to the library to get books and read up on all of this over the next few days, so he went with them to admit her to LMH while I was gone.
This was definitly the hardest phone call I ever had to make. On the way to the library, I called mom. "Is dad there too?" "No, he's up at Jason's." Oh, I was hoping to have them put me on speaker phone so that I could explain it to both. "Sit down... Ellee has Type 1 Diabetes and needs to be admitted to the hospital". We both bawled through that conversation. I don't really remember the rest of it except for asking if they could take Dani while we were in Columbus.
Why are there so few books on this subject? And as I soon found out, so many books lump Type 1 and Type 2 together, when they are almost opposite. One book that I picked up that ended up being the best one was a book "How to Parent a Child with Diabetes" by Gloria (don't remember the last name). I ended up getting all the techinical information I could handle (plus more) from the nurses in Columbus, but this book was from a mother's view. Armed with 5 books, I headed back to the hospital to start this new path of our lives.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Blood Draw
Tuesday, April 21
The girls went to Tonya's house for the day. When she watches them, I would leave at lunch to take Ellee to preschool then go back to work and she would pick her up from school. Dani hates this! When I get there to pick up Ellee, she wants to go too! She'll go to the door and try to make a run for it as soon as that door opens so that she gets to go.
As soon as I dropped Ellee off at school and got back to work, my phone rang. I didn't recognize the phone number and decided to let it go to voice mail. As I was listening to it, my heart sank. It was Dr. Beth and said that the urine sample had an excessive amount of sugar in it. At that point the office phone rang and my boss handed me the phone, saying it was some woman. I knew it was her trying to get a hold of me. She suspected Diabetes but wanted us to come in right away for a blood draw. She highly suggested pulling her out of school to come up to the hospital and doctors office. No, not diabetes, not my kid. At this point I had not grasped the whole concept of this or what all it would entail, all I could think is that she's very healthy and very active and how could she possibly be diabetic??? Little did I know that in a matter of 8 hours I will be completely schooled on the the differences between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.
I broke down. I've worked at this job site for 6 years and I think this is the first time I've ever walked out of that gate completely consumed in tears. I've walked out of the gate to go to the hospital to give birth to a child two hours later, but have never walked out crying. I rehearsed my phone call to Josh in my head while walking through the parking lot and tried to calm myself down so that he'd be able to understand me. I got in my car and as soon as I dialed his number and heard his voice, I lost it. I some how managed to choke out some rambling that I'm not sure how he was able to understand any of it but we agreed to meet at the hospital to get the blood draw done and meet with the doctor.
I managed to calm myself down by the time I got to school to get El. I walked up to the door and knocked. Mrs. McKinney came to the door and stepped outside to talk to me. "I need to pull Elizabeth..." and I lost it again. Why is this so hard to say outloud when I ran the conversation through my head only minutes ago? Through my tears, I explained that I need to pull Elizabeth out to go back to the doctors for a blood test because they think she has diabetes. She tried to calm me down and got Elizabeth to come out in the hallway. El wasn't sure what was going on, but she wasn't feeling quite right so she didn't question what was going on.
She had a cup that I put in her school bag. In the car she said she was thirst, but I didn't have any thing for her to drink. We got to the hospital and I told her that when we finished getting the paperwork done for the blood draw, she could get a drink. That took us a little while longer than I thought it would, but Josh wasn't there yet and my phone battery died so I couldn't call him. The area we had to go to was not that far from the main doors. They weren't ready for us because they had to wait for another nurse to come down and help. Not a problem, that gave us a chance to walk down to the drinking fountain to fill her cup with water and to watch for Josh. By the time we walked back to the waiting area, she would have all 6-7 oz of water gone and wanted more. Since we didn't see Josh yet, we kept walking back and forth. 4 trips for water before he got there and before they were ready for us. One of the nurses started to arguee with me about the type of test they were taking because it's a fasting test and she hadn't fasted. At this point, it doesn't matter if she fasted or not, they need to get an idea of her levels now!
The draw in itself was a major ordeal, but we got through it. I wish they would have let me sit in the chair and hold her on my lap instead of the nurse, but we managed to get through it. The whole time I kept flashing back to October when I was down there with both girls getting blood drawn to check lead levels because our house is over 100 years old. For weeks Elizabeth would tell everyone about the mean needle that bit her in the arm and how much it hurt. After I stood up and held Ellee to comfort her, I could see the tears in Josh's eyes from watching the whole thing. I remember watching him tear up when Ellee was 5 days old and we had to take her in to get blood drawn from her feet to check her biliribon levels. There are times when watching your child hurts you more than it hurts them, and there are times when you would give any thing to trade places to keep your child from pain.
And now, the waiting game...
The girls went to Tonya's house for the day. When she watches them, I would leave at lunch to take Ellee to preschool then go back to work and she would pick her up from school. Dani hates this! When I get there to pick up Ellee, she wants to go too! She'll go to the door and try to make a run for it as soon as that door opens so that she gets to go.
As soon as I dropped Ellee off at school and got back to work, my phone rang. I didn't recognize the phone number and decided to let it go to voice mail. As I was listening to it, my heart sank. It was Dr. Beth and said that the urine sample had an excessive amount of sugar in it. At that point the office phone rang and my boss handed me the phone, saying it was some woman. I knew it was her trying to get a hold of me. She suspected Diabetes but wanted us to come in right away for a blood draw. She highly suggested pulling her out of school to come up to the hospital and doctors office. No, not diabetes, not my kid. At this point I had not grasped the whole concept of this or what all it would entail, all I could think is that she's very healthy and very active and how could she possibly be diabetic??? Little did I know that in a matter of 8 hours I will be completely schooled on the the differences between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.
I broke down. I've worked at this job site for 6 years and I think this is the first time I've ever walked out of that gate completely consumed in tears. I've walked out of the gate to go to the hospital to give birth to a child two hours later, but have never walked out crying. I rehearsed my phone call to Josh in my head while walking through the parking lot and tried to calm myself down so that he'd be able to understand me. I got in my car and as soon as I dialed his number and heard his voice, I lost it. I some how managed to choke out some rambling that I'm not sure how he was able to understand any of it but we agreed to meet at the hospital to get the blood draw done and meet with the doctor.
I managed to calm myself down by the time I got to school to get El. I walked up to the door and knocked. Mrs. McKinney came to the door and stepped outside to talk to me. "I need to pull Elizabeth..." and I lost it again. Why is this so hard to say outloud when I ran the conversation through my head only minutes ago? Through my tears, I explained that I need to pull Elizabeth out to go back to the doctors for a blood test because they think she has diabetes. She tried to calm me down and got Elizabeth to come out in the hallway. El wasn't sure what was going on, but she wasn't feeling quite right so she didn't question what was going on.
She had a cup that I put in her school bag. In the car she said she was thirst, but I didn't have any thing for her to drink. We got to the hospital and I told her that when we finished getting the paperwork done for the blood draw, she could get a drink. That took us a little while longer than I thought it would, but Josh wasn't there yet and my phone battery died so I couldn't call him. The area we had to go to was not that far from the main doors. They weren't ready for us because they had to wait for another nurse to come down and help. Not a problem, that gave us a chance to walk down to the drinking fountain to fill her cup with water and to watch for Josh. By the time we walked back to the waiting area, she would have all 6-7 oz of water gone and wanted more. Since we didn't see Josh yet, we kept walking back and forth. 4 trips for water before he got there and before they were ready for us. One of the nurses started to arguee with me about the type of test they were taking because it's a fasting test and she hadn't fasted. At this point, it doesn't matter if she fasted or not, they need to get an idea of her levels now!
The draw in itself was a major ordeal, but we got through it. I wish they would have let me sit in the chair and hold her on my lap instead of the nurse, but we managed to get through it. The whole time I kept flashing back to October when I was down there with both girls getting blood drawn to check lead levels because our house is over 100 years old. For weeks Elizabeth would tell everyone about the mean needle that bit her in the arm and how much it hurt. After I stood up and held Ellee to comfort her, I could see the tears in Josh's eyes from watching the whole thing. I remember watching him tear up when Ellee was 5 days old and we had to take her in to get blood drawn from her feet to check her biliribon levels. There are times when watching your child hurts you more than it hurts them, and there are times when you would give any thing to trade places to keep your child from pain.
And now, the waiting game...
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
First Doctor's Appointment
Monday, April 20 - Ellee's 4th Birthday
I had read in a magazine where some one had filled their child's bedroom up with a ton of balloons and how excited the child was when they woke up on their birthday and seen all these balloons. It's been a long 10-11 months since I read that till Ellee's birthday came around so that I could try it! After Josh and I had our late lunch Sunday afternoon, we went to get balloons. We ended up getting a cute little grouping of mylar balloons, one was a butterfly that said happy birthday and the others were stars in complimentary colors. I tried so hard to keep this a secret from her and surprise her, but who would have thought that balloons would be so noisy?! Needless to say, she heard me walk in her room and set the balloons down on her floor. I could tell that she wasn't quite herself, but I told her happy birthday and to go back to sleep.
I called the doctor's office to set up an appointment for her to come in. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what, so I told them that I thought that she may have a kidney or urinary tract infection and had to be there at 3:45 that afternoon. Dad was watching the girls, so I called him to let him know that I would pick her up from school. Ellee hates when I pick her up from preschool because she'd rather spend the rest of the afternoon with Grandpa or Tonya (depending on who is watching them that day). She had a great day at school though, she got to wear a birthday crown and gave every one a cupcake for snack! She was on top of the world for her special day and loved to tell everyone about her birthday balloons!
Sitting in the waiting room, she was back and forth between me and drawing on the chalk board. All of a sudden, she look at me with this look and says that she is going to throw up. A nurse just happened to talk through the door when she told me this and rushed us through the door to the bathroom in the back instead of going out into the hallway bathroom. Thankfully the Dr. Beth told us to go ahead and sit in one of the patient rooms instead of going back into the waiting room. Ellee did have a touch of food poisioning on Saturday (we are blaming that one on daddy!), and even though she told me a few times on Monday that she felt sick, she never did get sick.
We talked with Dr. Beth and discussed her symptoms, the excessive thirst, urination, bed wetting, sleep walking, and a few other things that we've noticed lately. We did a urine sample which she was going to send out for testing right away. She mentioned 4 possible things that Ellee may have - UTI, Kidney, something I never heard of, and lastley the possibility of diabetes. She would know with in an hour if it was an infection at which point we would start antibiotics right away.
We had dinner at mom and dad's house that night for Ellee's birthday. It wasn't anything fancy, but she ate like a horse. Infact, I can't say that I've ever seen her eat so much! We had cake and ice cream and she opened a few presents. The doctor's office never called back that night so I thought that "no news was good news".
I had read in a magazine where some one had filled their child's bedroom up with a ton of balloons and how excited the child was when they woke up on their birthday and seen all these balloons. It's been a long 10-11 months since I read that till Ellee's birthday came around so that I could try it! After Josh and I had our late lunch Sunday afternoon, we went to get balloons. We ended up getting a cute little grouping of mylar balloons, one was a butterfly that said happy birthday and the others were stars in complimentary colors. I tried so hard to keep this a secret from her and surprise her, but who would have thought that balloons would be so noisy?! Needless to say, she heard me walk in her room and set the balloons down on her floor. I could tell that she wasn't quite herself, but I told her happy birthday and to go back to sleep.
I called the doctor's office to set up an appointment for her to come in. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what, so I told them that I thought that she may have a kidney or urinary tract infection and had to be there at 3:45 that afternoon. Dad was watching the girls, so I called him to let him know that I would pick her up from school. Ellee hates when I pick her up from preschool because she'd rather spend the rest of the afternoon with Grandpa or Tonya (depending on who is watching them that day). She had a great day at school though, she got to wear a birthday crown and gave every one a cupcake for snack! She was on top of the world for her special day and loved to tell everyone about her birthday balloons!
Sitting in the waiting room, she was back and forth between me and drawing on the chalk board. All of a sudden, she look at me with this look and says that she is going to throw up. A nurse just happened to talk through the door when she told me this and rushed us through the door to the bathroom in the back instead of going out into the hallway bathroom. Thankfully the Dr. Beth told us to go ahead and sit in one of the patient rooms instead of going back into the waiting room. Ellee did have a touch of food poisioning on Saturday (we are blaming that one on daddy!), and even though she told me a few times on Monday that she felt sick, she never did get sick.
We talked with Dr. Beth and discussed her symptoms, the excessive thirst, urination, bed wetting, sleep walking, and a few other things that we've noticed lately. We did a urine sample which she was going to send out for testing right away. She mentioned 4 possible things that Ellee may have - UTI, Kidney, something I never heard of, and lastley the possibility of diabetes. She would know with in an hour if it was an infection at which point we would start antibiotics right away.
We had dinner at mom and dad's house that night for Ellee's birthday. It wasn't anything fancy, but she ate like a horse. Infact, I can't say that I've ever seen her eat so much! We had cake and ice cream and she opened a few presents. The doctor's office never called back that night so I thought that "no news was good news".
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Symptoms
As a parent, it's hard to determine when some thing is serious. There is a fine line between whats normal and when something is serious, but no one prepares or tells you how to distinguish the difference.
Ellee was hard to break of of the nighttime wetting when she started potty training a year and a half ago. All of a sudden a few weeks ago, she started doing it again, but also started sleepwalking (which her dad and uncles have the tendency to do). We discussed the issue of her increased thirst, but decided to do no liquids after a certain hour. Do you know how hard it is to tell a small child that they can't have something to drink when you can hear the desperation in their voice that they are seriously thirsty?
On Saturday night, I was watching tv in bed and heard her get up to go to the bathroom. After about 5 minutes the light was still on so I went to check on her. She had found a cap to my contact lens case and was trying to drink out of it because she was so thirsty. She made at least 3 trips in the first 4 hours that she went to bed.
On Sunday she was very crabby and whiny. We went to Josh's mom and dad's house because they wanted to give her a birthday present. When the girls were in the other room, we talked about how many times she got up last night. Josh put his foot down and wanted to limit her drinks all day long. I honestly didn't mean to get defensive about it, but I told him that I'm not comfortable with that because I didn't want her to get dehydrated, let her drink as much during the day when she has enough time to get it out of her system before bed. Hearing his dad say that he agreed with me was assuring, but I was getting very loud with Josh and he finally told me that we could do it my way. We left the girls with grandma and grandpa to go get Ellee's birthday present. At lunch we agreed to see the doctor this week to have her checked out.
Ellee was hard to break of of the nighttime wetting when she started potty training a year and a half ago. All of a sudden a few weeks ago, she started doing it again, but also started sleepwalking (which her dad and uncles have the tendency to do). We discussed the issue of her increased thirst, but decided to do no liquids after a certain hour. Do you know how hard it is to tell a small child that they can't have something to drink when you can hear the desperation in their voice that they are seriously thirsty?
On Saturday night, I was watching tv in bed and heard her get up to go to the bathroom. After about 5 minutes the light was still on so I went to check on her. She had found a cap to my contact lens case and was trying to drink out of it because she was so thirsty. She made at least 3 trips in the first 4 hours that she went to bed.
On Sunday she was very crabby and whiny. We went to Josh's mom and dad's house because they wanted to give her a birthday present. When the girls were in the other room, we talked about how many times she got up last night. Josh put his foot down and wanted to limit her drinks all day long. I honestly didn't mean to get defensive about it, but I told him that I'm not comfortable with that because I didn't want her to get dehydrated, let her drink as much during the day when she has enough time to get it out of her system before bed. Hearing his dad say that he agreed with me was assuring, but I was getting very loud with Josh and he finally told me that we could do it my way. We left the girls with grandma and grandpa to go get Ellee's birthday present. At lunch we agreed to see the doctor this week to have her checked out.
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