A Christmas Poem

This was way too cute not to share!!


Christmas & Diabetes By: Paula Krueger 


'Twas the night before Christmas, My alarm clock went beep. 
And so rudely awoke me, From a deep, cozy sleep. 
The glucose strips were lined up, On her dresser with care, 
Just waiting for me, For I always was there. 
Then what to my wondering eyes did I find? 
But a normal blood sugar, that gave piece of mind! 
I then heard the noises from downstairs below, 
And heard Santa laughing, Ho ho ho ho ho. 
He said to me, Dee, now what would you like?? 
I answered him, Santa, help me rid of this fright?
I spend my days worried about the highs and the lows, 
and the long term affects, because nobody knows. 
And while visions of sugarplums dance in her head,
I count all the carbs, With anxiety and dread. 
I so want a cure for this disease to be gone. 
To throw out the insulin and needles, so long! 
And Santa said, Dee, The two things you need, 
Are things you have now, Just remember to believe. 
The first one is Faith, and I'm sure you'd agree. 
That God's always there, Even though you can't see. 
The second is Hope, and it's what keeps us going, 
so pray for your child, and your faith will keep growing. 
And then with a wink and a twitch of this nose, 
He blew me a kiss and up the chimney he rose. 
So I sat by the tree and I said a long prayer, 
For families with diabetes, Who were full of despair. 
I felt very peaceful, Full of much Christmas cheer; 
And thanked God for that insulin, That keeps my little girl here. 

Diabetic Alert Dog

And yes, I did jinx myself with getting excited about having perfect night numbers.  So the adjustments continue.  =(

About the time we switched to a pump, I heard about Diabetic Alert Dogs (DAD or DADs).  This was intriguing and after the first night of night checks, I read all I could about this subject!  What a wonderful idea, so simple, and yet, such a life saver!  I joined all the discussion groups that I could find, and I did a lot of research on a medium size breed of dog that would fit our needs.  Everything kept bringing me back to a breed I've admired since high school: Shelties.

How does a DAD work?  I'm glad you asked!  Your blood and other bodily fluids (such as sweat) "shift" when your blood glucose level changes.  You tend to smell sweet when your BG level is high, and at the other end of the scale, it smells sour when you are low.  Dogs have a significantly better nose than humans do.  They can smell this change long before the symptoms (high or low) kick in.  With DADs, it's a matter of training the dog to realize what level of smells are bad and how to alert you when they smell it.  While most people like to use Labs & Goldens, they say that just about any breed, even mutts, can be trained for this.  Dogs with "smushed snouts", such as Pugs & English Bulldogs are the few that they say will have a harder time detecting.  I can't help but wonder if after a while it becomes the bond between the diabetic and the dog, rather than the training, that keeps the dog alerting so well!

In high school, I baby sat for a family that had a Sheltie, and he was a cutie, smart, and a very well behaved dog!  I've wanted one ever since!  With all the research on the breed, it works very well for this type of service - they are intelligent, easy to train, they love to have a job to do, they are very family oriented, they have a longer life span, and they have fewer health issues.  And lets face it, with Ellee and Dani, I won't complain if the dog is even willing to herd them for me!

My first call to a local breeder was beyond disappointing.  It seems as though it's more important to have a line of dogs that win awards, metals, and ribbons than it is to know that you have a dog that will save some one's life.  Devastated, I was nervous to call a second breeder, whom is about an hour away.  I was afraid that they would operate the same way this other one did.  Much to my surprise, when I finally got a hold of her, she was very willing to help me out, she asked questions and is willing to work with me!

We are still a few weeks away from being able to see the puppies for the first time, but in the mean time I have an opportunity to practice training another dog!  Unfortunately, Nate's dad had a heart attack and after the bypass surgery, they told him no animals in the house for a few weeks.  Bear, a 10 year old Blue Heeler will be staying with us - and the girls love this dog!  He stayed with us for a night a few weeks ago, but showed no reaction to a low that Ellee had.  I'm hoping that with some clicker training he will recognize what smells are not good and will start alerting.

Wish me luck, tonight will be our first training attempt!  I am hoping that you really can teach an old dog new tricks!

Night Time Success!!!

FINALLY!!!  After 5 1/2 weeks on the pump, last night was our first night of solid, acceptable BG numbers!

Ever since we went on the pump, Ellee's numbers have been one extreme or the other, either too high or too low, but mostly on the high side.  Afraid of her dropping too low and not catching it, I've been adjusting her insulin rate ever so slightly at night.  I was to achieving ideal numbers the other week, but all of a sudden she dropped too low and I had to reset her numbers to help bring her up.  Then she skyrocketed, and I've been trying to bring her back down ever since.

Last night, I checked her at 10pm before I went to bed and she was 148.  At 3am, she was 128. At breakfast this morning I was nervous to see what her number was going to be, but to my surprise - 128!!!  This means that she only dropped 20 points! Not only that, but for 5 hours her levels were consistent! I may be counting my chickens before they hatch, or jinxing myself, and her numbers may be off the chart tonight, but I will take one night of awesome numbers!  Because this means that we are headed in the right direction!

T1D Humor

I've posted stuff like this before, but it never fails to be funny or hit a little too close to home not to laugh!  Humor helps keep us sane!


You know you're the parent of a child with diabetes when ... 


1. Everyone in the family says they are "low" instead of hungry! 
2. Your co-workers play "Guess How Many Carbs Are In This Food" with you at lunch and you are always right! 
3. You have a car that displays the miles remaining before it runs out of gas, and not only do you always think of that number in terms of a blood sugar, but any time it ticks down to 50, at least two people in the car shout "The car is low! It needs glucose!" I just wish my daughter had a little yellow warning light on her forehead too. 
4. Your "D" child gets more birthday cards from his pump company than from his own family! 
5. Your child gets his driver's learning permit and you have tubes of glucose gel in your car instead of your sunglasses but you smile because he has come such a long way. 
6. You're awakened at 6 a.m. by your teenager asking the dreaded question, "What's the number for Minimed?" and you can answer without even opening your eyes -- then a few minutes later you realize that something's not right and jump out of bed. 
7. 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." 
8. You realize people are staring at you in the cleaning aisle after you pick up a new product and exclaim to your family, "Hey, I bet this would get the blood off the bedroom wall!" 
9. 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. 
10. Your six year old runs to the bathroom yelling "I've got to go Type 2!" 
11. Everytime you prick or cut your finger all your children run for the meter -- you wouldn't what to waist ANY blood. 
12. Your husband names his internet gaming character "Lancet." 
13. Your child is playing a video game and when the "life force" level starts running out she says "Oh no! I'm low" and then starts laughing hysterically and says "I need glucose tablets!" 
14. You have been doing frequent night checks because your child has been running a fever and find yourself in the bathroom getting Children's Tylenol before you realize the 103 was on the glucose meter, not the digital thermometer. 
15. You are doing Madlibs with the kids and "pancreas" comes up as a body part, and "insulin pump" comes up as a noun. 
16. You buy bleach not based on brand preference, but on whether the bottle would make a good sharps container. 
17. Your daughter asks, "Can I get some ketchup to go with my test strips?" instead of her chicken strips. 
18. All three of your children request the "A1C Steak Sauce" at the dinner table. 
19. The makeup case you used to carry in your purse is replaced with an emergency diabetes kit for your child. 
20. Your child asks you if "water proof" means "toilet proof" in reference to the pump. 
21. You watch your teen push his peas and carrots onto his fork with his insulin pump instead of with another utensil. 
22. While driving in the car with your diabetic child, a radio show asks listeners to call in with the answer to the question, "What do parents most often say at their kids?" and your daughter answers, "Did you bolus?" 
23. 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. 
24. Medical students come and ask YOU about pediatric endocrinology. 
25. For Halloween your child dresses up as a sharps box. 
26. Your endo is in your family picture. 
27. When your parents answer the phone, the first thing they say is "What's wrong?" 
28. Your six year old non D can spell "endocrinologist" 
29. Your non-diabetic 3 year old, with glucose monitor in hand, states that she's been thirsty all day, had at least 8 glasses of water, and thinks you should check her blood sugar. 
30. You stop calling them "sugar" and start calling them "Splenda."

We are getting there!

We have been "live" (with insulin... the week with saline & still doing the injections don't count!) on the pump for almost 4 full weeks now!  It has been interesting, to say the least!  I think we were warned that there would be a lot of testing when you first start on a pump, but I never expected this much testing!  We have gone through almost 300 test strips in 5 weeks!  I liked a comment another mom posted on a Facebook group... "If I find another test strip on the floor, I'm going to scream!"  And that is how I feel some days!  We've even been using a different meter for 5 weeks and I'm still finding strips on the floor from the old one!

When Ellee was first diagnosed, we had to keep careful logs of everything and fax them to the doctors office to review to see if any adjustments in her dosage needed made.  Once we felt like her numbers were stable and under control, we stopped faxing.  When starting on the pump, it is like starting all over with diabetes.  We have to log everything and fax it in.

Our first couple of weeks were riddled with extreme highs and extreme lows - both of which are very dangerous.  Here is a puzzle that I need to figure out - something needs changed, but what?  Every couple of days I would pouring over days of log sheets and numbers, trying to figure out variables, I made changes here and there. Slowly, but surely, her numbers are getting better!

I'm glad they moved up our next Endo appointment by a month! We went on Monday the 31st. I was so glad to see our Nurse Practitioner to go over the latest numbers! Normally our appointments are filled with meeting with 2-3 different people and a lot of waiting in between.  As soon as we got in there, the NP was in and out of the room right off the bat!  I love this lady!  She is so easy to talk to and she is very understanding!  With many days worth of log sheets spread out on the exam table, she and I went back and forth with patterns were were seeing along with bouncing ideas of changes to make.  Would changing this help this?  How would that effect this?

Another thing I love about our NP is that she asked how we felt!  I have read about many diabetics and their families complaining about the emotional toll this takes on them, and the doctors only seem concerned with the numbers, not emotions.  The social worker who came in and spoke with us first said that they have a councilor who specializes in T1D that we can set up an appointment with if we ever need it.  Then the NP asked us how we felt about the pump and care in general... then she asked Ellee how she feels about it!

After we were all done, the NP went to get our new scripts so that we could go and it dawned on me that she never told us what her A1C was!  When she came back, I asked.  She said she realized that she forgot to tell us that it was 7.6!  With in a month, we came down a whole half a point!  And for the first time in quite a while, we got below 8!  As rough as this past month has been with extreme numbers,  we dropped half a point?!  I can see that in the long run, being on a pump will be a life saver!  I can only image how much better her A1C will get once we get her dosing straightened out!

The last few days I have been seeing another pattern in Ellee's numbers, and that is her going low at night. The past few mornings I have been dropping her dosage quite a bit. Why all of a sudden now?  Why go from consistently being high at night to being low?  I think it's from the "fear of the unknown" and "fear of something new and different".  She no longer panics when it's time to change out her infusion set.   She may get apprehensive in the minutes before I insert it, but she is calmer and more willing to work with me on the process of changing it.  I think the fears she has of the needle to set the infusion set are subsiding.  She definitely sees that the pump is much more convenient than the injections with the pen.  And if you ask her the best thing about the pump, she'll tell you "no more night-night shot!"  They say that emotions play havoc on blood sugars, and I think this is one of the first times that I am seeing that it's true.  I think that her fear of starting something new made her go high at night, and as she is seeing that this is so much better, there is less emotional stress.

Things keep getting better as time goes on!

Halloween

For Type 1 Diabetics, okay, mostly their parents, this is one of the most dreaded holidays.  EVERYONE gives your kids candy and as kids, all they want to do is eat it... ALL!

Let's start with the reason we parents hate it:
-The kids want the good chocolate, and the older they get, the harder it is for Mom to sneak it away from them! (okay, that has nothing to do with diabetes, but it's true!)
-The boat load of candy they get trick-or-treating.  Even though it seems like fewer and fewer houses pass out candy, the kids still seem to make a huge hull!
-Individually wrapped candy.  The reason this is bad is because very few of them have the nutritional info on it. (more of this below)
-Kids are kids and they want to eat it all at once, and at times when it's not appropriate!  Using candy as a bribe to eat all of their dinner does not always work!

I remember buying Halloween candy, "Pre-T1D", and while reading "call 1-800... for nutritional information" on a box of candy I thought to myself "If you need to know the nutritional information, then do you really need to be eating it?"  Now  I can't believe I use to think that way.  I *hate* reading that on packaging, those words are like my kryptonite!  Now, with the number of people are have T1D, it should be a requirement to print carb counts on EVERYTHING.  From cough drops, to medicine, to individually wrapped candy, how hard would it be to print "xx grams of carbs per serving (or unit)" on everything?

The girls wanted to count their candy when we got home last night.  Dani lined up her mini candy bars and counted, while Ellee counted everything in her bag!  They kept asking to have a piece, and despite protest, I limited them to just two pieces.  I asked Ellee what her second piece was, and she had to dig the wrapper out of the trash to show me because she didn't know.  It was just a chocolate coin... but how do you figure the carbs on that?! This is where I think a small line printed on the plain foil would be a life saver.  "7g of carbs per piece".  See?!  That wouldn't take up too many lines!

This is one of those times I'm loving the pump!  After I figure how much she eats, I can dose her, without interrupting her, without having her hold still, and without dealing with the supplies to give her 1 unit!  Also, the Halloween party at school is another reason I'm loving it!

After the kids got back from their parade in the gym, we played a few games, then passed out cupcakes, popcorn, and juice.  "Pre-Pump", after I saw what all she was eating and figured up the carbs, I'd have to pull her aside (most likely into the hall or bathroom) to give her a shot.  Yesterday, I gave her the meter and had her check her sugar in the one corner of the room, then after I figured her carbs, I programmed the meter and dosed her!  None of the other parents knew what I was doing and I didn't have to pull her out of the room for a few minutes.  It was very discreet and I'm sure it made her feel more like a normal kid! Again, I love this pump!!!

Both of the girls wanted to be Belle for Halloween this year.  And since costumes are tissue thing, I tried my hand at making cloaks for them.  They didn't turn out too terribly bad!

Two Weeks In...

...And this is one tired Momma!  Getting up twice a night to check Ellee's blood sugar is taking a toll on me!

I never would have guessed that it would be this frustrating to pin down patterns to get her dosing rate set!  Her numbers have very few patterns and it seems like they are one extreme or the other.  It's making it hard to say that this rate needs to go up or that one needs to come down.  One positive, is that the lady from the doctors office who has been calling me to go over her logs has been great to work with!  She calls with certain changes in mind, but she is great about talking out my concerns with her and we usually come up with an altered plan of attack together!

I am starting to see a pattern in the night numbers, so I have a few more adjustments to make and try this weekend.  I'm hoping that we can gain a little more insight when we meet with the Nurse Practioner on Monday!

While I am not a fan of the night checks, I am still not regretting this decision to start on the pump!  It is more convenient and in the long run the control over her blood sugar will be better!  When Josh and I talked about a Continuous Blood Glucose Monitor a few months ago, we shot down the idea.  I'm really starting to rethink that idea and will discuss it with the NP on Monday!  I don't like the idea of sticking her with a second thing, but on the other hand, her little fingers need a break from the constant testing.

First Weekend

It has been one long weekend, to say the least!  We have to check sugar levels more often to determine if adjustments to her rates need to be made, and that includes a midnight and a 3 am check!

I will say that right off the bat, the few key features that I am LOVING are:

1.  Correction dose without having to wait till she eats something!  There have been a few times she's been high but not eaten anything, so it's easy to give her a little extra bump of insulin to help bring her down!  This includes while she is sleeping.  In this case, it's hard enough to check her sugar in the dark, not having to try to pin down a limb and literally give her a shot in the dark is awesome!

2.  Insulin on Board calculation.  This is a nice little feature that gives me an idea if she still has insulin in her blood stream that is working.  If she is high, but still has 2 units "on board" then I know that her sugar is on the way down.  If she doesn't have any and she's high, then I know to give her a correction to help bring her down.

3.  Dosing with out making her stand still!  Ellee has developed this little quirk when we give her a dose by using the remote meter.  When we do this, the pump vibrates, I'm not sure why, but I'm guessing it's more to let me know that the pump is receiving the signal and is in fact delivering it.  During a meal as soon as I know how much she is going to eat, I will plug all the info into the meter and have it dose her.  She will inevitably give me this cute, quirky "I caught you trying to be sneaky" look!  Or she'll say "Mom... your giving me my insulin!" The remote meter has got to be my favorite feature, and the main reason we went with this meter over the Medtronic!  During the night I've had to give her a correction dose, and I can do this from the living room or even my room (with a light on) without having to fish for her pump under the sea of blankets and jammies!

4. More precise dose.  With the NovoJr pen we were using, and even syringes, you can only dose in half units.  So, instead of having to decide to round up or round down, we can give a dose in .05 measurements!

5.  It figures the dose for you!  Okay, this is a lazy feature but very handy!  I got in the habit of rounding, and this makes me stop and think about her carbs more accurately, instead of rounding up a few to the nearest 15.  This is also very handy for when Grandma and Grandpa are with her.

Things I am not so in love with:

1.  Meter needs a glowing screen or more contrast.  It's impossible to read at night with out having to rig my cell phone to illuminate.  In certain light and with certain people's eyesight, it's just flat out hard to read.  

2.  Making sure that Ellee wears pants strong enough to hold the weight of the pump!  This may sound like a no brainer, but she wore a pair of knit yoga pants under a dress the other day and she had to keep pulling them up!

3.  Did I mention the two nightly sugar checks?!  Yes, I can tell already that by the end of this week I *will* be a zombie!  This will hopefully just be temporary, but I will be thrilled when we can go down to one check a night or do away with them!  If she doesn't jerk or pull her hand back, then I struggle to get the strip lined up with the blood to get it to read.  I had some how turned the beep off so as I'm struggling to get the blood on the strip, I flipped my phone on so that I could see and noticed that I already had it and it was getting ready to show the result.  There has got to be an easier way to check sugars at night!

Pump Therapy definitely has it's ups and downs, but for the most part, this was by far the best move for Ellee!  She still panics when it's time to put a new infusion set on.  She likes to be able to take the old one off in the shower, herself.  It's still a fight and a little bit of coaxing to insert the new one, but I'm able to get her to hold still so that I can do it myself at home.  Before at the doctors office, it's taken either Josh or I to hold her while the other inserted it.  Last night I tried putting a Popsicle on to numb her up some before wiping it with the alcohol.  I may be on to something with that because eating the Popsicle afterwards was a treat!

Last Shots

Last night was our last night of Lantus!  We didn't celebrate, but should have!  Instead, we will celebrate tomorrow morning after our last shot from our NovoJr pen for breakfast in the morning!  I've said many times before that after dealing with this for 2 1/2 years, as I look back at different things, I can't imagine how we "use to do things".  How we use to sit down for a meal without having to check sugar, figure food portions, count carbs, and everything else involved in treating T1D.

I wasn't sure I would like the pen, but after getting one, it was SOOO much better than a syringe!  And I'm sure the same will be true with the pump.  After we are on this for a while, I'll look back and wonder why I was so scared of it and we didn't switch to this sooner!

We still have to keep the pen and supplies on hand as an emergency back up in case of issues with the pump.  But hopefully we won't have to resort back to it any more than we have to!

So Far, So Good

The training session went okay.  Both girls were there and it seemed like once we got into the important stuff on the pump, I had to leave the room with one of the girls.  The pump rep was so good about all of it!  It was a one on one session with her, so we could go at our own pace and we didn't have a set time limit of how long we had to get through all of this.  First it was Dani having to go potty 15 minutes into the session even though I tried to get her to go before we went in!  The second time it was with Ellee and I was NOT a happy camper.  She got our attention to show that she had "accidently" gotten her gum all over her hands.  And when I say all over, I mean all over!  It was like a witch's web between the two hands that you would do with a long string of yarn!

I don't know what I was more upset about, the fact that she was playing with her gum when she knew better and has gotten in trouble for it before... or that the rep was getting into the important details of how to use the pump and I needed to leave the room to take care of this!  Not knowing the best way to deal with this, I take her to the bathroom and hope the cold water makes it less tacky so that we can pick it off.   A few minutes later, the rep comes in with a bottle of hand sanitizer and said she wondered if that would help take it off.  After a few more minutes of picking to get the bulk of it off, we go back to the room with a handful of paper towels.

We tried the hand sanitizer and while Ellee picked, she went back over everything I missed.  Soon we got to the point of the routine of hooking up the pump.  Now we need to insert the infusion set on Ellee so that we can finish the set up.  I had hoped that we were over the freak-out-and-panic stage when it came time to insert a set, but I was wrong.  She flipped out and Josh had to hold her in a bear hug so that I could insert the set.  She showed us little tricks to getting a good insertion and adhesion of the tape.  

Once Ellee sat down and started picking at the gum again, she settled down.  The rep finished showing us how to hook everything up and showed us other neat features of both the pump and remote. And that was it.  She gave us instructions for when we come back the following week and made sure we had the few new scripts for supplies that we needed and we were headed out!

The immediate benefits that I see is that of the meter remote!  That and it's funny to see Ellee's face when her pump buzzes from a remote delivery of insulin!  She knows what it's for, but she still gives me this goofy face that I can't help but laugh at!  This morning it was in the middle of her drinking her milk out of the cereal bowl!  Being able to dose her while she's eating is a big advantage, that way I don't have to interrupt her to find a suitable patch of skin for her shot.

Just like anything, there are a few drawbacks, but the pro's out weigh the con's so in the long run, this is definitely a great choice for us!

Butterflies

2 1/2 years ago while we were in the hospital learning how to deal with this newly diagnosed disease, I knew that eventually she'd be on a pump.  To be honest, the idea scared me and even made me sick to my stomach because I couldn't even begin to image how it would feel to have a tube inserted into you and left on for 3 days.    6 months ago I wanted to learn more.  I wanted to see how it went in and I wanted to see how it felt.  To my surprise, I couldn't feel it at all!  Pleasantly surprised to say the least!

Ever since then, I've done so much research.  I've watched YouTube videos to get an idea of how to insert it.  I've read blogs, discussion boards, and manufacturer websites.  I spoke with pump reps to have the ins and outs demonstrated to me and even wore two different infusion sets!

I was not only ready, I was excited!  Getting Ellee excited wasn't as easy, but to a 6 year old, why would this be?  With the help of Grandma & Grandpa talking it up and helping explain to her why this is better, she is finally ready!  Well, as ready as a 6 year old can be!

Today is our big day!  Grandma came over to get Ellee on the school bus so I could go into work early and get a few things wrapped up.  When Grandma woke her up this morning to get her ready for school, she excitedly told Ellee that today was the big day that we get to put the pump on, and in a week, we will no longer have to do shots!  It was a huge sigh of relief to hear El get excited with her!

Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well this afternoon and for the next week!  As with everything that we've had to deal with since diagnosis, the first month or two are rough.  Then, after a while it becomes second nature I can't imagine it any other way!

Dates are Set!

Even though it isn't mine, I was like a kid at Christmas when I heard that the pump had been delivered on Friday afternoon!  Ellee and I had spent the morning and most of the afternoon on a field trip to area farms with her class, so this was a nice little way to end the day! 

I had called Children's Hospital earlier once I found out what the delivery date was and they informed me that the local Pump rep would call me to set up the next step, probably on Monday.  I've been so busy at with work and the girls that forgot to be impatient that she hasn't called me yet!  Last night while getting something out of the car at the last minute before soccer practice, my phone rang. I didn't recognize the phone number and we needed to get practice started, so I sat the phone down and headed out to the field to run with the kids. 

After practice, I checked my phone and they had left a voice mail.  Listening to it, I could have kicked myself for not answering it!  It was the pump rep calling to set up appointments for the next step in the pump process! 

Again, I can't stress enough about how excited I am about starting her on a pump.  It's like contact lenses for people with bad eye sight.  Glasses are a pain, and even though contacts have a few draw backs and take a while to get use to, they really are a huge step forward in making your everyday life a little easier.  That and when El was first diagnosed, I had heard all kinds of great things about pumps, but at that point in time, I just couldn't imagine how they inserted and it bothered me not to know that. I just couldn't fathom it, so it became something that any time I was asked about it my response was "I know we will get one eventually, but we just aren't ready for it yet." 

And now we are ready! 

I read on some groups that it was taking months to get set up for the following appointments after receiving the pump in some areas.  I was afraid that it was going to take the long for us, and dreaded hearing that they were booked that far out.  So when Diana told me that she could set something up for October 6th and then October 13th, I signed a huge sigh of relief! 

We have homework to do before our appointments, but it makes these past few months of fighting to get this process completed feel like has been worth it!  I was hoping to get all of this done before school started but no such luck.  I even explained to Diana as we were trying to figure out times to make the appointments that I don't want to take her out of school any more than I have to. 

I'm just excited to think that as of October 13th, Ellee will be a pumper!  The funny thing about that date is that October 21st will be 2 1/2 years since she was diagnosed.  I'm just thankful every day that we got to walk out of that hospital with her.  Type 1 Diabetes may not have a cure, but it is manageable, and I am VERY thankful for that!

FINALLY!!!

When you don't expect a phone call to keep you updated because you know that not everything is in yet, it seems like you get unnecessary updates all the time.  But, when you are anxiously waiting by the phone to hear that you got the final approval, it seems like forever before that call ever comes!

I waited all week and never heard anything.  So finally on Sunday, I shot our Animas rep an email asking if they have heard from the insurance company yet.  I wasn't really expecting to hear anything back, but this afternoon my phone rang and my caller ID showed "Animas Pump Company"!  I didn't get too excited because I expected Nick to be calling to say that he got my email but has not heard from the insurance yet. 

There are times when I love being wrong!  They were calling to say that we have our final approval and we can get everything set up so that they can ship the pump out!  I am beyond excited! 

Ellee seems to finally be on board with this new concept!  She has asked me a few different times about when we'll get it.  I know that it will be a rough first few months, change is always rough, but she is a such a strong person and adapts so well.  Diagnosis was rough and getting use to the shots.  Then we got use to the shots and transitioned over to Pens instead of syringes.  Change is always scary, but some times change is for the better!  We like the pens, but the time has come to move onto the next step in order to get tighter control! 

Now to call the doctors office and set up our next appointment for them so that we can start using this thing!

First Day of School

After the horror stories I've heard and read about schools not being very cooperative in dealing with diabetes routines and treatments, I was nervous to send Ellee to school last year.  That fear quickly melted away after meeting with the school nurse and other staff.  I can't say enough about how impressed I was with everyone there!  Knowing that Ellee was being taken care off made it easy to prepare for school this year.

What I wasn't prepared for was sending Dani to preschool!  She was ready for it, and she needs it.  She is also an independent girl and it's good for her to get out for a few hours to do things on her own, instead of being a tag along for Ellee's things.  I will admit that it was unusual to just to fill out school papers and medical forms without attachments of additional instructions that is required for T1D! 

But school went great for both girls!  I had to drop Ellee off along with all of her medical supplies.  It was so neat to see all the excitement and energy of all the teachers and students! 

At lunch, I met Grandma & Dani at preschool.  I was sure that it would be a fight to get Dani out of the car, but nope, she grabbed her book bag and was ready to go in!  Everything was fine until we got to the classroom.  I think for the first time in her life she was nervous!  She didn't get clingy and she didn't cry, she just kind of stood there like she didn't know what she was suppose to do.  I took her over to put her supplies in her box, then Mrs. M told her to get a toy and have a seat at one of the tables.  As she looked around for a table toy, Mom and I stepped out. 

In a few hours it was time to get Dani from preschool, then home to wait for Ellee to get off the bus!  Dani was so excited to see me, gave me a big hug then said "Mommy, guess what?!  I behaved!!!"  I asked what they did today and she pulled off her book bag to pull out the picture she drew! Then she told me all about the snack they had! I love the excitement, I just wish I could bottle it so that it lasts throughout the whole year! 

We waited for Ellee to get home, so that we could run up to Lima to pick up her new glasses.  I was disheartened to hear that her right eye was getting weak, but I knew that these new glasses should help her out tremendously.  As Ellee got off the bus, Dani ran out to greet her as if it had been years since they last saw each other!  Nothing will bring a kid down faster from the "first day of school" high than telling them that we are going to go get her new glasses.  I hate when she complains about wearing glasses, but I know that wearing them will only help in the long run.  After they were adjusted to her, I think she realized how much they help her out, even though she won't admit it! 

Almost There

If the customer service after we get this pump is half as good as the customer service we are getting now, then I will be thrilled!  Our rep from Animas has been amazing at keeping us updated on our application progress!  He has called me to keep me in the loop even when there hasn't been any new news, which is something that I never would have expected!

Monday (the 22nd) was our quarterly Endo appointment, as well as the day that Grandpa had his open heart surgery from a heart attack he suffered on Wed, the 17th.  I was hoping to hear something before we had to go to Dublin for our appointment, but he wasn't out before we had to leave.  With being nervous about my Dad's surgery and the hassle and disappointed we had with this whole pump process, I'll be honest that I was ready to lay it all out there with the doctor about how I honestly felt about it all.  I did not expect this appointment to go so well.

I guess it just goes to show that when you expect the worst, when things go better than that, it's a pleasant surprise and puts you in a good mood!  The nurse started off by telling me that they signed and faxed (with confirmation) the pump paperwork over a week ago and even pulled up the paper to show me!  I really wasn't expecting that, but it would explain why the insurance company went ahead and released the information.  I made a call to Nick and left him a message that they have already sent the approval over but were more than willing to resend it if he would give them a call on Tuesday morning.

I was ready for the doctor to give me a hard time about us being ready for the pump, but instead, she addressed the multiple lows we were having.  Her A1C was still higher than they would like, but it dropped from the last visit.  I was very disheartened to hear that this number was till high, I thought our control has been better and most of her meter readings have been within range, if not on the lower range of the scale.  I can't help but think that this is one of the many reasons that we are ready for a pump. 

After the appointment, I called Uncle Jason to find out that Grandpa came out of surgery and they said he did very well!

Part of the appeal of this doctors appointment was that I told the girls that we would pick out their backpacks after we were done.  It's so hard to give them complete control to pick something out when you aren't that fond of their choice!  That is the main reason I waited for backpacks till I made it back to Target with the girls, because I was not fond of all the bags that I found around Lima.  But the girls did good, Ellee picked out a purple bag with butterflies and an orange kitty (with matching lunch box), and Dani picked out a "Hello Kitten" bag.  And no, it's not "Hello Kitty", she was quick to correct that it's "Hello Kitten"! 

It was late when we left Columbus and I can't say that I was surprised that both girls fell asleep.  It was a very hectic, and emotional day.

Making progress

I've given up hope on getting an insulin pump before school starts because I'm 99% sure the doctor won't sign off on it before we meet with her on the 22nd.  After the last conversation with the pump rep, Nick, he said the insurance company was at a stand still because they needed the doctor's approval before they would even look at numbers. 

The bad thing about my office is that my cell phone reception isn't the greatest.  I did manage to set up an appointment with Ellee's new teacher to go over my "plan of action" for managing her T1D while at school.  Shortly afterwards, I get a phone call that for some reason my phone drops, but does send it to voice mail!

It was another rep from the pump company telling me that they were able to get the cost information from the insurance company and wanted to share the cost break down with me!  Really?!?!  I immediately called back only to get his voice mail, so I'm anxiously playing phone tag with him! 

I'm nervous and excited at the same time!  I'm sure this will be quite a bit of out of pocket cost, but it will be worth it.  You make sacrifices for your kids and this is no exception!  And thank goodness for Health Savings Accounts! 

School Prep

It's hard to schedule doctor appointments 3 or 6 months in advance because you just don't know what is going to be going on.  I lucked out with both the Dentist and Endo and happen to schedule them before school started.  Okay, by the skin of my teeth I lucked out on the Endo appointment because it's 2 days before school starts!  Since I was taking the day off of work for the dentist, may as well try to schedule Ellee's eye exam for the same day.

The girls have been running fevers off and on all last week with no other symptoms.  I figured Dani's was from her teeth, and even felt around to confirm it, but it didn't explain why Ellee was the same way.  To my surprise, the hygienist that worked on the girls informed me that Ellee is cutting her 6 year molars!  And just when I thought I thought I was done with teething kids, I was proven wrong!  But it's exciting to see that the girls keep growing up before my eyes! 

We had to wait for Dr. Dan to finish up with another patient so he could check Dani, and needless to say, the girls got a little rambunctious, and goofy! 

Before heading over to our afternoon appointment with the eye doctor, we went to Ellee's new favorite place to eat... Cracker Barrel!  I think it's only because she loves playing checkers!

The eye doctors was a mad house when we got there!  Very busy and it was going to be a few minutes before they got to us.  I had Ellee look at frames and see if there was one that she liked.  She was acting very sleepy, so I had to check her sugar to make sure she wasn't low (160, so she was just tired). 

The eye exam didn't go so well.  I could tell during the initial check of reading the chart that she obviously was struggling with her right eye.  After Dr. D finished up, she showed me the results and it made my heart sink.  Her right eye doubled the script strength and was becoming lazy.  She wants us to patch her left eye once a day for the next six months to see if that strengthens it any. 

Is this diabetes related, or just bad luck in the genetic draw?  I don't know.  I'd like to think that if it were the diabetes, that it would effect both eyes, not just the one.  At this point, I guess it doesn't matter.  What matters is to work on it and try to prevent any further damage.

I'm glad I had her pick out a pair of glasses before we saw the doctor.  We had to wait our turn to order the glasses, and both the girls were obviously tired.  Dani tried to curl up in a chair and fall asleep, but I was afraid, she'd roll off and Ellee was already curled up in my lap.  I adjusted Ellee over to one leg and had Dani crawl up onto my other leg.  Both girls fell asleep with their heads on my chest and were out!  I did get quite a few "awwww!!!"s.  It was a great feeling to have both girls snuggled up against me sleeping, I just wish we were at home in our chair and I was able to kick back and take a nap with them!

The gal that ordered our glasses for us was great!  She was very sympathetic and told me that I could sit there and let them sleep as long as I wanted to.  She did everything she needed to do on her end before she needed Ellee away to take measurements. 

2 appointments down, one more to go! 

Still Waiting

If the customer service after you get a pump is anything like their customer service during the application process, then I believe that we made the right choice to go with the Ping!   Yesterday afternoon, the Animas rep called me just to touch base! 

I wasn't expecting a call any time soon since I forewarned him that the doctor was probably going to drag her feet until we meet with her on the 22nd.  But he called to let me know that the insurance won't take any paperwork until they have the doctor's paperwork.  That means that they won't figure up how much they will cover and what our co-pay is yet.  I'm disappointed by this because I was hoping that if we could get everything covered on the insurance end and in place, then when the doctor signs off, we could get the pump that much sooner... but no dice.

I think Ellee is starting to come around to the idea of the pump.  She knows that we can do away with the Lantus shots which she wants more than anything.  While we can't get it through to her that it's less shots and less pain, I think she's starting to process it a little bit.  I don't expect that to come right away since it took me a while to accept it.  But I'm hoping that once we are on this for a month or two, that she will realize that this is all for the better. 

In the mean time, it looks like it will be a week and a half wait till our doctors appointment before anyone can take the next step. 

A little closer!

I can't explain how excited I am right now!  I just had an Animas Pump Rep call me!  I submitted the paperwork Friday before I left work to get the ball rolling and didn't really expect to hear anything till the end of the week.

I'm still not holding my breath, but he said every thing looked good so far!  They have to check with the insurance company about a program to see if we are enrolled, and they have paperwork that has been submitted to the Endo's office. 

That's where I'm not holding my breath.  I've not had to make as many phone calls to the Endo's office over the entire 2 1/2 years since Ellee was diagnosed as I have in the past 3 months dealing with this insulin pump.  The pump rep told me that he had to wait to hear back from the doctor's office, so I briefly explained that if he gets it in a few days, great, but I wouldn't be surprised if Dr. C holds off on it till she sees us on August 22.  I'd love to get into the office with a pump before school starts, but knowing my luck nothing will happen that fast.

Never the less, I am still excited!  I know the first few months will be rough, but I hope that by Thanksgiving or Christmas Ellee will realize how much better this is than our current "Daily Injection Therapy". 

The power of Grandpa

I'm not sure what it is about Grandpas, but they seem to make the pain go away!  And for that I won't complain!

When Mom and I mentioned putting on a new set as soon as we got over there this morning, Ellee started whimpering and crying.  So we called for Grandpa (who is home for a few days from the National Guards).  He comes out and sits down on the couch with her.  He asks her questions about the pump, like how many times we have to do this vs. how many shots we get a day.  While she insists that we do this set in her arm, I hate telling her that with the size of the set I have that it's too big to put in her arm so we have to find a very fatty area. 

There isn't much cooperation to it at this point, so I firmly tell her that it's time to put it in.  She can either lay down on the couch, lay down on the floor, or give Grandpa a big bear hug.  Bear hug it is.  She climbs up onto Grandpa's lap, facing him, and likes the idea that when it hurts, she hugs his neck as hard as she can! 

Our last appointment with the nurse where we were taught how to insert these sets didn't go over very well.  I was very nervous about using the 30 degree setter because the 2 times the nurse did it, the tape didn't set quite right.  Although with the 90 degree disc that I used yesterday, I had to resnap it a few times due to the contour of her body. 

Deep breath... I positioned it on her upper butt to how I thought it would feel more comfortable and snapped, pushed the tape against her and pulled it out and DONE!  She didn't even have time to escalate from a whimpering to the expected screaming and crying that we had the last two times!  Awesome!  Now we just have to wait and see if she complains about any pain from this site and type of set. 

I'm crossing my fingers that the next three days go well because I'm faxing the paperwork to the pump company this afternoon!  I hope that she understands that this is the best option in the long run.

3 Days

We were off to a rough start, lots of tears and pain, but 3 days are over now, and happy to report no major pains! 

3 days is the length of time that you wear an insulin pump set.  After three days, you take that one off and insert a new one in a different location.  Ellee did not like the idea of inserting the set.  She screamed, cried, and struggled.  But it needed to be done, so I tried to set it as fast as I could.  I put it on her upper butt so that she would hopefully forget about it and not be able to easily reach it to remove it when ever she wanted.


And it worked!  The first day there was an occasional whimper of it hurting, but she got distracted and moved onto something else.  The next evening, she was proud to show that it was still on and that it didn't hurt.  Same thing that next evening. 

This morning it was time to remove it and insert another one.  If we can get through a couple of these, then I would be comfortable calling the pump company and requesting the paperwork to get the ball rolling with the insurance company.  She was not happy because she saw the new set in my hand and started flipping out.  Mom and I tried to reason with her to no avail.  I was able to remove the old one with out her really acknowledging it, but not able to insert the new one. 

The compromise.  Mom and I tried to reason with her.  This "shot" once every three days doesn't hurt nearly as bad as 15 shots over three days as long as she relaxed and didn't fight us.  I also explained that once we get the pump, once we remove one we have to insert another one to replace it.  But in the mean time, since this is just a test, we decided it was best to wait a day.  Our deal is that we will put the new one on in the morning so that she can show Grandpa how it works! 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will work.  In the mean time, I will be calling the pump company and trying to get things going.  I'd like to be far enough along that we can get any questions or concerns addressed by the doctor next month.  And I hope that we are far enough along that we can ease any concerns the doctor has, since her office have been dragging their feet with this whole process.

How do you explain?

How do you explain to a 6 year old that going to an insulin pump is a better option?  I'm finding that there really isn't an easy way.  I shouldn't be upset, or complain, or even be surprised because for a year and a half after diagnosis I wasn't sold on it myself.  It took me that long to warm up to the thought of having something inserted into you continuously for 3 days.  Needless to say though, through a seminar and a chat with a pump rep I was able to experience it first hand.  And I finally understood that it wasn't as bad as my mind made it out to be.  I've been able to have two different types of pump sets inserted and wear them around and realized that these will make life so much easier!  Control will be so much better and the idea of one stick every three days is so much better than 15 that we currently have with shots! 

Our two year anniversary was in April and annual blood tests came back normal, so I am thankful for that!  I wanted to start the pump process in hopes of having it in time for school to start, but no such luck.  First was the disappointments about the "classes" that the doctors office requires you to go through.  I'll spare the details, but I'm sorely disappointed with the two "classes" we've had to take so far.  But the best thing to come out of the second one is that we were finally able to insert a set on Ellee to see how she would react to it. 

The reaction was not good, but we are told that it is typical.  While sitting in the doctors office with a nurse showing us how to set these, Ellee flips out.  We get the pump rep in there to help us offer what we hope would be words of comfort, but El is so freaked out that she doesn't hear anything we are saying.  Unfortunately it comes down to having her sitting on my lap and holding her arms, dad holds her legs and the pump rep quickly inserts it into her thigh.  After she calms down, I hope that she will realize that it's not that bad... wrong!

After getting lunch and heading home, it's a typical evening with the girls playing.  At bed time as I get them in bed, Ellee informs me that when we had gotten home, she went into her bedroom and removed it, then stuck it back on.  As she is telling me this, she pulls it off and says she doesn't want to wear it.  I'm devastated because *I* am ready for the pump, but also because we have to go back to the fights about the night-night shots of Lantus.  She *HATES* this shot, she says it hurts and it's the only time she freaks out when we have to do a shot.  We have told her repeatedly that we can get rid of these shots if we go on the pump.

The girls were at their dad's last week, so once I got them back, I talked with Ellee.  What is it that she didn't like about the pump thing?  To my surprise, it wasn't the metal needle that inserts the cannula (plastic tube that stays inserted in the skin that delivers the insulin) but the cannula itself.   I can't say that I'm surprised because that was my biggest concern.  Then I asked her what does she like about it?  Less shots and NO night-night shot!!! 

When I dropped the girls off at Mom's house on Monday morning, I had Mom sit down with her as we went over this again.  I told her that I wanted to try a set one more time and asked her to try as hard as she could to leave it alone.  It was a fight to get her still enough to insert it on her butt, but I did it. Mom held her across her lap, I inserted it and detached the tubing. She cried for a few minutes, saying that it hurt but then go engrossed into her cartoon and forgot about it.  I wondered the whole day at work how she was doing with it, but resisted the urge to call because I didn't want her to be reminded of it in case she forgot she had it on.

I picked the girls up for soccer practice and Mom said she did good about it!  She said a few times that it hurt, but it was a brief complaint before going on to play with something.  At practice, she came off the field crying and holding her middle back.  I worried that she got hit or kicked there, but she said she fell and the pain she showed me was higher up.  Whhheeeeewwww!

She left it alone all of last night and this morning when I dropped the girls off, Mom asked about it.  Ellee proudly stood up and raised her night gown so that we could see that it was still on there!  Mom and I were so excited!  I'm not going to hold my breath, there is still time for this to go wrong, but it's a step ahead of where we were two weeks ago!!  I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and call the pump company to see about getting the ball rolling! 

HUGE STEP!!!

Ellee tends to go in spurts of independence.  The last few days has been one of those times. When I get ready to do her shot, she wants to put the needle on and dial up the units.  No big deal, the needle is protected until we remove two caps and she has me check to make sure she put it on the right number since there are half unit markings.  This morning, however, it was different!

We were running ahead of time for the bus and I got her pen out to give her a breakfast shot while she was getting her shoes one.  Since she has been wanting to prep the pen the last few days I asked if she wanted to do it.  "YES!" and quick dart over to me at the computer desk was her response! While I was filling out her log and running the numbers through my head to double check my calculations came the obvious question: "How many?"  "Let's do 4 units."

I checked the pen to make sure she had it on 4 and not 4 1/2 and she tells me "I want to do it MYSELF!" Since she had already dialed the pen in, I had to ask if that meant what I thought it meant.  "You want to give yourself the shot?"  "YES" she said in her goofy, over-excited voice that she does when she is very excited about something! 

I was flabergasted for a few seconds.  So many thoughts ran through my head but one was louder than the rest: She will have to do it herself eventually! 

I told her that she had to do it in her leg, so she picked a leg and found a fatty area.  Next I showed her how to hold the pen so that she could push the end of it to inject the insulin.  Once she held it in her hand correctly and I could see she had good thumb range, it dawned on me that the way it "ratchets" may throw her off. I told her to take both caps off with the other hand and we did an "air shot".  She laughed to see the insulin stream out and was anxious to do the shot!

Ellee amazes me.  She takes things in stride that would freak most people out!  I am constantly thankful for her personality because that is one thing that makes dealing with T1D easier that it should be!  After she did her injection, she had this look on her face of accomplishment!  She was *so* proud of herself and had a beaming smile!  She even counted to 20 because I tried to take a picture but forgot that I had a different lens on and it wouldn't focus. 

I was hesitant to post the original image, but decided on this cropped version of it.  I think it signifies so much... those little hands have seen and held so much in almost 6 years that I have held them in my own hands.