Three Years

A urine test and a phone call three years ago today changed our lives forever.  I still remember taking her back for a blood draw, then waiting in the pediatricians office waiting for the results.  I remember the one doctor telling us that she has Type 1 Diabetes and we need to call our insurance company to find out what Endocrinologists and what, if any, of the Children's Hospitals were in our network.  They explained that she needed to be admitted to a hospital, started on insulin and an IV to start bringing her blood sugar down.  We could either take her straight to Children's or they would admit her to Lima Memorial, get her started, then transfer her by ambulance later that evening.

Talk about over whelming.  It all sounded so foreign and nothing made sense.  What does all of this mean?  We decided to admit her to Memorial, then transfer to Columbus.  Josh toke her up to the room they got ready for her while I went to the library to get a few books to read over the next few days at the hospital, because I had no idea what we were in for.  And I hate not knowing.

680 was the first blood test that game back at Memorial.  I remember walking into the room as they were giving her the first injection of insulin.  It was a grim sight of what would be the norm for the next three days - one or two of us to hold her down as much as we could while a nurse gave her a shot... every time she ate.  If ever there were a moment when you would give any thing to trade places with your child, this was it!  It was the day after her 4th birthday and she just seemed so little to have to take these shots.  I also remember that ambulance ride to Columbus with  her.  She had to be strapped onto the bed during the whole ride, so all she could do was watch out the back window.  She said something about wondering where we were, and it just so happened that we were getting ready to drive past her friends house.  As we went past, I pointed out a century light that she was able to see and told her that light was at Savannah's house.  She fell asleep shortly afterwards so the EMT and I chatted for awhile and ended up talking about "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" (a non-profit organization).

Here we are... three years later!  Some of the best advice that I read was "don't let diabetes control you, you control the diabetes."  And that is what I strive so hard for!  We celebrated her 7th birthday this past week and here she is, an otherwise healthy girl who is active, plays soccer, is enjoying Girl Scouts, and is doing great in school!  If it weren't for the pump attached to her, you'd never know any thing was wrong with her!

I've said all along that she makes this so much easier on us.  With in the first month after we were out of the hospital, she started checking her own sugar!  We've been through syringes, pens, and now on a pump!  Don't get me wrong, she has her moments, but who can blame her with everything she has to go through?!

Pump Progress

We are coming up into our 4th month on an insulin pump!  Looking back, I have no idea why I was so afraid of them (okay, it's because Ellee is *still* afraid of the infusion set changes).  After 2 weeks on a pump, it lowered her A1C by half a point and finally got us back down under 8!  I've been told by many people that we shouldn't think of the A1C as a scorecard, but you can't help it.  If it's high, it makes you feel like a bad parent, and no one wants to feel like a bad parent.  I did have to smile when I had a former director of a JDRF chapter tell me the other night not to beat myself up over a few bad numbers!

We go on Monday for our quarterly Endo appointment!  I'm excited to see what her A1C is, but at the same time nervous that it will be higher than 8.  I do have some concerns to go over with the doctor, such as the weeks with high numbers, then the sudden drop and having weeks of lower than my nerves can take numbers.

I've been debating about seeing if we can use a Continuous Glucose Monitor for a month to get an idea of areas that we can fine tune her rates.  I have a feeling this is one of those things were "if it were me, I'd do this", but since it's Ellee I have to stop and ask what is best for her.   After hearing two 20 year olds talk about how long the canula is, I'm not sure Ellee would like me if I suggest sticking one of them on her!

Over all, I am very happy that she is on the pump.  She is getting a lot better about changing the infusion sets, especially when she is able to do some of it herself.  She *hates* it when some one else takes her old set off, she takes it off in the shower, or will allow me to put alcohol on the old so that it loosens up, BUT she has to be the one to pull it off!  And I'm fine with that!

There is something about understanding how things work that make them less scary.  I found out the hard way that by explaining everything that goes into changing her set to her, she is more accepting of the process and doesn't fight it.  By showing her how the infusion device worked, it calmed her nerves.  She now likes to prep the set for me.  She takes all the plastic and paper off, unwinds the tubing, and gets it completely ready for me, even pulling the spring back to load it.  Just recently she has started wanting to fill the cartridge.  So I showed her how work the plunger a few different times to help get rid of the air bubbles.  I may have to redo it myself if there is an air bubble, but so far she doesn't mind.

It seems that by being involved in the process, she feels she has more control... and I'm fine with that! After all, she will be in charge of it soon enough, which is sad to think.  I couldn't have asked for her to be any more cooperative with the whole process than she has been!