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.