Wednesday, March 16, 2011

He's getting it!


Tonight Tyler was making his lunch for school tomorrow. He had opened a new bag of cookies and destroyed the packaging in the process. All by himself he put the cookies into a large ziplock bag and wrote the carbs on the bag! He even did the math and wrote the # of carbs per cookie instead of what the bag said- serving size 3 cookies total carbs per serving 21.

I was so surprised when I saw what he had done. I have been talking to him about carb counting and encouraging him to count his own carbs for meals now that he has the math skills to do it. It's nice to see that the habits that I have are starting to rub off on him. It's a proud Mom moment, my boy is growing up!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Real Life Memories

I just came across this picture from last years vacation to Disneyland. I love this shot of Tyler , it captures his sweetness perfectly. I also like that you can see his pump and hip pack of diabetes supplies, it's such a real example of what his life entails. When we go somewhere like Disneyland, I make sure that Tyler has his own supplies on his body at all times. I carry stuff in my bag, but what if he got separated from us? It is a scary thought but it happens, and he needs to be in the habit of having what he needs with him just in case. He is getting to the age that he won't always have Mom or Dad with him. The more independant he is, the safer he is. I found that a hip pack with juices, glucose tabs and our contact information inside works great, and provides much needed peace of mind.

 My dream is that when he's an adult he will look at this picture and say "When I was a kid I had to wear an insulin pump and carry juice boxes everywhere I went, because I HAD Type 1 diabetes." Wouldn't that be amazing? Hope is a powerful thing. We'll never give up hoping for a cure.

Featured D- Mom!

Today I am the Featured D-Mom over on the D-Mom blog! Leighann has a great blog about parenting Type 1 kids where she features other Moms with Type 1 kiddos. I am very happy to be her latest featured D-mom -go check it out HERE!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Some days.

Some are just more frustrating than others. Most of the times we sail right through our days poking fingers, pumping insulin and counting carbs. No biggie, its what we do. Other days it all gets to be too much.  Days when you've been up all night checking BG's every two hours because somethings off and god forbid you go to bed and the unthinkable happens. Days when you decide to be proactive and want a little advice from your endocrinologist but they can't help you because the computers down. Days when you fight with the insurance company to get the best care possible for your child and get shot down.  Days when your kid complains about having to do a BG check or a site change, and it strikes you that this is it- until there's a cure for this awful disease, this is my kids life. Always and forever.

Tomorrow I will get up and do it all the best I can, I may even joke about it and have a positive attitude. I know there are worse things, that there are kids who won't get off so easily, who have diseases that they can't manage and parents that won't get to see their kids grow up. That is so much worse and gives me perspective on how lucky we are. We are able to manage diabetes ( though most of the time it seems like it manages us. ) We have good insurance and have access to great doctors and the best treatments. That is all wonderful but some days you want to stomp your feet and scream "IT'S NOT FAIR! " the way you did when you were 6. People compliment me all the time on my positive attitude and openness when it comes to Tyler's Type 1, because most of the time I am positive and open. But today is one of those days, and every once in a while you just gotta let it out.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Strike Out Diabetes!

The boys and I attended a bowling fundraiser yesterday with put on by a local support group I just found. The JDSci (Juvenile Diabetes Support of Central Illinois) is a group that was started by the mom of a little guy with Type 1. It is great to get to know of more local families and kids with type 1, sometimes it is nice to be around others who just "get it". The event raised over $3500.00 for faustman lab, they are making great strides with clinical trails and research for a cure of Type 1 Diabetes.