What does it take to keep your kid alive...

Just the other day we bought a new storage cabinet to keep  E's supplies in.  So we had to empty out all of her supplies while we put together the new one.  As I looked at the table I was overwhelmed at the amount of supplies needed to keep our daughter alive...

 

Now I remember, since E was my first child, that as a newborn, we often got harrased at the amount of  "stuff" we would bring with us whenever we went somewhere, I felt it was necissity, I felt like I had to have everything that makes her happy, with me at all times.   After a few short years of going places "stuff" free, we have found ourselves once again carrying everything that keeps her
happy  ALIVE!!!  This puts the word necissity into perspective for me. 

REWIND...World Diabetes day 2012

Since I wasnt a blogger during World Diabetes day this past November, I wanted to a little trip back and show how we spent our day that day...
We really wanted to spread awareness that day, even in just the smallest ways.  E has been very blessed to have a best friend that also shares a T1 diagnosis, they are in the same class together at school.  (I really hate saying that we are blesssed that another little girl is also T1, because that isnt at all what I mean, but me and her mom are always saying that God put them together for a reason, and we LOVE that they have each other everyday).   

 So I made a shirts, one for E, one for her friend, and 2 for my other 2 children. They loved wearing them!!! E had also asked her class if they would wear blue in support of her and her friend and to raise awareness. I went to the school that day and tried to hold back the tears, as I saw every single child in their class remembered to wear blue that day, and not only that they were so excited to do it!!! I'm sure that those kids had no idea how truley special they made 2 little girls feel that day. That day they didnt feel different, they didnt feel judged that everyone could see their life support that is kept in plain view around their waist. Nope not that day. Instead they answered questions, they rose awareness, and most importantly they felt LOVED by their classmates.

E's sister also was raising awareness in her 1st grade classroom that day where her teacher also asked questions and had her tell about what her sister goes thru in her journey with diabetes.

In addition we had family and friends all through out the country wearing blue and asking others to wear blue. Diabetes had nothing on us that day!!! 

It's HERE, The Gen4 is FINALLY HERE...

Is it Christmas? My Birthday? It sure feels like it, we finally recieved my daughters dexcom gen4 TODAY!!! I am ecstatic!!!  We had the old Dexcom, we didn't care for it much, with continuous ??? on our reciever at all times, we finally gave up, contemplated throwing it out the window, and waited for the next big thing to hit the market.  Hooray for the gen4.  After a battle between our supply company and insurance we finally have it.  I dont expect the gen4 to perform divine miracles, but the times that the old dexcom worked, it was a beautiful thing, less finger pricks, knowing that if my daughter is at 130 at bedtime and she has 2 arrows pointing down we needed to do something about that before she goes into a deep slumber. A tiny sense of security goes a long way in a T1 family.  More to come on the Gen4...

Hello DOC

I'm finally doing it, I'm joining the DOC!!!  This is something that I have been wanting to do, maybe because I LOVE the DOC so much and love reading all of the other blogs from other D Momma's, or maybe it's because I need to vent all the frustration that comes with that wretched D word, or maybe it's that I want to be here to help other D families that are feeling the same way I do. Well honestly it's all of it. I'm excited about it!!!
So here it is, about us... we have 3 beautiful kids E is 9, B is 7, F is 5.  E was diagnosed with diabetes in August 2011 so we have been at this for about a year and a half, although most days it still feels new.
E's diagnosis...
Honestly we were very fortunate, we caught it very early, biggest symptoms drinking and restroom all the time. My grandma was Type 1 so the symptoms were branded into my brain at a very young age. My grandma's constant reminders are what made E's diagnosis so apparent even before we went to the Dr. Having always seen my grandma healthy and never seeing any negative impact from her diabetes, had made me very naive when the Dr. told us the news, there were tears,  tears from E, tears from me, and tears from the Dr. I couldn't imagine having to stick my daughter with needles every day for the rest of her life. However being very ignorant, my thoughts were, Ok, so we pick up some insulin and on our way we go, she just needs insulin and she will be great...WRONG!!!  That's when the anchor dropped my heart sank as the Dr tells us, we need to go home and pack up an over night bag and head to the hospital... WAIT, WHAT??? They persist to tell us we could be there anywhere from 1 to 2 days if not longer. OK now panic sets in. In retrospect I know that it made sense to me that they would not just send us home with needles and insulin, but I still had no idea what diabetes really meant and how it would affect life as we knew it. Even after our education at the hospital, I had to go home and live it, without nurses and Dr's helping us to really understand. It didn't take long after being home to realize how much this disease was going to command my respect.  Our first shot went terribly wrong, did the insulin go in? Did it not, these aren't the needles we practiced with at the hospital!!! Home for 5 minutes and we are already on the phone with the Dr., who I am certain, is now questioning his decision to release us after our 24 hour stay.  I was terrified for her to be out of my sight, I was certain, if I could not see her, she was going into insulin shock somewhere. (Ridiculous, I know) First night, lows all night, I then realize I will never sleep soundly again. Instead I will be ever vigilant at my daughters bed side every few hours if not more. Night time is terrifying!!!
We have come along way since that first week home, some days are still hard, some weeks are hard, some days I still break down. But one thing that diabetes has taught me, that I know God has been trying to teach me for a long time, is that every day is a NEW day, yesterday may have been filled with bad #s, but those #'s aren't today's #'s, we get a fresh start TODAY!!!