A year of firsts, a year of lasts

One year ago today, type 1 diabetes officially entered our life. This past year has been a year of firsts. It's almost like starting over. There was the first day of school, the first football game, the first overnight practice with his band, the first restaurant meal, the first time back at church, the first Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter, the first birthday, the first day at work. Of course, he had done all of those things before, but not with diabetes.  Every experience with diabetes is brand new, as if they had never been done before.
We are now beginning a year of lasts that has nothing to do with diabetes.....last summer band rehearsal,  last summer assignments,  last first day of school, last pep rally, etc. Senior year officially begins on Monday. I know many parents are sad for their "babies" to be seniors, but I am not.  He is a senior, meaning he is still alive.  He is kicking diabetes' ass every day. Every day. Will I get misty-eyed throughout the year? Sure. Senior year is an emotional time for not only the seniors but also their parents. I intend to cherish every tear and enjoy every moment. One year later I am still grateful for every morning that he wakes up, every day he makes it until bedtime, and every "normal" moment in between.
We are trying to get to the place where diabetes only gets the minimum attention it requires. It doesn't rule our lives, it's just an annoying hitch hiker along for the ride. Today, we celebrate life by doing the things Seth loves to do: sleeping late, Endless Shrimp, and cake.  Tomorrow,  we go back to life as we know it. It really has become our new normal.

One year ago today

One year ago today, I knew very little about type 1 diabetes.

One year ago today, I had a very sick child. 

One year ago today, I was relieved when the doctor said it was a mono-like virus.

One year ago today, there were no finger sticks or shots a minimum of 4 times a day.

One year ago today, I went to bed at night without the fear of my child dying in the night from severe low blood sugar.

One year ago today, I didn't know just how strong my child is.

One year ago today, I had no idea how strong I am. 

One year ago today, we had no idea how much our lives would change in the next 48 hours.

I don't have a picture from one year ago today, but this one is close....one year and 3 days ago,  when we first really noticed how sick he was.

Getting away, Part 2

I wanted to update everyone on our trip. It was great! Blood sugars ran a touch high for both of my guys, but I'll take it! Several people wanted to know what the event was all about, so I'll do my best to describe it. Our lives do not revolve around diabetes, but they pretty much revolve around lifeguarding during the summer.

We were able to eat some good seafood and go to the beach before the games started. We also drilled the team with first aid flash cards pretty late the night before.

We overslept the morning of the competition.  The hotel room alarm clock was set on radio, not alarm. Not on a radio station. And at lowest volume.  So, the start of our day was a bit frantic. The team got there on time; they were in their own vehicle.  We got there a little bit late, but before the opening ceremonies.

First event was CPR. It was pretty straightforward. The team just had to demonstrate their knowledge of CPR skills. 

The 2nd event was first aid. Each team member had a different "victim" and each victim had 2 things that needed attention.

Next, there were 2 in-water scenarios. No instructions were given. The lifeguards had to assess the situations and respond appropriately.  The first scenario had a spinal injury, 2 shadows in the pool to find, and an asthma attack. Possibly something else I didn't catch. It goes quick!

The last scenario had multiple victims as well. Choking, passing out in the water, active drowning were all in this scenario. Again, there was probably something I missed.

It was a fantastic experience, and I hope to be able to go again next year!

Memories of a year ago

Fridays are lifeguard inservice days. For an hour, they drill and practice their lifeguarding skills, as well as work on fitness. One drill involves the team treading water while holding a backboard out of the water. One at a time, the team members swim one lap. This continues until all team members have done a lap. That was one of the drills they did today,  and it brought back a memory of the same drill at about this same time last year. The biggest difference?  Last year, Seth could barely complete the drill and threw up after it was over. He had NEVER had problems with any of the drills before. I was worried, but he felt better and seemed to be ok. Less than a month later, he was in ICU in DKA. I don't beat myself up over it, but I do think of it sometimes.

Today, he swam and treaded like a champ. No vomit. What a difference a year has made!

Another thing the lifeguards do every week is have lunch together after inservice. Today, when Seth pulled the needle out after injecting, a stream of insulin shot out of the needle.  Not a drop, a stream. He tested 2 hours later: 104. He ate a snack, then tested at 4 hours: 137. That stream of insulin was a blessing in disguise. 

Getting away

Jason and I haven't had a get away since either of their diagnoses. Time,  money, and being scared to leave the kids alone have kept us at home.  That ends today! We are getting away for a few days, just the 2 of us. We are headed to the state lifeguard games. Jason is the coach of one of the teams competing, and I'm just along for the ride.

Prep for a trip has really changed since type 1 diabetes entered our lives. I have checked and rechecked supplies.  Josh has had a refresher on glucagon, just in case.  Supplies, snacks,  and low treatments have been packed for Jason. We have a small cooler for insulin so it can stay cool on the trip.

I'm a little nervous about being gone, but my boys take great care of each other. Seth self-manages incredibly well, and Josh is excellent back-up for him. We have one neighbor that is type 1, and several that are nurses. So off we go for a few days of fun at the guard games!

Last year at State Games

PS Today is check-in day for d blogs. I'll be commenting on all the ones I read.

Quarterly check-up

Friday was Seth's quarterly check-up with the endocrinologist.  This visit was with the nurse practitioner,  not his awesome doctors. We sure do love both of them.  I was a little bit apprehensive because the last appointment with the NP wasn't awesome.  This time, however, it was great! She was engaging and helpful, as well as very complimentary of how Seth is tackling this awful disease. His numbers have been all over the place lately, and she affirmed that a) summer is even harder and b) the changes we have made were the ones she would have suggested. She noted that even though his numbers have been crazy,  none have been incredibly high so that was a good thing. His A1C was down 0.2 from last time (Yea!!). Even though it's not a report card, it sure felt like an A! Numbers aside, the compliments on how well we are doing were really a confidence booster! Our daily fight is worth it, and it's really really nice to have that recognized by a professional.

Seth has decided he wants to try pumping. Not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous about it. I feel like we have shots down, at least as much as you can with anything diabetes-related. It will almost be like starting over.  But you know what parents do, right? We do whatever our kids need. So we scheduled pump class and I asked other D parents in the area what the pump homework is. We plan to turn it in when we go to the class so we can speed this thing up. He has researched and decided on the Tslim pump. Of course, all that will coincide with the start of school, and me at a new job. Isn't that how it always works? Wish us luck!

After the awesome appointment,  we celebrated with carb-o-licious Mike Anderson's BBQ. Seth has decided to take advantage of our trips downtown to try out a new restaurant every time. If you have suggestions,  we'd love to hear them!

I really love watching this kid eat. It's a thing of wonder....it makes you wonder where he puts it all!

Is it worth it?

I have some super awesome friends that want to learn about type 1 diabetes. One of these awesome friends asked me to write about foods that are technically ok, but not really worth it to my guys to eat. In the DOC (diabetes online community), I have seen the phrase bolus-worthy used often....is it worth the insulin (either from injection or pump)?

First, if you can eat it then a person with type 1 can eat it. A big misconception is that PWD (persons with diabetes) can't eat sweets. Truth is, no one should eat sweets often. Same for PWD. As a treat, sweets are fine.

So here are a few things that my guys have determined really aren't worth it.

1) Sugar-sweetened tea and soft drinks, especially fountain drinks. These are super hard to calculate! Example: A Route 44 Powerade from Sonic is supposed to be 64 g of carbs, according to the nutrition info on their website. Is that with or without the ice? What if the mix is not quite right? Too many variables, so it's not bolus-worthy. Sugar free drinks are just easier. Also, they are so used to sugar free drinks that they don't even LIKE the regular ones anymore.

2) Fruit juices. Seth uses juice boxes for lows, so they just aren't appealing to him otherwise. He had a big glass of orange juice with brinner (breakfast for dinner) one night, and the blood sugar spike was not fun for him. He felt icky for several hours. He decided to reserve oj for lows, or only small amounts for breakfast. 

3) Milk. Neither of them have acknowledged this one, but our milk consumption has SERIOUSLY gone down since their diagnoses. Unless it's with a meal, they don't drink milk anymore. 

Seeing a trend here? Drinks appear to be the biggest carb issue.

4) Cereal. Jason isn't a huge cereal eater anyway, so this isn't a big deal for him. But for Seth....oh my. This kid LOVES cereal. It has really been causing him problems lately, so he is taking a cereal break. Every time he has cereal for breakfast, he goes low in the afternoon. Weird. He is hoping to figure out how to dose for it so he can enjoy it again! 

Other than that, everything else is fair game. Sometimes they will choose not to eat something because they don't want to take a shot right then. But nothing is truly off limits. All things in moderation.