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!