4 years

Wednesday was Seth's 4 year diaversary. I asked him on Tuesday night what he wanted to do. Pause. "Oh yeah, I forgot that was tomorrow." It has become such a part of who he is that he doesn't even think about it anymore. That makes me happy and sad. Acceptance is a good thing. That we must accept it is the hard part.  Me? I will never forget that day. It still makes me emotional to think about, even though life is good.

On Wednesday night, we went out to dinner as a family to our favorite local Italian place. We ate bread and pasta with abandon. We talked about all kinds of things, except diabetes. 4 years ago, it consumed us. Now, it's still there but mostly in the background. How can that be, with 3 of us now diagnosed? I don't know, but that's how it is. A blip, a nuisance,  but not front and center.

On Friday, we celebrated with our dear friend Rachel, who met us at the emergency room that morning, and went with us to Children's. This time, we indulged in Mexican food followed by Sweet Frog. Again, our conversations really didn't include diabetes, which thrilled  me. We talked about school and Pokémon Go, and various other things. We again just celebrated life.

4 years of KDA. In a few months, we will celebrate life again with Jason's 4 year diaversary. Some people choose not to recognize the day at all, we choose to celebrate life and how far we've come, both individually and as a family. Is there really anything better than that?

Making Lemonade

I am a glass half-full/silver lining/making lemonade kind of girl. It has been incredibly hard for me to find the positives since Seth's diagnosis.  The DOC (diabetes online community) is an incredible positive. Someone is always there to answer questions,  give support,  or just listen. I participate in the DOC in several ways: blogging (reading and writing), Twitter,  a couple of Facebook groups, and my favorite type1parents.org. The support, advice, information, etc has been vital to my survival this past year but I still struggle to make lemonade out of the stupid diabetes lemons.

Grasping at straws, I know, but here's a little bit of lemonade: Seth has had a positive impact on 3, yes 3, adult type 1 men.

1) I've written about Jason's diagnosis before here and here. The information I learned after Seth's diagnosis quite possibly saved his life.

2) Seth has a friend whose dad is type 1. He was diagnosed around 12, I'm thinking. He has never really taken great care of his diabetes, much to his wife's dismay. In fact, he has been using pretty much the same insulin regimen for much of the last 30 years. After Seth's diagnosis,  he updated his diabetes management,  moving to more modern insulin theray. AND, he recently started pumping.  He feels better, and I know how happy his wife must be. His son has told me several times how happy he is to see his dad taking better care of himself.

3) Jason has a friend that was diagnosed with type 1 in college.  He was one of the first people to visit Seth in the hospital. I don't know him well, but that meant so much to me. By his own admission,  he is a bad diabetic.  He doesn't test often, only when he feels bad. He knows his blood sugar numbers are high most of the time, but hasn't really worked to change it. After I posted on Facebook about Jason and Seth getting their Dexcom G4 systems, this friend called Jason to ask him about it, ordered it the next day, and started using it a couple of days ago. He wants to improve his management!

I hate type 1 diabetes every day, but seeing some positive things happening helps me deal with it just a little bit better. I cling to the hope that every day is one day closer to a cure!

Good friends

They say good friends are hard to find, but I have been blessed with so many! My kids have been blessed with good friends as well. Seth has a few friends that are really special to me.

Seth has lived across the street from us for almost 6 years, but the boys have known each other almost 10. They not only have the same first name, but identical initials. Their birthdays are 4 days apart. To avoid confusion, we call him Steve (funny story for another day). Why is he such a great friend? Steve's dad is t1, so he knows. He just knows. But he never treats Seth differently nor is he afraid to be around him. He is the same friend he was before diagnosis. T1 parents know that is huge.

Brian is a friend from church, and he also plays in a band with Seth.  He also has never treated Seth differently because of diabetes. He willingly learned what signs he needed to watch for, as well as how to use Glucagon. His mom is a nurse, so she quizzed him to make sure he had it down.

Jordan is also a friend from church, and in the same band. He was the first friend to come visit Seth after he got home from the hospital. That will always stay with me. Jordan's dad was his first visitor in the hospital. They are just a really special family. Jordan's mom told me the other day that the band plays a game they call Pass the Seth. They hook together 4 of those little rolly carts from elementary PE, and Seth lays down on them. The boys take turns grabbing him by the feet and flinging him across the gym to another person. Maybe a little dangerous, but so fun! A normal teen thing.

The drumline at school, the DI team, church friends, there are many friends surrounding my kiddo.  We are truly blessed. With the support of so many wonderful friends, he will KDA.

Seth, Steve,  and Josh playing video games.