Sunday, October 26, 2008

Jada is getting older and I think, is beginning to comprehend this disease. Yesterday, she told me thank you for "keeping my blood sugar healthy" and that "daddy helps to keep her blood sugar healthy, too." She is 3 1/2 now and is really turning that corner from toddler hood into "big girl" status and along with that comes much understanding. We went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart the other day and they were handing out samples of sugar free gum. Each piece was in a plastic cup and I gave one to Mary Beth and one to Jada. Mary immediately took hers, but I noticed that Jada just held her cup and occasionally, pulled it to her nose to smell it- it was kind of fruity. After about ten minutes, she said, "Mama, can I have this gum?" It had never even ocurred to me that she thought she couldn't have it! Then, I felt bad for not making it clear to her that she could put it in her mouth and instead, tortured her for ten minutes! I was so proud of her, though, for the understanding that she has of this disease and maybe, just maybe, I'm communicating to her in a way that she understands.
My Grandma is still hanging in there. On Thursday and Friday, she seemed to perk up a little bit and now, they think she may have had another stroke last weekend, which was why she was so bad for a few days. However, she is not so improved that she is out of the woods- she could hang in there like this for a while. My dad and aunts have hospice set up for her, and I'm so glad. Hospice is such a great thing and they do amazing things for people in the final days of their life. I'm so glad that Grandma will get better care.
Well, I have things to do before I check Jada and then go to bed. Once again, I have been so blessed and feel so grateful for all God has given me.

3 comments:

Curly said...

Jada is the same age as my son. When is her birthday? My son was born on May 17.

Amy said...

Hey there! Jada's birthday is April 24- my spring baby. Loved having her in the spring time- was pregnant in the winter and didn't have to deal with summer heat.

Jen said...

Awww, thanks for the compliment. You and your kiddos could totally do it. We just taped patterns on our pumpkins, punched the pattern on with a thumb tack and then cut it out. I promise you if I can do it, anyone can! I googled free pumpkin carving patterns and that's where I got the Dora, Goofy and Minnie patterns.

I'm so glad things are starting to even out with Jada's blood sugar. My uncle is an insulin dependant diabetic, among other health issues, and lives with my parents so my mom can care for him (he's had a stroke and is partially paralized). He tries to get everyone to sneak him things he knows he shouldn't be eating. He even asks my kids when we're visiting, "go get me a milky way." Well, they all know he can't have that & won't give him anything without checking with Nana first. Anyway, I said all that to say, it's great that Jada is becoming more aware of what she needs to be careful of. If my uncle could physically walk to the pantry himself, there's no telling what he'd eat!!