Thursday, January 21, 2010

Bedtime Prayers by Jada

Dear God,

I don't like to poke my fingers. It really hurts sometimes. And why do I have to have diabetes? I mean, it's really like the pottiest thing ever. Some time I just want to wake up and not be diabetic ANY MORE!

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

A1C and Other Things

Jada had her Dr.'s apppointment on Thursday and on Friday afternoon, we got the results of her A1C. I knew that it wouldn't be 6.8 again, but was hoping for somewhere in the 7's. We got neither....it was 8.1. ((Sigh)) I know that's not "bad" but still...ya'll know how I feel about it. I shouldn't have been surprised, though, because the last 3 months have probably been our toughest to date since diagnosis. Once again, we just pick up, move on and tweak those numbers where needed.

It was a busy weekend! Jeff coordinated an outreach with our church in an area just outside of town that we refer to as Goldstream. It's a neighborhood in the gold-rich hills of this area where people who like to be alone, who are drug and alcohol addicts like to live- where no one will bother them. For those of you who don't know...Jeff is a recovering alcoholic and he and I lead the recovery ministry at our church. It is our hope to eventually start a recovery group in this area of town. So, back to the outreach. It was a free fried chicken dinner and comedy night for the local residents held at their community center. Jeff cut up 40 whole chickens in our kitchen on Saturday and on Sunday afternoon I peeled/cooked and mashed 50- YES- 50 pounds of potatos!!! Yes...my hands were SORE! We planned for 100 and had between 70 and 80 show up. It was a great time....our friend Stan and his son-in-law Shane did some stand up comedy....and yes they were hilarious! I wish I had them on video...they had us laughing good. We would appreciate prayers from anyone as we continue to reach out to the Goldstream area. Next week we start a video series out there called H2O- it explores what it means to be a Christian- kind of a starting point. It's our intention to be as involved as possible.

Our kitty. His name is Claws. He is actually Mary Beth's cat...pretty sweet little guy. Although, I think I'm allergic and am hoping the symptoms I'm having are due to a minor cold and NOT the cat. Funny, though, how my scratchy throat went away while I was out of the house for a few hours tonight! :( Ugh. I don't hold him, cuddle him or even feed him (NOT my job!), but my eyes still manage to get itchy...I don't think that's good. The good thing is, TWICE I have found him next to Jada and nuzzling her hair and ears WHEN HER BLOOD SUGAR WAS LOW in the middle of the night!!!! We're talking 50's and 60's low! On another night, she came into our room because he woke her up. Her blood sugar was in the 120s....on the lower side for a midnight reading and I gave her some juice. She woke up around 100 that next morning. Now, if I could just get Claws to come and get ME when she goes low!! :)

Oh...on a good note for me...I got my migraine meds!! What a relief. I got into see the dr. on Friday and he set me up. I'm taking Propanalol for prevention (woohoo) and Imitrex for the abortive meds plus Reglan for nausea. I've already had to use the Imitrex....got a migraine yesterday afternoon while preparing the potatoes. Boy...was I glad to have it! The last time I was on preventive meds, I went down to about 1 migraine every 2 months and with the Imitrex, they aren't a big deal. I've been having at least 2 a month, so I'm feeling a whole lot of relief. It's pretty dang hard to take care of a diabetic child when I'm in so much pain that I can't move.

Okay...it's off to bed I go- after I check Facebook (wonder if anyone is on?), start the dishwasher, switch laundry, let the dog out one more time and glance outside to see if the Northern Lights are active tonight. I'll get there eventually!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Dr. Appointment and PUMP!

Yesterday, Jada's dr's appointment went very well. In my previous post, I had mentioned my nervousness because I hadn't followed the plan we laid out at Jada's previous check up. Well..no need to have worried, because Dr. W told me that if it wasn't working...then don't worry about it and do what suits Jada's needs and the needs of your family. I think I had forgotten just how much I like Dr. W!! :)
Dr. W was happy with the numbers she saw in Jada's logbook...as was I after I got it updated a few days ago. The last few weeks have been pretty good for the blood sugar numbers. The 30 day average on the meter was 177, so I think we're looking in the low to mid-7's for her A1C, which we should get the results of today.

The big news is that we are getting the paperwork going for a PUMP!! I was hoping to pick the pump I wanted, but found out that Dr. W only prescribes the Minimed. I was bummed at first, but am now more than okay with it. Dr. W is NOT an endocrinologist (the closest endo is 6 hours away and no ped. endos in Alaska at all), she's a pediatrician who has taken on Type 1 because the need here is big and it has become her passion. She doesn't have a whole team of CDE's to help her manage dosage changes, pump questions, etc....she takes care of most of it herself. So, basically, she decided that she needed to become an expert on ONE pump and how it works. She chose Medtronic largely because of the support she received while doing her pump research. So...you know what....I'm good with that. And....you can now get the Minimed in pink (according to their website) which, of course, makes any girl HAPPY!

So...what does Jada think of the pump? We've been talking it up for several months and we've not always had a positive response from her. I mean, really, at 4 years old, she really can't understand how much this could change her life! If she sees pictures of any of your (meaning my dear blogging friends) kids, she'll ask if they have a pump or if they take shots like her. She's been curious....but very hesitant. Dr. W had a Minimed for us to look at and the minute she opened the box, Jada was right there...eyes big....very serious...checking it all out. She held it, she touched the infusion sets (Dr. W had a variety) and Dr. W showed her how it works. I wanted to cry...because the more we talked, the more Jada began to smile and I could see that she KNOWS she wants one now! It's all she could talk about on the way home.

My heart feels so much lighter knowing that change is coming....it may be a few months away but I KNOW it's coming. Giving her shots has been tough for me lately...seeing the bruising on her arms, legs and little butt cheeks. The other day she told me she could see the little hole in her arm where I gave her a shot! She thought it was cool, but it broke my heart. I hate those little holes! So...the winds of change are blowing a new thing our way. I'm ready to go!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Catchin' Up...Again...

I don't know what it is with me and my blog lately. I can't tell you how many times I've sat down to write...and NOTHING! I stare at my computer screen and just can't get it out. I've even had some blog worthy things happening...but what the heck....can't seem to get it out. I think it helps to have so many of you on Facebook and when the drama happens, that's often the first place I go.
So...my here's my blog worthy stuff.

1. I discovered last week that Jeff and I have been giving Jada different amounts of Lantus in the morning. I know, I know....I KNOW!!! ugh. Over the last 6 weeks, we were really struggling with the "she needs more than 2.5 units, but a full 3 units just seemed to be too much" kind of thing. Well....suddenly, we arrived at her needing those full 3 units of Lantus and when I made the switch...I told Jeff....once. Some mornings, I am up early with the kids and some mornings, Jeff is on duty while I shower and get ready for the day, so he takes care of it. Last week her numbers were just somewhat strange....some days running higher than what I thought they should and I began to wonder if we were going to have to raise it to 3.5 units. I mentioned it to Jeff and that's when we discovered what we had been doing. He had just forgotten...we both cringed...said oh crap....and moved on....what else do you do???

2. I had a BAD moretic mommy moment yesterday. Somebody slap me please! I always leave to pick up the kids from school at about 3:25 and just before we leave, I always check Jada. It's our routine. She was 125. Good number. We are gone from home about 15 minutes total...it's only a 2 minute drive but takes a bit of time because of the traffic. So...we left and parked- oh and also driving a van that we are renting for the week. So, we park..and she tells me that she's hungry. I reply that we'll be home in a few and we'll have a snack. 2 minutes later, she's screaming at me that her tummy HURTS and that she needs to eat!! I look back and she is doubled over in her seat screaming and crying and I HAD NOTHING WITH ME! Left my purse at home because I trusted that number just a little too much and of course, in our Expedition, I have a stash for moments like these! But I wasn't in the Expedition, I was in an ultra clean mini-van! I ran for Mary Beth's classroom, which wasn't very far away and I knew her teacher would have juice boxes. Jada actually recovered pretty quickly and was at 75 when we got home. All that at 40 degrees below zero !! Crappy afternoon!

Lesson I learned? I will never fully trust a "good " number again....even though it was good, I underestimated how quickly she was falling. And even though I was only going to be gone for 15 minutes, it wouldn't have been that difficult for me to throw some candy in my pocket. And in case your wondering why I didn't take my purse....I had car seats to move in and out in extremely cold temperatures ( I watch 2 little ones a couple of days a week) plus a baby to carry in and out of the house as well. My purse just seemed like too much to deal with at the moment.

3. Eye doctor. Jada went to her first eye check up ever today. She did AWESOME! I am always so proud of how well she deals with all the crap that we have to put her through. She followed every direction given to her....never once resisted anything. He was able to get a good look at the inside of her eyes without having to dilate them and he said they looked perfect. :) Her vision is excellent and his only instruction was to bring her back in a year unless we had concerns.

4. Today is her 3 month checkup. I'm a little nervous, as I haven't exactly followed dr.'s orders to a "t". We started off doing her recommendations, but we soon realized that it just wasn't working. We're not using the insulin pen, which Dr. W really recommended, but I now really DISLIKE! She also wanted us to do Jada's Lantus at night...but that was disastrous as well. It was supposed to be a bedtime shot, but THAT was a battle that I didn't want to fight because it meant a 4th shot for the day. So, I moved the Lantus to dinner time so we could mix it with the Novolog, like we had been doing at breakfast. This is when the moretic side of me began showing up... at least 3 nights a week it seems we are off and running somewhere, so meal times are sometimes rushed. I would forget her Lantus and would end up giving it to her at bedtime anyhow. Then there was the night that I forgot it all together and remembered after she had gone to bed. That was when I decided that morning was best...because we wouldn't forget...and really...her numbers hadn't changed because of switching to night.

So...we'll see what Dr. W has to say about all of that tomorrow! I think we're looking in the low-mid 7's for her A1C according to her meter 30 day average...which is 177. We'll see!

Okay...that's a little of my craziness...mostly about me doing moretic things and Jada doing very well in spite of me! Yeah...that's the way I've been feeling lately. I'll be on top of things again soon...hopefully we'll be talking PUMP alot tomorrow. I'll let you know!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Happy New Year!

My post tonight finds me sitting in a hotel room in Anchorage after an evening spent with my niece and her fiance. We left Fairbanks shortly after 8 am this morning and had a beautiful and event-less drive. It's amazing how the weather can change so many times in about a 6 hour span of time. In Fairbanks, it was about 25 below zero and cloudy....a little further down the road the sun- YES- the SUN was out (we haven't really seen the sun for about a month) and when we arrived in Anchorage, the city was covered in a dense fog and it was about 9 degrees. Anchorage gets at least an hour more of daylight than we do, and the sun actually makes it halfway up in the sky, so I'm hoping the cloud cover dissipates and we have a sunny day to be out and about tomorrow.

We're using points to "pay" for our hotel stay and when we called to make the reservation, they weren't even close to full, so they upgraded our room to an Executive Suite. Ummm...nice!!! Jeff and I have our own bedroom, we have a table to eat on, and a large pull out sofa in the living area. The nice part for me was the oversized jacuzzi tub in the bathroom! So...when Jeff took the kids to the pool....I jumped into the tub and soaked my achy, travel worn body for a good long time!

So, we made it to Anchorage...no problems. We're having a great time so far...tomorrow we go to my sister in laws house until Monday. Blood sugars are behaving, although I'm anticipating low blood sugars tonight as Jada swam a bunch this afternoon. Swimming ALWAYS does it to her about 10-12 hours after the fact. I'm hoping for some shopping tomorrow...Target here I come!!!