NaBloPoMo Day 30... The End

30 days and a few posts ago I started something that I knew was going to be a bit challenging, very time consuming but a whole lot of fun!!

AND I WAS RIGHT

The very first day I made you a glass of Lemonade  and explained to you why I love to blog

I introduced you to Me , This Blog   , My family  thanks to Alexis and Jenna and Our dog

We looked through some wonderful pictures HERE and HERE

I shared some of my Favorite Things with you and we celebrated Cara's 5th birthday and talked about The Appetite Of This T1 Kid

We got creative with poems, Rhyming and Not one poem was the intro to a New D Devise


There was a Great Big PJ Giveaway and One Special Winner  

With a little Nonsense on more then one Occasion  a visit to  The D Olympics  then a Walk In D Shoes

There were some Tears Shed and some Sadden Shared but the most important was the  6 Things that I Wanted You To Know

I received an  Award  and answered your Questions  and I had a few Questions for you.

I read you a Letter and did some advocating with some Sarcasm just for fun.

And last but not least it took me a Strip-A-Thon  to find a new Passion 

And I felt the love in every single comment, thank you all for all your support I could not have made it without my readers!!

NaBloPoMo Day 29...What's Up With All The Name Dropping??

What's in a name?

A name...have you ever really thought about it? How important a name really is!  It defines us, without a name you are a mystery, no reference, no definition, no relation.  We all have names, you may not like your name or you may want to change your name but that is what defines you.  Everyone and every document knows you as that name.  It took me 2 long weeks to name Cara after she was born but she finally got a name.  Actually Cara has 3 names because a single name is not good enough, she has a first, middle and last which helps to distinguish her from all the other Cara's. 

Type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes have names, actually just like Cara they have 3 names, a first, a middle and a last.    Each part as important as the next.  3 names all helping to define and distinguish them from each other.   However somewhere along the way people seemed to have gotten lazy or just stupid and have started to name type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes as  DIABETES... they named dropped.  

Can you imagine if we as a society decided to name drop and only used our last names? Could you see the chaos?  

 Chaos is the word to explain what has happened in this name drop of diabetes...pure chaos and with chaos comes confusion and with confusion people form misconceptions. And it is that, peoples misconceptions of this disease that is the biggest deterrent in spreading awareness and facts about this disease and therefor giving type 1 diabetes the respect and support (support for our children in schools, support in cooperation, support in knowledge)  it should demand. 

and it all comes down to a misused NAME...A NAME DROP!    

  
The media is the biggest offender of the name drop, with misleading print and audio adds, t.v. commercials, uninformed talk show hosts (YES that means you Oprah and you Dr. Oz)  all share a part in increasing this CHAOS . 

We and everything around us has names for a reason, FULL and complete names...

SO LETS START USING THEM!!

HERE is an add explaining the pro's for breast feeding from the State of Michigan.  Recently this add has been driving me nuts.  Every time I hear it I want to throw something out the window.  Not only does it name drop, type 2 diabetes to just diabetes, it leads people to think that "diabetes" is preventable by breast feeding a huge misconception in the type 1 diabetes community.

So have you heard anyone name dropping recently??

   

NaBloPoMo Day 28...All In The Family

Today is a special day, today has been declared Special Sib of a D kid Day.  Type 1 diabetes is oh so consuming, it infests itself into every aspect of your life.  There is not one situation in our day to day life that we are not trying to figure out what adjustments need to be made to keep Cara safe and diabetes at bay.  The 24/7 care is stressful and many times overwhelming and some days you just want to curl yourself up and hide under your nice warm blankets and drift off into dream land where things are happy and so less complicated. 
BUT there is no time for hiding.  In this very busy, very demanding family I have 5 other children that need their mother just as much as Cara does.  I have meals to make, homework to do, clothes to wash, hugs to give, books to read, laughs to enjoy and tears to comfort.
AND  I'm so thankful for all of it!!

Type 1 diabetes has taken it's toll and has changed this whole family in many ways.

Kailyn: 

she loves to take pics in the mirror

Kailyn is my oldest daughter (13), she is smart and mature beyond her years.  She is my biggest helper when it comes to the kids, she is the "2nd mom" around here, if I'm busy (which I am most of the time with diabetes stuff) I tell the kids "go ask Kailyn". Chris works a lot and a lot of crappy hours and Kailyn is my "right hand man".  We have always given her a lot of responsibility in this family, as soon as she turned 12 Kailyn was babysitting her 5 siblings. Now with diabetes in the mix, it has only added to her work load.  She knows how to take Cara's blood sugar and understands all the in's and out's of dealing with low's and how to read carbs.  At school she is responsible for taking Cara's blood sugar every afternoon snack.  Kailyn has saved the day on more then one occasion at our old school.  When the school called to inform me Cara's head was on her desk and she was very lethargic what do we do? the first thing that came out of my mouth was "get Kailyn in there".  When a nurse was sent to Cara's school who had no idea how to work Cara's meter they called Kailyn.  She may not like it but she is my go to girl in any situation.  Kailyn is Cara's and The We CARA Lot's biggest supporter, she has run fundraisers all by herself, she educates about T1 and she advocates for Cara. Now if I could only figure out how to stop all the auguring...life would be grand :)
   

Connor:

Connor is my oldest boy (9).  He is funny and caring and he does not stop talking...I'm telling you, this kid can talk!! He has always and hopefully will always be a rule follower.  Things are black and white for this kid, if you tell him something that's it, it's the RULE!  He also has been my worry wort and because he knows all the rules if you break them he knows all the consequences and because he is my talker, he will tell you and explain it to you and tell you some more.  On hearing of Cara's type 1 diagnoses Nana (my mother-in- law) took Connor to the library to learn a little bit about T1 in order to help explain what was going on with Cara.  That kid came home sounding like a doctor, he absorbed everything, he knew the whys, whats, hows of T1 and of course ALL THE RULES!  This is very important because Cara is a sneaker, she loves to sneak food and Connor knowing the rules will rat her out, in a loving big brother kinda way, as soon as he sees what's going down.  Type 1 diabetes has stressed this little guy out he is always on his toes watching for signs of lows or make sure Cara is following all the rules and I wish I could take this burden away from him...I think that I'm starting to see grey hair's :)

Kylie:

Kylie is 3rd in line, she is 6 years old and has red hair and the most amazing blue eyes.  She is an attention seeker.  Well with eyes like her's she does not have to look for attention it finds her.  She is very stubborn, she hates to say sorry and she has a bit of a temper.  Ya that sounds just right for a 3rd in line red head!!  Cara's dx has been very hard for Kylie and she is still trying to figure out where she belongs in all of this.  Cara and Kylie once were very close, best friends attached at the hip.  Kylie took the lead and all attention in this relationship and Cara was very happy with that. Cara loved to be the side kick to her outgoing beautiful big sister.  But that all changed the day we came home from the hospital Cara was now the center of attention, with blood sugar checks around the clock and counting carbs and one eye always on Cara, Kylie was not liking this one bit.  Kylie did not want anything to do with Cara and changed her focus onto Connor.  Now Connor and Kylie are the best of pals, they love playing with each other and they really get along quite nicely, but I long for the relationship that Cara and Kylie once had and only hope that they find it once again.

Kirstin:

Kirstin is Cara's little sister, she is 3.  She is funny, imaginative and just fills my heart with smiles and love.  For Kirstin diabetes is just the way life is for Cara.  Kirstin does not remember anything different.  Anytime that Cara and Kirstin are playing, diabetes enters the game, every barbie has diabetes, every toy is made into a diabetes tool.  The unfortunate part of having a big sister with type 1 diabetes is that Kirstin gets blood sugar check too.  She is the same age now that Cara was when she was diagnosed and I feel like I'm just waiting for the next diagnoses.  Every time that she is extra thirsty, extra tired, extra hungry it's time to check blood sugar.  Type 1 diabetes is no biggy to Kirstin, it is what it is and she rolls with her big sister and D.

Cody:

Cody is 2 and my little buddy, everywhere that I go Cody is right there with me because of this he knows everything diabetes.  He's just too little to realize it!  He is my baby and he always will be.  Just like Kirstin, Cody has the down fall of having a older type 1 sister, he too must under go some blood sugar test when I "see" something that mimics a symptom of type 1. Also just like Kirstin Type 1 is our normal, he knows no different.

All of these siblings of a D-kid have been effected by this disease.  Most of all it has taken a little part of their parents away from them.  The extra time that could have been theirs has been stolen by diabetes and because of this I'm so sorry.  You kids are amazing, strong, caring, funny, tough and loving children and I could not have asked for a more complex, supportive and phenomenal family.

AND CARA COULD NOT HAVE ASKED FOR BETTER SIBLINGS!

NaBloPoMo Day 27...My Sentiments Exactly

Poor Kirstin was just chilling one day,

just having fun!

when all of a sudden she sat down in her fuzzy chair

and  passed out cold!!

**note to self and all you other D rent's out there**  
STAY AWAY FROM FUZZY CHAIRS!!

NaBloPoMo day 26...Fav Friday

I thought that I would share some of mine and Cara's favorite D supplies on this Friday. So below I have listed some of our Fav diabetes supplies:


First on the list is Cara's Meter and Test Strips: The OneTouch Ultra2. Really they are the only meter and test strips that we have used since Cara's diagnoses and I would love to know if anyone would recommend anything different? I really do not have any complaints with this meter. We do error sometimes but very rarely and the meter itself is very simple to use. With the OneTouch Ultra strips I use less blood then I did when we used the old OneTouch strips.

Second on the list is Cara's Lancet: The OneTouch Delica is the best lancet device that we have used HERE is a post I wrote explaining why this is a wonderful finger saving device. After reading this post Reyna from Beta Buddies made the switch and she loves it two HERE is her post.

Third on the list, I guess it should have been first because of it's importance, is Cara's Insulin and the devise we use to administer it. Cara is on Novorapid as her fast acting insulin and Lantus as her long acting insulin. For both insulin's we use a pen to administer. Now I do find that the pens drip most times after the injection is given usually only a drop and I do feel uneasy about this however I do love the dial up action on the ends of each pen. The Novorapid pen can be dialed up in .5 increments where the Lantus pen can only be dialed up in 1 unit increments at a time.

And of course if we are using insulin pens to administer insulin you must have a needle on the end of it. We LOVE the BD Ultra-Fine Pen Needles, they are super thin only a 32 G and I think they are quite a bit shorter then most other pen needles at 4mm. I would recommended these in a heart beat for anyone using pens!! Anything to make living with type 1 diabetes less painful makes our fav list.

Fifth on our list is Dex4 glucose gel. Cara has no problem opening her mouth for this sugary gel, she just eats it up or I should say sucks it down (is that gross?) I really like it because in the case that she does not want to open up you can just squeeze it in there without worrying she is going to choke. We have these little baby's stashed all over the place in the case of a low, each tube is 17 carbs . They came in all different flavors and are the perfect little size. LOVE THEM!!

# 6 on the list are Glucerna Shakes and Bars: These are wonderful for those days that Cara just does not want to eat a meal. We used these a lot when we first got home from the hospital and Cara was still not feeling that well. They work wonders with her blood sugar and are loaded with all the right vitamins and minerals that you want in a meal replacement. Oh and they taste pretty good too! HERE is a post I wrote explaining why we love them sooo.

This is one of Cara's Fav, her Medical ID Bracelet. At first she was not to happy about this thing and she did not wear it for sometime, however she has grown to love it. Some day I would love to get her a really cute one but this one was free and you can't go wrong with free!! HERE is a post about here Id Bracelet.

Nomber sept (number 7) The Salter Food Scale. We won this Salter Scale at our JDRF walk this year, actually my mother in law won it and we love, love, love it...once you figure it out, which I still have some trouble with :) but I'm learning all the great features this scale has to offer.

Sugar Free Kool-Aid and Crystal Light share number 8 on this list. Cara very rarely drinks 100% fruit juice because of all the carbs in juice, we usually only use it for lows. So Cara has her very own juice container always filled with sugar free Kool-Aid or Crystal light.

and of course our list is not complete if I did not mention our little froggy head to keep our D supplies in. This little guy goes to and from school holding everything that Cara needs for the day. It's a perfect size not to big and not to small... just right!

The frog head sitting right next to Cara

Last but definitely not least MY Fav D supply is the D OC with out all the great information, support and love that you all give me I truly would be lost. If you like to check out some of the wonderful people and their amazing blogs have a look over at Life is Like a Box of Chocolates! where Misty hosted the blogger basal for the month of November.


What are some of your Fav D supplies??

NaBloPoMo Day 25...Redefining Insulin With Dream Trust

INSULIN...

For some it's scientific :

A polypeptide hormone secreted by the islets of Langerhans and functioning in the regulation of the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats, especially the conversion of glucose to glycogen, which lowers the blood glucose level.

For others it's man made:
Any of various pharmaceutical preparations containing this hormone that are derived from the pancreas of certain animals or produced through genetic engineering and are used in the medical treatment and management of diabetes mellitus (type I).

For Cara it is life:
Human existence, relationships, or activity in general. The interval of time between birth and death.

For TYPE 1'S living in 3rd world countries it is a privilege:
Such an advantage, immunity, or right held as a prerogative of status or rank, and exercised to the exclusion or detriment of others.

THIS LAST DEFINITION MUST BE RE-DEFINED! Insulin is NOT a privilege it is a necessity FOR life for people with type 1 diabetes. Children and adults with type 1 diabetes MUST have insulin in order to live, without it they WILL die. In 3rd world countries children are dying in alarming numbers because insulin is not available, this should not be happening, type 1 diabetes is not a death sentence.

Recently I was sent some information about Dream Trust :

"The main object of the Trust is to help poor children with diabetes. People at large, in India, are not medically insured and have to buy insulin injections, syringes and other accessories required for treatment. Poor families find it difficult to commit a quarter of their monthly income for the medicine and healthcare required by a diabetic child. This is why they try to find short cuts which they wrongly believe will make treatment less expensive. Debilitating, social, cultural and economic factors in India continue to discriminate against women and girls in appalling ways. This is why, the trust gives just and deserving priority to girls. This project of sponsoring these children was conceived after we experienced two shocking incidents of losing diabetic girls. Parents of these girls had stopped giving insulin as they simply could not afford it any longer."
(Taken from the Dream Trust website)

Here is the story of Sudha told by Dr.Sharad Pendsey-Managing Trustee of DREAM Trust:

Sudha was eight years old and had just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I met her. When she was discharged from the clinic, I counselled her parents. I explained them about insulin and its importance for survival. I found Sudha’s poor and illiterate parents very attentive to what I said. Finally her father asked me, "Doctor, if I understand you correctly, does Sudha have to take insulin everyday for the rest of life ?" I nodded, "Yes". "What would happen", he went on, "if she stopped taking insulin?" "Well, she would go into a coma", I explained, "and if left unattended she would die". He nodded calmly and had clearly understood everything I said. I was happy that my counselling had had the desired effect. I gave Sudha a pat on the head and she left the clinic with her parents. One month later, I learnt that Sudha had died. Her father had quite intentionally stopped giving her insulin, knowing very well what the result would be. The logic of poverty had overpowered the logic of life.

This should never happen to children with type 1 diabetes and it breaks my heart to hear these stories and learn the reality of type 1 diabetes in other countries. I count my blessings every day that this is not our reality and I'm truly thankful for this. This story and many others have haunted me these last few weeks and I really feel like I NEED TO HELP. I will be having a family meeting and we will be sponsoring one child in Nagpur Indian. Sponsorship involves regular monitoring, providing necessary health care and supply of insulin & syringes. Sponsor receives photographs, address of the child, family background and other detailed information. The sponsor can send gifts, cards, through Dream Trust and vice versa. The sponsor can visit the child by visiting Nagpur. The sponsor can communicate through Dream Trust as the children do not possess the means of communication. It only take $300 to sponsor a child for one year.

If sponsoring is not your cup of tea here are some other ways you can help:

By sending donations : The Trust can plan more educational activities, organize juvenile diabetics' camps, picnics, buy audio-visual aids, print educational material in the vernacular languages for distribution and carry out rehabilitation of these children. Every donation will go long way to help in fulfilling the dreams of a diabetic child.

By sending blood glucose meters with strips; which can be given to parents and children for home monitoring, so as to improve the overall control and prevent complications.

By sending insulin, insulin syringes, lancets and pricking devices, prefilled insulin syringes and insulin pens.

Visit us at DREAM Trust at Nagpur, see the work yourself , get involved and give your valuable suggestion

and Please take a peek and see what Mrs Candy Hearts is doing over at Candy Hearts to help stop the heart break with her support of International Diabetes Federation's Life For A Child Program The International Diabetes Federation has currently helped 45 children through Dream Trust in India. If you would like to help Wendy reach her goal of raising $100,000 for the Life For A Child Program please click THIS LINK TOGETHER WE CAN GIVE LIFE TO CHILDREN WITH TYPE 1 DIABETES...

Two Post in One B-day...A Birthday Wish For Many More Birthdays And All You Need To Do Is VOTE!!

2 post in 1 day, that is how we roll on Cara's b-day.

Since it is Cara's Birthday click HERE to see the first post of the day I thought what a better way to celebrate then win the JDRF some cash.

So if you read this blog

and you love Cara

Please VOTE for the CFL Player Robb Bagg to win the Pepsi refresh project. He's made it to the finals and VOTING ENDS TODAY!!

Let's do this for Cara's 5th birthday wish, lets give the JDRF some cash so Cara will have many, many more wonderful and healthy birthdays!!



I just wanted everyone to know that voting is now closed...cross your fingers and hope that we got enough votes in :)

NaBloPoMo day 24... It's Your Birthday N We're Going To Party Like It's Your Birthday!!

That's right TODAY is Cara's 5th Birthday!!  5 year ago today this wonderful little bundle of cuteness entered my life and I have been in love ever since.  She is 4th in line in our family, sometime refereed to as #4 :) She is the shyest and most athletic out of the group and even though she may have not had a name for two weeks after she was born she was the center of my universe (like all my children are) since the day she was born.  She had such a little tiny face, with a little chin and big round checks she looked like a little Canary and none of the names I had on "THE LIST" suited her!! I needed a sweet and simple name for a sweet and simple little Canary and "CARA" was perfect!!

So today is Cara's birthday and we are going to party like it's her birthday... with cake and singing and dancing and ice cream...just like any normal 5 year old!!

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET LITTLE CANARY CARA :)

last years cake :) but it still is a great cake and this is a birthday post!

NaBloPoMo day 23...Alexis MeMe

What Alexis wants Alexis gets...well at least from her D mama's.  Alexis over at Justice's Misbehaving Pancreas has a few questions that she would like to know! So here you go and thanks for keeping me in this NaBloPoMo game :)

For informative purposes: Cara will very soon be 5, she was diagnosed Feb 13 09 at the age of 3.

Our Diabetes Princess on Halloween

When did you guys start pumping? we have not started pumping...YET!!  We thought we would be ready this summer however we moved and I would like to be focused and have 110% of my attention on pumping when we make the switch from shots to pumping.

What do you use to change sites? We don't do site changes because we are not pumping however we use insulin pens to inject Cara's insulin.

How often do you check ketones? We only check ketones when Cara is sick or if she has been running high a lot in the day.

Whats your child's target? 5-13mmols (90-234).  We made corrections at 14mmols

What was your child's last A1C? I really don't remember because my husband does the endo appointments however I do believe it was somewhere in the 8's high 8's :(.

What kind of strips do you use? We use OneTouch strips with the OneTouch Ultra meter and the OneTouch Delica lancet HERE's a link all about the Onetouch Delica, we love it!!

What kind of Peanut Butter do you use? No peanut butter here Kirstin, Cara's younger sister has a peanut allergy! This house has been peanut free for 3 years now...I miss peanut butter!!

Do you allow juice when not low?  Very, very rarely do we allow juice.  Cara has her own juice container and it is usually filled with Sugar-free Kool-aid or crystal light.

Do you still check your child at night? Yes we do!!
 

What is your rule on sweets? We love sweets, and we work them in when we can.  If our other kids are having sweets Cara is usually having one as well.

Regular pasta or whole wheat? Both.  I once tried to switch Kraft dinner to the Kraft dinner made with whole wheat noodles and the kids hated it!!
 

What about veggies and fruits?  All my kids LOVE both!!

White bread or whole wheat? White

Do you use glucose tabs? NO...I don't know why but we have never tried them?!?!

What do you use to treat lows? Juice pouches at night and whatever she will eat during the day, usually 15grams of carbs however if she is in the high 4's we will just give her about 10grams.

What does your child use to hold their supplies?  We have this really cute frog pack and everything fits in there quite nicely!  Check out the picture below he is sitting on the table :)

Cara with her diabetes supplies on the table

Cara getting her very first belly injection

Cara's insulin pens

Our very "real" first sick day landed us back in the hospital with high blood sugar and ketones

Cara just being a kid!

Cara and I at our JDRF walk 2010

Cara and the many new supplies we got at the walk

NaBloPoMo day 22... The Diabetes Clock

Tick Tick Tick
is this "new normal"

Tick Tick Tick
is piercing my head

Tick Tick Tick
is diabetes best friend, hand and hand we watch as they take command



Tick Tick Tick
time redefined, with our eyes glued to every second and day and night with no distinction

Tick Tick Tick
is the sound of this count down and my Cara is your clock

Tick Tick Tick
you demand and every two hours our world comes to a stop

Tick Tick Tick
the days are only divided by meals time with insulin and blood sugar checks

Tick Tick Tick
as long as I hear you we still have time

Tick Tick Tick
goes the sound of the diabetes clock

NaBloMoPo day 21...The Appetite

I guess this is more of a question post then a story post...well maybe one in the same. 

Ever since Cara's T1 diagnosis back in Feb 09 many, many things have changed for Cara and us adjusting to our "new normal".  Some changes have made me morn for the child that she once was and the life that we once had, some changes have just been more frustrating and stressful then anything, and others, well they really did not affect us like I thought they would.  I always said because Cara was diagnosed so young she really does not remember being a non D kid. Some days that statement breaks my heart, other days I'm glad that she does not remember how carefree life was. I'm glad that this is her NORMAL there is nothing "new" about it...it's just the way it is.

However there has been one change that has just been mind blowing. 

Before diabetes Cara ate like a bird, she never really sat down to eat a meal and she NEVER ate a whole meal.  She kinda picked and snacked all day and at meal times she would almost walk around the table while she ate until she was about half way done her meal and she was FULL.  She almost seemed bored with eating.
But after her diagnoses BOY, CAN THAT KID EAT! AND SHE IS FAST.  She will devour a meal in NO TIME, sometimes faster then me!  She never seems to beat her dad but my gosh I can't believe the speed in which this kid can eat.  Almost every time she eats lunch I will put a sandwich down in front of her, turn around to make Kirstin's or Cody's sandwich and Cara is walking by me humming a little song going to play because she is all done.  Every day I  used to yell  "get back to the table and finish your sandwich" as she skipped passed me she'd say "I DID".  In the beginning I was certain she was hiding her food somewhere or feeding it to the dog, there was just NO way she was eating that fast...BUT SHE WAS... every time.  Trust me I have peeked around the corner on many occasions just watching to see what the heck she is doing with her food and guess what? She is eating it!!

This kid has some skillz and as soon as she is old enough FOOD COMPETITION HERE WE COME :)

So my question is, is this a T1 thing? Does your T1 DEVOUR THEIR FOOD TO??

NaBloMoPo day 20...Reesey, Fav's and loves

There is one family member that I very rarely talk about.  She is the biggest pest, she is always getting into everything, she loves to chew holes into whatever she can get her slobbery mouth onto,she sometimes stinks, she loves playing outside, she is the biggest baby and my husband HATES her.  Her name is Reesey and she is our Airedale/Golden Retriever puppy, well she's not much of a puppy anymore, she is a little over a year but she sure still acts like one.

Reesey a few days after we brought her home

Reesey playing outside

HIGH 5 Reesey style :)

She sure is one of my favorite things.  Speaking of favorite things don't forget to stop by Houston We Have a Problem and check out 3 of Laura's favorite things for this weeks sugar bolus...your going to LOVE IT!! 

Another really cool thing that you are just going to love is The 2010 DOC Awards is coming and nominations are already taking place.  So if there is a blog out there that you just love to read and think that they desire a DOC Award take sometime and vote. You have until December 8th to send in your nomination. So stop by The 2010 Diabetes OC Awards check out the categories and make some nominations!! How fun is this...happy voting :) Oh and no unfortunately they don't have a categories for worse grammar/most spelling mistakes in a post...darne i sooo hab thaat own in they bage!! :) JJ