Getting ready for a pump!

      During M's last endo visit she said she felt we were ready to start a pump.  We attended pre-pump class this week.  It was a class that went over the basics of pumping and gave an overview of the pumps M's Dr prefers.  I was worried because I had already done my research and M and I have looked at some pumps, so we were already fairly certain that the Omnipod is the right choice for her.  I have read that some pediatric endos don't use the Omnipod and when I asked at our appointment our endo said, you will see all the pumps we recommend at your pre pump class.

   When we walked into the room all the pumps were on a table.  There it was and Omnipod.  I could tell M was happy because we had been thinking about a second choice (animis ping was her second choice).  But she really wanted the Omnipod because of it being tubeless.

    After the class I had to take a test on carb counting and on pump basics.  Then the next day I called the rep at Omnipod to order M's pump.  Now to wait to see what our insurance will pay.  Our insurance is usually very slow to give authorization.  I think M thought she would get her pump the next day.  I told her lets hope to have it by Christmas.  Wouldn't that be a great Christmas gift!.

   Today was also of JDRF walk day.  We raised $1,102.  It was a beautiful day for the walk.  M enjoyed getting her face painted and picking up all the free stuff from the various vendors.  I participated in the Tial Net Study, and we even scored two sample vials of Humalog!   We had a great time.  I will post pictures later!

Endo visit...The good, the bad, and the ugly

   This morning M had her second visit with her endocrinologist.  I have been concerned because her numbers have been creeping up this summer.  I also wanted to talk about getting her started on the pump before the end of the year.  There is rumor or our insurance at work changing and I am worried about what our coverage will be next year.

   I'll start with the bad.  M's A1C was up.  I knew it would be.  It was not up as bad as I thought it would be though.  Basically my suspicion that her "honeymoon" is over was confirmed.  Some adjustments were made to her breakfast ratio's to see if that helps and she is mainly high before lunch.  Will have to see if that helps tomorrow.

  The good.  We are signed up for pre-pump class on September 26.  This does not guarantee that M will be pumping by the end of the year but it is a step in the right direction.

  Now the ugly.  M's endo was concerned about her scoliosis.  She wasn't sure if it was getting worse.  As this is not her area of expertise she referred us to  pediatric ortho.  Isn't diabetes enough for M to deal with.  Of course I have been up looking at scoliosis treatment.  It is basically bracing or surgery if the curve is bad enough.  Hopefully her's isn't bad enough for this and we will just have to have it checked every 6 months.  If she needs a brace I hope she will handle it as well as she's handling diabetes.

What Low Feels Like

   I recently bought M a used pair of roller skates.  They are the old-fashioned kind like I had as a kid, not in-line skates.  She has been having a great time skating on our nice smooth newly paved driveway.  She was doing good and wanted to roller skate up and down our street.  We live on a dead end road with no traffic so I don't have to worry about cars.  I was walking beside her and the road was not as smooth as our driveway so I said "do you feel vibrations from the road"  She said "No, I feel like I'm low."  I was ready to grab her meter when she said  "I'm not really low, the road just makes it feel like it does when I'm low.  It goes away when I stop skating."  Though it was interesting to get a little of an idea of how she feels when she is low.

Hershey Park

   I haven't been on here in a while but between vacation and getting ready for back to school its been busy.  We recently took a trip to Hershey,PA and Hershey Park.  We took our 10 year old niece V with us so M would have someone besides Mom and Dad to ride on rides with.  As I approach a certain milestone birthday, I find I can't handle spinning rides anymore.

 We stayed in Harrisburg, a short drive to the park, and got 2 day tickets to the park.  The tickets include Hershey Park (which also has a water park inside it) and the Zoo.  Chocolate world is next to the park.  There you pay for the individual attractions that you want to do.  We did the 4D movie and Chocolate tasting.  When you buy your park tickets ahead of time you also get what they call a preview night.  You can go to the park the night before for about 3 or 4 hours.  This was great in letting us get to know the layout of the park so we could be ready to tackle the park and T1D the next two days.  We also got to do a few rides and M discovered her favorite roller coaster the Wild Mouse.

  I think I packed enough D supplies and insulin for a month for this 4 day trip. But when you take a 7 year old with T1d to the "sweetest place on earth" you never know!  We had a great time in the park and also enjoyed the water park at temps were in the upper 80's.  I did not ask about anything like a guest assistance card for M and we did OK without it.  The do offer a fast pass that you can buy for $50 but is just for roller coasters.  M isn't a big coaster fan, so for us this wasn't worth it.  Most of the rides she and my niece chose to do had shorter lines.  I think the longest wait was around 30 minutes.

  The hardest part to manage was the food.  Simply put the food at Hersheypark is terrible.  Basically bad fast food.  Chicken strips, hot dogs, hamburgers, mac and cheese...  They do have one sit down restaurant where we did eat dinner one night and I was never happier to eat a salad!  After our first day we learned not to eat lunch in the waterpark area.  There are very few choices with long lines and once you are in your bathing suit you are not allowed in other areas of the park unless you change.   We waited in line for over 30 min for a hot dog and fries only to have M tell us she didn't like the fries..  of course after I had given her insulin for them.  It was hard to find her something else to eat where I wouldn't have to wait in line for a half an hour.  I did carry glucose quick sticks with me for lows but I really did not want her to eat them for her lunch!   The second day we were there we learned our lesson and had lunch before going into the water park area.  Minimal lines for food and more choices.  M and V were happy to find pasta.

  We had a great time and I think all the walking helped keep M's blood sugars in check and what better way for a girl to treat a low than with some cotton candy!

  

JDRF fundraiser

   Last night was our first fundraiser for the JDRF walk and team Mighty M. I have a friend who was is a Zumba instructor and she had a special fundraiser class for JDRF.  We had a great time and between the Zumba class and Chinese auction raised almost $400.  M had a great time and Zumba'd along with us.


 


 

The dog ate her lancing device!

   This is what happened when M left her meter and lancing device where the puppy could reach it.  I'm just glad that it wasn't the meter he decided to chew.

M 1, diabetes 0

   Last night as I was getting M ready for bed, we were having some snuggle time.  We use this time to talk about our day or read a book.  I asked her if anything was bothering her. What I really wanted to ask is "is there anything about diabetes that is bothering you"
 
    She said "Well there is one thing, Zach"  She went on to tell me about a kid at her summer camp that was always getting in trouble for doing things he shouldn't be doing.  So then I asked her "is there anything about diabetes that bothers you?"  I just wanted her to know that if she needed to talk about it she could.

   She looked at me confused and said, "No, why would that bother me?" 

   I know that it hasn't been that long since her diagnosis and I'm sure that one day she will get tired of the finger pricks and shots and measuring her food.  But for now, diabetes has no hold over her.  It doesn't bother her. Take THAT diabetes!