Sorry I have been a bit MIA. Between puppy stuff and keeping a family of six healthy and happy and sort of clean, I have been busy! My two year old is going through a stage where he likes to get in your face and make the most annoying sound ever. He does it to all of us and he gets a reaction so he keeps it up. It's wearing on me (and everyone else as well and since I am the mom they think I have control over his antics so they whine to me about it).
Bekah is going through what I think may be a growth spurt. Her numbers have been scary high. No ketones (we check those often too) I am going to bare all here...7 day average is *gulp* 256 *gulp* I have changed sites and locations of sites, changed insulin and tweaked basal rates like a crazed honey badger and still Bekah's last check was 444. ACK! I am determined to get this (insert profanity) tamed! My plan is after doing more tweaks today (I am sticking with the 3 day rule) to see what tomorrow holds and if things are not better then making an appointment to have a bone scan done to see if early puberty is the culprit for making insulin act as water in the house.
On a positive note, I made a video to help raise money for Bekah's dog, Sarah. It turned out pretty cute I think except that the music track is a bit off.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
missing my girl
I woke up this morning thinking it was Thursday and tomorrow I would get to see Bekah. Then realized it's only Wed and I have 2 more days to wait. I have been doing pretty good with her being gone until last night when I just wanted to cuddle with her. I dreamed that her BGs at camp got up in to the 600s.
Today I just keep thinking about her and wondering how her BGs have been. How did her site change go? Has she lost any sites, did I leave enough? I keep wondering if she is missing home or having the time of her life. Or a bit of both?
I have a ton of stuff to do today as the stomach flu finally made it to my husband and now he is better. Bathrooms, laundry general disinfecting are all on my agenda today. I think I will wash the car and try to reorganize the girls' room as well. (Bekah's bed is too high for Sarah to sleep with her so we have to come up with a solution...I'm thinking IKEA but that takes money so I'll let my creative juices flow and see what we can come up with) Sarah starts puppy kindergarten tonight as well. Hopefully all of that will keep me too busy to miss my girl too much.
Today I just keep thinking about her and wondering how her BGs have been. How did her site change go? Has she lost any sites, did I leave enough? I keep wondering if she is missing home or having the time of her life. Or a bit of both?
I have a ton of stuff to do today as the stomach flu finally made it to my husband and now he is better. Bathrooms, laundry general disinfecting are all on my agenda today. I think I will wash the car and try to reorganize the girls' room as well. (Bekah's bed is too high for Sarah to sleep with her so we have to come up with a solution...I'm thinking IKEA but that takes money so I'll let my creative juices flow and see what we can come up with) Sarah starts puppy kindergarten tonight as well. Hopefully all of that will keep me too busy to miss my girl too much.
Monday, August 8, 2011
D camp
Yesterday, late morning, Bekah and I loaded up to meet one of her diabuddies and one of the most amazing D-moms I know. We girls along with another family rode the hour or so together to our local diabetes camp. We made a pit stop for a special treat lunch at McDs and got to camp just as registration began.
The girls picked their bunks and began setting up their little homes while we moms waited in the lines. Standing in line, I did feel a few butterflies from time to time becuase I knew in a couple of hours I would be leaving and my baby girl would be staying there. She has never been away from our family overnight. I knew though that she was in good hands.
I did pretty good and only had a few tears as we parted ways but my eyes were dry before we got too far down the road. A caffeine stop for us moms (Starbucks) and we headed home. I pulled in around 6:00ish, so it was a whole day event.
I have to be honest and tell you it is 4:45 AM and I can't sleep. I am missing my girl right now. I can't hear the slight snore of her breathing. I can't go check her BG to make sure she is ok. I don't get to see her sweet smile today. My arms ache to hug her and kiss her on the top of her head.
Here are a few photos I took of the day
Looking at these photos puts my mind at ease knowing she is having a blast! I love that she gets to have the memories of camp. I never got to go to camp. I love that there is a place where diabetes is the norm for a few days. No one is going to ask awkward questions that she doesn't feel like answering becuase they all live this reality as well. Everyone will be checking their BG before meals and at bedtime. The counselors will be checking all of the kids BGs at midnight and 3AM. Bekah will be having too much fun to miss home much. I am not sure what the week holds for me yet but I will keep busy and try to get in some one on one time with my other kids.
The girls picked their bunks and began setting up their little homes while we moms waited in the lines. Standing in line, I did feel a few butterflies from time to time becuase I knew in a couple of hours I would be leaving and my baby girl would be staying there. She has never been away from our family overnight. I knew though that she was in good hands.
I did pretty good and only had a few tears as we parted ways but my eyes were dry before we got too far down the road. A caffeine stop for us moms (Starbucks) and we headed home. I pulled in around 6:00ish, so it was a whole day event.
I have to be honest and tell you it is 4:45 AM and I can't sleep. I am missing my girl right now. I can't hear the slight snore of her breathing. I can't go check her BG to make sure she is ok. I don't get to see her sweet smile today. My arms ache to hug her and kiss her on the top of her head.
Here are a few photos I took of the day
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| Diabuddies! |
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| look at that smile |
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| one last shot before I left (bye Mom) |
Looking at these photos puts my mind at ease knowing she is having a blast! I love that she gets to have the memories of camp. I never got to go to camp. I love that there is a place where diabetes is the norm for a few days. No one is going to ask awkward questions that she doesn't feel like answering becuase they all live this reality as well. Everyone will be checking their BG before meals and at bedtime. The counselors will be checking all of the kids BGs at midnight and 3AM. Bekah will be having too much fun to miss home much. I am not sure what the week holds for me yet but I will keep busy and try to get in some one on one time with my other kids.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
a nasty bug
Ever since Bekah was dx in March of 2010, I have been afraid of the stomach flu. I knew it could land her back in the hospital and I am not sure why that scares me, maybe because when she was at the hospital for dx we were close to losing her or the fact that illness brings on ketones and ketoacidosis is the number one cause of death in T1Ds. What ever the reason, the flu and T1D are scary (I'm pretty sure I am not alone in feeling this way).
We made it through "flu season" and she just happened to be absent on the two days when kids in her class threw up at school. I breathed a sigh of relief when school was out thinking I had until "flu season" again to worry about nasty tummy bugs.
Last weekend we had made a quick, last minute, trip to Tacoma to visit my sister and her family. After we got home, Megan began feeling icky. She is 13 and a bit dramatic so I just figured it was cramps becuase her period was coming. A few hours later she began puking. I still thought it was her period maybe mixed in with some car sickness until at 1:00 AM when David began puking. Being only 2 he had no idea what was going on so I just held him and let him spew all over me (sorry if you have a weak stomach). I knew I was probably a goner but I did take extra D and C along with probiotics to help boost my immune system (couldn't hurt).
I spent the day Monday and Tuesday disinfecting the house and washing all of the "sick" laundry. I was still hoping not to get sick and more than that hoping Bekah wouldn't get sick. Tuesday night I woke up in the middle of the night with my gut aching. Crap! I got sick (I'll spare you the details). I spent the entire day in bed on Wed. I did come down stairs to watch AGT (America's Got Talent) with the family.
In the middle of AGT, Bekah began to complain of a tummy ache. I knew we had some zofran that her pediatrician had prescribed before she had oral surgery last summer so I gave her one hoping it would do the trick. I was still feeling under the weather so I was amazingly calm as I decided to take her to my bed where we'd hang for the night. I got her up stairs and checked her BG 92 with 1.90 units IOB (0.0 ketones). Crap on a stick! I got the regular 7-up out and had her sip on that to keep her BG up and began to pray that some of the carbs she had eaten for dinner would begin to absorb or her liver would kick in some sugar.
I went down and grabbed the gluc and some pediatric syringes just in case. I decided that if she began puking and went low I wasn't going to mess with trying to get honey or frosting to absorb through her cheeks and gums I was just going to do the mini gluc and then call the endo on call. (I probably should have called as soon as she began getting sick so we were on the same page and had a plan in place but I didn't)
An hour or so later, the puking began. After each session I would check her BG and ketones. BG 96, 0.0 ketones; BG 98, 0.1 ketones; BG 115 0.1 ketones; BG 123 0.2 ketones. Then 2 hrs went by with no puking BG 223 0.8 ketones correction given. It seemed as if the worst was over (it was but I wasn't letting my guard down). A check every hour to two hours after that showed her BG stable and ketones going down. All day we just kept checking and correcting her BG and ketones (it never went above 230 with 0.8 ketones) as she sipped on G2 (low carb Gatorade).
Friday morning I was awoken to a smiling girl saying "good morning mommy I feel better today"! My heart was happy that we had made it through our first bad bug and my girl was doing well.
It could have been worse and I know many of my friends in the DOC have had much worse experiences with tummy bugs. In some way it is a relief to have that under my belt. I know I can make it through with out losing my marbles.
Camp starts tomorrow. Can I leave my baby girl for 5 nights with out losing my marbles?
We made it through "flu season" and she just happened to be absent on the two days when kids in her class threw up at school. I breathed a sigh of relief when school was out thinking I had until "flu season" again to worry about nasty tummy bugs.
Last weekend we had made a quick, last minute, trip to Tacoma to visit my sister and her family. After we got home, Megan began feeling icky. She is 13 and a bit dramatic so I just figured it was cramps becuase her period was coming. A few hours later she began puking. I still thought it was her period maybe mixed in with some car sickness until at 1:00 AM when David began puking. Being only 2 he had no idea what was going on so I just held him and let him spew all over me (sorry if you have a weak stomach). I knew I was probably a goner but I did take extra D and C along with probiotics to help boost my immune system (couldn't hurt).
I spent the day Monday and Tuesday disinfecting the house and washing all of the "sick" laundry. I was still hoping not to get sick and more than that hoping Bekah wouldn't get sick. Tuesday night I woke up in the middle of the night with my gut aching. Crap! I got sick (I'll spare you the details). I spent the entire day in bed on Wed. I did come down stairs to watch AGT (America's Got Talent) with the family.
In the middle of AGT, Bekah began to complain of a tummy ache. I knew we had some zofran that her pediatrician had prescribed before she had oral surgery last summer so I gave her one hoping it would do the trick. I was still feeling under the weather so I was amazingly calm as I decided to take her to my bed where we'd hang for the night. I got her up stairs and checked her BG 92 with 1.90 units IOB (0.0 ketones). Crap on a stick! I got the regular 7-up out and had her sip on that to keep her BG up and began to pray that some of the carbs she had eaten for dinner would begin to absorb or her liver would kick in some sugar.
I went down and grabbed the gluc and some pediatric syringes just in case. I decided that if she began puking and went low I wasn't going to mess with trying to get honey or frosting to absorb through her cheeks and gums I was just going to do the mini gluc and then call the endo on call. (I probably should have called as soon as she began getting sick so we were on the same page and had a plan in place but I didn't)
An hour or so later, the puking began. After each session I would check her BG and ketones. BG 96, 0.0 ketones; BG 98, 0.1 ketones; BG 115 0.1 ketones; BG 123 0.2 ketones. Then 2 hrs went by with no puking BG 223 0.8 ketones correction given. It seemed as if the worst was over (it was but I wasn't letting my guard down). A check every hour to two hours after that showed her BG stable and ketones going down. All day we just kept checking and correcting her BG and ketones (it never went above 230 with 0.8 ketones) as she sipped on G2 (low carb Gatorade).
Friday morning I was awoken to a smiling girl saying "good morning mommy I feel better today"! My heart was happy that we had made it through our first bad bug and my girl was doing well.
It could have been worse and I know many of my friends in the DOC have had much worse experiences with tummy bugs. In some way it is a relief to have that under my belt. I know I can make it through with out losing my marbles.
Camp starts tomorrow. Can I leave my baby girl for 5 nights with out losing my marbles?
Friday, August 5, 2011
Road trip, the final days
Sorry it has taken me a while to get back to finishing up our road trip adventure. We got our puppy and were super busy with the trainer and then got plagued with the stomach flu. One at a time we dropped like flies. Luckily I was on the mend when Bekah got it so I could care for her. That is a blog for another day, now on to the finale of our road trip...
Yellowstone Natonal Park was our next destination. We spent the night in West Yellowstone and the next day touring the park. The sulfur and I did not get along well. As we approached Old Faithful, I began to feel achy and nauseated. I thought I was coming down with the flu. I began to panic with my first thoughts going to Bekah. Managing D on the road is tough enough but an illness and D was more than I could wrap my little brain around. As we left Old Faithful I began to feel better and then as we would approach spots along the road that had more sulfur, the symptoms would come back.
Our stop for that night was Idaho Falls. On the way to the hotel from Yellow Stone, our transmission crapped out on us. We had 2nd gear so we eeeked our way to Idaho Falls to the hotel. The next morning was Saturday so many places were closed. After doing much research and brain racking we decided that the best option would be to rent a U-haul big enough to tow our car home and then rent another car to drive. Jason and Josh drove the U-haul and my dad decided to drive me and the other kids in the rented car. We could have traded off but he insisted on driving the whole time. We got home safe and our tranny was under warranty so we got it fixed with in a few days at no cost to us.
All in all our road trip was an amazing unforgettable experience! We had some good, bad and ugly all in the mix but that is what makes the adventure right?! I am so thankful to my parents for giving us such a great family gift to get to go on this trip! It was absolutely incredible!
Yellowstone Natonal Park was our next destination. We spent the night in West Yellowstone and the next day touring the park. The sulfur and I did not get along well. As we approached Old Faithful, I began to feel achy and nauseated. I thought I was coming down with the flu. I began to panic with my first thoughts going to Bekah. Managing D on the road is tough enough but an illness and D was more than I could wrap my little brain around. As we left Old Faithful I began to feel better and then as we would approach spots along the road that had more sulfur, the symptoms would come back.
 |
| You'd never know how sick I was feeling just by looking at this photo of my sister and I by Old Faithful |
Our stop for that night was Idaho Falls. On the way to the hotel from Yellow Stone, our transmission crapped out on us. We had 2nd gear so we eeeked our way to Idaho Falls to the hotel. The next morning was Saturday so many places were closed. After doing much research and brain racking we decided that the best option would be to rent a U-haul big enough to tow our car home and then rent another car to drive. Jason and Josh drove the U-haul and my dad decided to drive me and the other kids in the rented car. We could have traded off but he insisted on driving the whole time. We got home safe and our tranny was under warranty so we got it fixed with in a few days at no cost to us.
All in all our road trip was an amazing unforgettable experience! We had some good, bad and ugly all in the mix but that is what makes the adventure right?! I am so thankful to my parents for giving us such a great family gift to get to go on this trip! It was absolutely incredible!
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