Saturday, April 24, 2010

Sixth Sense

That's right...I do believe I possess a Sixth Sense and I do not see dead people!!!

Over the past week, there have been 3 nights that I have woken out of a deep sleep for no reason.  As soon as my eyes open, I figure, "I'm up, I will check Cale".  And low and behold....his blood sugar has been below 70 each and every time!!  And I would like to add that there was no explanation as to why he had dropped so low.  He had been going to bed in the lower 200's!

Sixth sense, mother's intuition...whatever it is, I will take it!!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

HE DID IT!!!!!

Tonight, Cale gave himself his injection...for the very first time!!!!!!!!!

Mommy's Report Card

Cale had his 3 month endo visit yesterday.  Time for Mommy's grades.  It was actually a very fast appointment.  He is 4'9" tall and weighs 75 pounds.  He has definitely grown since his last visit.  (There was a student doctor shadowing and he was taller than her!!!  He's 8!!!!)  Anyway...his A1C was 7.3.  His doctor is very pleased.  His last one was 7.4 - which was when he was having all of the pump/skin problems.  The one before that was his lowest ever...6.8.  But I will take the 7.3 and be happy.)  Cale does need to start taking his shots in other places.  He really likes his stomach, but you can totally see little bitty bumps starting to show.  Thankfully the warm weather is coming and his legs will have easy access!!!  Our only change is to try a teeny tiny bit of insulin with his bedtime snack to help bring him down in the night (the doctor told me I needed to sleep...really???) and if that doesn't help, we will up his Lantus by 1 unit.  I will still wake up, my body is programmed.  I am not overly concerned about the highs, I do treat them, it's the lows that have me scared out of my mind!!  You never know when they will hit!!!

After talking to the OmniPod lady at the Expo on another option for skin protection, Cale has decided that once I get that product, he will try on the pod, minus the pod.  He wants to just wear the adhesive and see how that goes.  Fine by me.  Step one complete.  His approval. His doctor gave that the thumbs up. Now all I need to do is find the card that the rep gave me with the info....ah the joy of super cleaning your house for a shower and misplacing things!!! 

While at the doctor's office, we picked up a brochure for a Basketball Camp for children with diabetes.  I have seen this before, however it was located over 80 miles away from our house.  Not gonna happen for 3 hours a day for 3 days over the summer.  BUT, this one is nicely located just over 10 miles away.  AND IT'S FREE!!!!  Cale has been taking basketball lessons at the YMCA for several months now and is currently signed up for a league there starting next week. (Remember his height???)  He totally wants to go to this camp.  Who am I to say no????  So the form was mailed out today and we will keep our fingers crossed that it is not full.  ADA Summer Camp in  June and then Basketball Camp in July.  His summer is filling up fast!!!!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Diabetes Expo - 2010

On Saturday, my sister and I took Cale to Navy Pier in Chicago for the ADA Diabetes Expo

Last year, the Expo was fantastic.  It was huge!  We attended a couple of "classes" including one for their summer camps.  Let me tell you, the video that they show...tear jerker!!!  Needless to say, Cale attended camp last year (on a scholarship no less) and is already signed up for this summer (fingers crossed for a scholarship!!).  We came home with BAGS of information, samples, meters, test strips, food, coupons, t-shirts, water bottles, you name it, we lugged it home!!!

Fast forward to this year...it was a complete let down.  Cale was so excited to go (he didn't go with last year, his school was having a fun fair).  He was bummed! It was considerably smaller.  Still in the same huge room, but everything was crammed together.  Very little give aways (I'm not a greedy person - really).  Nothing really new...except that I did speak with the OmniPod people and I was given another thing to try for Cale's allergic reaction to the adhesive, when he is ready to try again.  BUT, I found out that the new and smaller pods will be out by the end of the year AND even before that, the CGM should be integrated.  Now that was great news!!  Of course, only if he decides to try the pod again and we have success (cross the other fingers on that one!).  One other plus of the Expo was that The Home Depot was there in the kids corner and they had a wood craft for the kids to do.  Cale got a hard hat, apron, a pin and he made a wooden tool box.  His favorite part of the Expo was the balloon lady.  I'll post a picture of that after I steal Lauren's camera!!

Honestly, we did the Expo in under 45 minutes.  Keep in mind, we drove about an hour and a half to get there.  Driving in Chicago is C.R.A.Z.Y!!!!!  Really a let down.  Cale does not want to go next year - join the club buddy!!!  We shared the elevator with a couple of people that felt the same way we did. 

So, we walked along Navy Pier.  Had lunch at Bubba Gumps - yet another disappointment.  Just a heads up, when you go to Bubba Gumps Shrimp Co. - ALWAYS order shrimp!!!  The crab legs were horrible!!!  They were steamed in what I can only describe as toilet water with some green spices floating in it!  I kid you not. Ask Lauren!!!  THEN, McDonalds was out of ice cream!!  Are you freaking kidding me????

The highlight of the entire day was the Chicago Wolves game that we went to that night with everyone in our family.  The boys had fun and it was a great time!!  Hockey games are fun. 

So that was our trip into the city in a nutshell.  A smashed up nutshell!!!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Well...we did it!

Even though I never thought we would, we did!  We got Cale his own cell phone.  Almost 9 years old and he has a cell phone!!  I don't like it one bit!!!  However, under the circumstances, it was necessary.

I feel like I have been "smothering" (for lack of a better word) Cale since his diagnosis.  I have a VERY hard time letting him go out and play with friends.  I am always having his friends over here to play.  It breaks my heart that he can't just jump on his bike and go off (of course he would have to let me know where he was going!).  But, if he did want to go off on his bike, I was always telling him how far he could go and how soon he had to come back to "check in".  What kind of childhood is that?  I also feel, deep down, that his social skills are not as up there as they could be because of all of this.

Given all of that, we got him a phone.  He will still have to tell me where he is going.  He will still have to pack juice boxes, glucose tabs, a snack and his meter.  But now I can reach him anywhere!!  I have programmed all emergency numbers into his phone.  There is also a place for emergency information.  I programmed his name, address, date of birth and that he has type 1 diabetes (and for those that don't know - I programmed insulin dependent).  There are no bells and whistles on this phone - except for a camera, they all come with cameras!!!  He isn't allowed to call his friends without permission.  He isn't allowed to give out his phone number without permission.  He isn't allowed to text - it's not activated. He isn't allowed to take it to school.  It is to stay on a little shelf in the kitchen unless he is going out to play or we are going out for the day (just in case).  Basically, he can call family and 911.  That is all we are letting him do at this point.

He has been having a ball with it over the last day.  He keeps calling me from his room - cell to cell, no minutes used!!  He took it with to Ryan's hockey lessons last night and would move about 10 feet away and call.  He has mastered the ring tones.  He has taken more pictures than one can imagine.  I am sure the neatness will wear off soon. 

While it still kills me to have gotten him a phone, I know have a little bit of relief when it comes to him being just a "normal" kid.  The worries are still there, but they have subsided just a tad.  And as an added bonus, this phone does come with the "family locater" option.  For a few bucks a month, I can GPS the guy.  I haven't activated it yet, maybe closer to summer just to ease my mind!!!!