Camp

The day finally arrived, much to Cale's dismay! First day of Camp. He was not convinced that he was ready to go. He wanted to wait another year. Kept saying he wasn't going to have any fun and that he was going to be homesick. Well, as I am typing this, I look up at the clock and realize that it is time for "lights out" in the cabins at Camp - where he has been since this afternoon.



Let me first start out by saying, he was not forced to go to Camp. He has attended 2 years of Day Camp (and loved it) and he is now old enough for Overnight Camp. We did go and take a tour last year and he was very excited! He talked about it a lot. He happily wrote another essay to submit for a chance to win a partial scholarship towards Camp. (Sidenote...he won a FULL SCHOLARSHIP! - HOLLA!) He was all into getting things ready. We put in a request for he and a friend he made at Slam Dunk for Diabetes Basketball Camp to be in the same cabin - and they are! Fast forward to this past week, the week before Camp is to start. He doesn't want to go. There was a lot of talking it out and asking him to please just give it a try and that we KNOW he is going to have a great time! I all but told him if he can't hack it, he can be picked up early.

He was very quiet the entire ride to the campgrounds. He did "perk" up a bit when we found his friend and realized that they were in the same cabin. He enjoyed picking out his bunk and getting the top bunk all ready with his sheets, pillows and blankets. However, HE DID NOT WANT US TO LEAVE! Heartwrenching! However, as we got to the parking lot, I could see through the trees and he had been talking to another boy that seemed unsure also and they were playing tether ball together. Big sigh, he was making friends and participating already.


BUT - Today was one of the hardest days that I have experienced in a very long time. I am going to insert a WARNING here...rambling coming up!!


I haven't cried this much since he was diagnosed. I have teared up on and off during the last couple of weeks. But his morning, I sobbed in the shower. I had to leave the room so that Cale wouldn't see me cry several times during the day. I cried as we were driving to the Camp (again, he couldn't tell). I cried after hugging and kissing him goodbye as my husband was dragging me away telling me to let him be, he will be fine. I cried during the new parent orientation (kept my sunglasses on as to not look too foolish...didn't work). I cried in the car as we were driving away. Thankfully, I fell asleep on the ride home! Can't cry in your sleep! BUT, I woke up one town away and started crying when we got into our town. Even now, I have tears rolling down my cheeks. One of the worst headaches I have ever had has finally subsided. Deep down I KNOW HE IS GOING TO BE FINE! I'm more worried about how he is going to adapt than I am about the diabetes part. Don't get me wrong, I will feel tremendous relief every morning at 7:00 when I haven't heard my phone ring (that is the time for morning BG checks...I will know he made it through the night - morbid, I know, but an aspect that we D-Mama's must deal with!). I was pleased when I heard that at 10 pm every day, the entire medical staff meets and they go over each and every camper's day on an overhead projector and review their BG's, their activity, the previous day's and evening's BG's and discuss trends and if there should be any changes. The Staff Doctor has the ultimate say on everything, but they do not take any of this lightly!!!

Well, I've been blog absent for awhile and when I do come back on I am a blubbering idiot!! I sincerely hope that, at the end of the week, I will be blogging about the incredible time Cale had at Camp. Now to try and sleep through the night. My guess is that I will finally be able to do that Thursday or Friday night!!!

***UPDATE - Yes it is 4:15 and I am awake AGAIN!  Told you I wouldn't make it through the night yet!!***

10!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cale is 10 years old today! 10!  10!  10!  I can hardly believe it.  Where has the time gone? 

10 years ago today, Cale entered the world fairly quick.  Induced at 8:30 am, first breath at 2:21 pm.  Not too shabby if you ask me!  Perfectly shaped head...Daddy's chin...dark hair...dark blue eyes....8 lbs. 2 ozs....21 inches long.  My first born...my son, Cale.

Cale was actually a very good baby.  Not too terrible a toddler.  Pretty good pre-schooler.  Good grade school student.  Now, sure he's a little mouthy (oh help me come the actual teen years), has his opinons about certain things and has a new found love of basketball (seems military play has been pushed aside...kinda bittersweet, but a relief all at the same time...CAMO OVERLOAD!!!) but he is still a very sweet and sensitive boy.  He is 5 foot 1/2 inch tall and now wears a size 8 in men's shoes!  I give him a few years and he will be calling me shorty! 

Here are some pics of my 10 year old boy through the years (keep in mind, I just now learned how to scan pictures!)....

He was only 1 day old here!

My favorite picture of him!  Cale was 6 months old here!

Cale at 1 year old....this was the ONLY shot we were able to get that day!

Cale at 2 years old...what did I do to his bangs?!

Cale less than 2 months away from becoming a big brother!

Cale on his 3rd birthday....I miss that room.  Loved the clouds!

The 4 year old little stud

Cutest little t-ball player ever!

Cale's first day of kindergarten!  So little!

8 days into the kindergarten school year and he jumped off the slide at recess,

breaking his arm which required 2 surgeries to fix!

Cale on his 6th birthday!  Notice the flushed face?

Cale and Ryan...days before life threw him a curve ball.

Cale while in the hospital - August, 2007.  Here he was using syringes for fun...

squirting water at pictures of diabetes related pictures!

Cale's first day of 1st Grade....3 weeks after Diagnosis Day.  What a change and he's so happy!

So excited to get his first snowmobile!

 White Sox fan

 First day of ADA Day Camp 2009 and 2010!  Someone grew.

This year, overnight camp.  We are both very nervous (that's a whole other post).

Private Cale Sowers....LOVED LOVED LOVED anything military!

Blackhawks fan....braving the crowd at the Stanley Cup Parade in Chicago!

Cale, loving basketball.  This is at the Slam Dunk for Diabetes Camp.  He is going again this

year AND to another basketball camp.  He cannot wait!

Ode to his new obsession....his birthday cake.  If you look close enough, you can acutally see the wood grain on the hardwood floor.  This cake tasted and looked incredible!

My 10 year old boy!  Sporting all of his new birthday duds...From head to toe!

He has grown soooo much!  He has gone from a little bundle of warm, sweet smelling baby that was fascinated with ceiling fans and who's favorite word was "on" to this young "man" that knows more about history and military than I will ever care to know and is becoming quite the free throwing maniac!!  Life has really given him some hurdles in his 10 short years, but he is not letting them stop him and is a happy boy that is stronger and more brave than any other child (and adult!!) that I know!!

Happy 10th Birthday Cale!!!  I love you very much!!

UGH!!!

I'm a little annoyed.  Ok, I am very annoyed!!!  Everyday at school, the nurse goes up to Cale's classroom at 9:15 for his morning BG check.  This is 2 hours after he gets his breakfast insulin and it is his class' snack time and 1 hour prior to PE.  What timing!!!!

It is arranged in Cale's plan that he gets just a correction shot if necessary and then a small snack.  Otherwise, just the small snack from his snack bag.  All of these snacks are 15 grams of carbs or less.  Today, he gets his BG checked.  It is exactly where it should be 2 hours after breakfast.  YEAH!!!  However, someone brought in cupcakes for a snack.  And I am not talking homemade cupcakes....I mean the ones you buy at Wal-Mart that are LOADED with frosting!!  At 9:15 AM!!  Seriously???  Normally, I get a call when something is brought in for snack.  NOT TODAY!!!  He was told to go ahead and have the cupcake....WITHOUT ANY INSULIN!!!!  WTF???!!!  Are you kidding me???  Even if he was hovering just above being "low", I would have given him insulin!!

So why was the nurse so concerned when she finally did call me at lunch time saying his BG was 372???!!!  Did this number shock her?!  Why was she befuddled by it??  DUH!!!!  And to top it off, it was pizza day at school, which I hate as it is anyways, but what can a mom do?  I am not going to tell him no every week on Friday.  For some reason, my kids LOVE the school's pizza.  Puke.....

I told her what I wanted done - please tell him to have plain milk, please have him bring the cookie home (why do they have to make the most carb laden cookies every pizza day?), yes he can have 2 pieces of pizza and please give him this much insulin.  Also, please test him in 2 hours.  I also calmly mentioned that he should have had a shot with the cupcake.  I didn't want to go all ape $hit on the phone.  It was hard to hear her as it was with her calling me from the loud lunchroom.  I also wanted to calm down before talking to her.  Come Tuesday, she has off on Monday, we will have a little talk.  Although, they only have 20 school days left of the year (where the heck did the year go??) and then he is off to a different building with the district's head nurse taking care of him.  I am getting very excited about that, the nurse part, not the he's getting older and moving up part!  She takes a great interest in the kid's with diabetes.  She asks about what they had for breakfast when doing BG checks and notes it to watch for trends on her own!!  She also does this with lunches.  Can she move in with me???

Anyway....2 hours after lunch, Cale was in the mid 200's.  Less than 2 hours later, after school, he was still hovering in the 200's.  Correction and off to play!  Pre-dinner....72!!!  Bedtime check...105.  Back to pretty BG's!!!!  Let's hope the night is more of the same!  Let's also hope she "gets it" on Tuesday!!!

I asked Cale about what he thought when he got home from school.  His response was, the nurse said I could have it!!  I can't get upset with him....he's just a kid...and I didn't.  I know in the back of his mind he was questioning it.  But the nurse said it was ok.  So, he listened.  She is an adult.  She is a nurse.  She would know what to do, right?!  Guess not!!  I did tell him to make sure and remind her to call me the next time an outside snack comes in.  He said he would and then went on his merry way.  I hate this!!!!  I hate all of this!!!!!

AND...on a side note...Cale is having an ipro CGM put on for a week on Monday.  This is just a small CGM that will track all of his BG's for the week.  We will "pop" it off after the week and turn it in for the numbers to be analyzed.  His A1C has been too high for our liking the past 2 times - and the last one included several swimming lows that didn't make it budge - YIKES, so we are going to see how he's doing all day long.  I only wish this would alarm for lows and highs.  But, it's not that kind of CGM - whatever!!!  I also hope that he doesn't have a reaction to the adhesive.  Fingers crossed!!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!

I'm going shopping!!!  And all thanks to Reyna and the birthday boy Joe over at BETA BUDDIES!!!  This is so exciting!!  Such a great birthday present - and it's not even my birthday!!!!  I can't wait to sit back tonight, once all of my boys (hubby included) are tucked into bed and shop my little heart out!!  I do believe there will be some presents purchased as well!!  I only wish this was a few weeks ago....I so would have bought one of these ~





and worn it when I woke up at 3 am to watch the Royal Wedding!!  (Yes, I am a dork and I admit it!!)

Thanks Reyna and Joe!!!  You guys rock!!!!

Slam Dunk for Diabetes

I know I have already done a post about Cale's experience at the Moses E. Cheeks Slamdunk for Diabetes Camp. But, I just found this video that explains more about the camp.  There are a couple of "stars" in this video, also!  Cale's in it several times.  I made it in a couple of times.  And my sister even has a cameo (the tall blonde at the beginning, standing back from the registration table!!!)  Check it out...if you live nearby any of the locations, I highly recommend sending your child with Type 1!! (It's FREE!!!)

 Cale can't wait until June!!!!

We are back...

...and I now know that everyday real life is not fun!!!  While in Florida (an entirely different post will be done about our vacation), we had the normal "D" concerns.  I am convinced that if we had pool access all  year round, Cale would need very little insulin!!!  But, that was the only real concern!  We were able to relax, go with the flow and enjoy the sun (once it finally appeared). 

Today, it was back to sorting the mail into bills and garbage (same thing right?), getting the kids to school...fighting included (errrr!!!), dressing warm (I did wear flip flops...my feet are tan!), getting sucked into PTO drama as soon as I walked into the school and thinking about doing grocery shopping (I only thought about it, will actually do it tonight) and laundry.  Not fun things!

We did get to meet up with Lora and Justin at a cool video game spot near Tampa.  At first, both of the boys went in totally opposite directions to play their games while us "D" mamas chatted up a storm.  Once we decided it was dinner time, they had a blast together!!  Playing with ipods, talking military, shooting fake snakes out of peanut cans and asking for dessert (hmmmm....who did that - Justin?!)!!!  It was a great time!  I am so glad we were able to make our schedules work!!

And now a funny "D" moment.  One morning, we wandered down to breakfast at the hotel we were staying at near Busch Gardens in Tampa (that's a whole other gross story!) and as we were sitting and eating, we heard a "snap" sound.  My husband sarcastically laughs and says....someone just broke their plastic fork.  Cale and I said...nope, someone just closed a test strip bottle.  Sure enough, a lady sitting 2 tables away from us was testing her BG!!!!!  Our ears are trained!

And we are off!!!

WOO HOO!!!  We are headed to Florida today for a much needed vacation! 

I am really hoping to be able to meet up with Lora while we are down there.  She only lives an hour away from where we will be staying.  From everything that I've read, Cale and Justin should totally hit it off (as I am sure the mama's will too)!! 

Let's hope "D" enjoys the vacation and cooperates! 

Keep an eye out for the pictures...they will be coming!!

Sunshine and warmth....here I come!!!!

LIttle Turkey!!

On Thursday (yes, on his birthday) Ryan lost yet another tooth.  He came home from school with it in a little tooth necklace.  He showed it to me and my first thought was "do we have any cash in the house"?  I know, sad to have to think if we have enough cash to cover a teeny, tiny tooth (if you know Ryan, you know just how teeny, tiny those teeth really are!) but we do use our debit card for everything.  Luckily, we did!!  But....

Ryan didn't want the tooth fairy to take his tooth.  He asked me straight out if she had to come or if he could keep it.  I said he can keep it, but there won't be any money left!  He was fine with that. 

Fast forward to today (Monday)....Ryan comes running out of his room with the tooth necklace yelling "I knew it, I knew it!!  You are the tooth fairy!!!".  Come again spaz???  He had put the tooth under his pillow last night, without either Pat or I knowing, and it was still there this morning.  He just kept jumping around and doing his little butt dance (he can really shake that thing...look out Chippendale's!!!) singing "you are the tooth fairy....you are the tooth fairy". 

Once Beavis settled down, I told him that I am not the tooth fairy.  "Yes you are!!  She didn't come and take my tooth!"  Thinking quickly I replied that the tooth fairy only comes on the day that you loose your tooth.  You can't hold onto it for days and then expect her to come.  He had no response (yet).....take that you sneaky little turkey!!!! Fingers crossed!

Seven

(Warning....picture overload!!)

Seven years ago today, Ryan Patrick entered the world after 18 long hours of labor and one c-section, weighing 9 pounds 7 ounces (I KNOW!) and measuring 20 inches long.  Our lives have not been the same since!!!  I mean that to be a positive - mostly!! 

Ryan is a very cute (and I'm not just saying that because I made him!), energetic, headstrong, funny and smart little boy.  He can be the biggest cuddler ever, but if you get on his "bad" side...LOOK OUT!!!! 

He loves school and is a perfect little student.  He is so into building models right now that it isn't even funny!  He is growing up so fast!!  It is so hard to believe that he is over halfway done with 1st grade!  He's not my baby anymore...he's a KID!!

Happy 7th Birthday Ryan - I love you!!!!!

Baby Ryan - still in the hospital

Look at those big eyes!!!

Ryan's First Birthday

Goofing around while Daddy is building the deck...quick cover him up!!!

Crazy hair guy!!!

Mischief!!!

This is how we found him when his 3rd Birthday party was starting.

Dude!!

Ryan's 5th Birthday...such a dork!!

Waiting for Pre-School graduation to start.

My little hockey guy...who refuses to play now!

Our little White Sox in the making!

Cool guy on his Kindergarten Field Trip.

Ryan and his 2 best buddies at their 1st Grade Halloween Party.

My 7 year old boy!!!

Sniff.....



Slam Dunk for Diabetes



Yesterday, Cale attended a basketball camp for children with Diabetes. This time it was a one day clinic, but last Summer, one was held closer to our home and he went for 3 days AND was interviewed on the news (that video isn't available anymore-it was fun!). He is ready to go again this coming summer.

It is called Moses E. Cheeks Slam Dunk for Diabetes. He loves it!! And it's FREE!! This clinic was held at the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox Training Academy. It is such a neat building! One side dedicated to basketball and the other side was all baseball.  My sister came with and wanted to put on one of their t-shirts so she could stay and play!!

The staff was so good with the kids. The General Manager of the Facility has a 5 year old godson with Type 1 Diabetes so he was all into it. He kept telling them that there is nothing they can't do. He never wanted to hear the word "can't"!! (Of course, Cale tells me afterwards that he was wrong. He can't join the military.)

It was so good to see all of these kids doing something together, all of them alike. At the very end, right before the last pep talk, everyone had to line up and have their BG's checked. It was really something to see, over one hundred kids, lined up, waiting to test themselves. No one different. It brought tears to my eyes several times yesterday, but I held them back. I've been a little emotional lately (total understatement).

Here are some pictures from the day...

 

 

Cale waiting for the morning to begin.

Making friends.

My 5 foot tall 9 year old...waiting his turn.

Be the ball...see the basket...

  

Headed for the hoop.

The entire group at the end of the day...pep talk time!!! 

 Cale and Mom

Chicago Bulls Championship Banners...Memories...I went to so many of those games!!

And of course, the building was half Chicago White Sox...Gotta put up a picture of my boy Paulie!!!