I wonder what is in our water....

Yesterday, my neighbor and good friend called and asked if I would come over after school and check her son's BG. She was concerned because he had been drinking a lot of water lately and she knew that was one of the symptoms that Cale had when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

I went over and her son, who is one year older than Cale, was so good about it. I had to actually "tick" his fingers three times to get anything and he just stood there and laughed when I was joking around with him about it. We got our sample and waited...359. He still had on a brave face. I had his mom called his doctor, who couldn't get him in that day (really????) and they told her to take him to the ER. I kept her calm and advised her to pack a bag for him and for herself - just in case. She kept tearing up, understandably, but was trying to keep a brave face on for her son. I stayed with her and kept reassuring her that even though she may be scared, mad, whatever, she will get through this. I told her that if he does indeed have diabetes, it is manageable and I am always here, WHENEVER for WHATEVER.

Keeping in my helping mode, I took her younger daughter (who is in Cale's class) home with me with an overnight bag - again, just in case. Several hours later, she called and said that they were on their way home. After all of their blood work from the hospital came back, his BG was 274. The ER doctor felt that he would be fine at home since his vitals were good and he wasn't dehydrated (I'm still questioning sending him home, but I don't have a medical degree). They are going to see their family doctor today for further testing and whatever happens, I am going to be there for her every step of the way. By no means have I mastered diabetes (who really can?) but I like to believe that I have mastered being a mother to a child with diabetes and that is what I have to offer.

Back to normal...somewhat

As an update to my Saturday night/Sunday early morning fiasco, after talking to his endo and waiting the 2 hours, Cale was back down to 142. PHEW!!!! However, he did wake up at only 47...can you say over correction?? So I gave him his breakfast right away and then his bolus and I was off to care for Auntie Lauren's kitty cats again. An hour later, I get a call from Pat, the pod actually came off of the adhesive, which was still attached to Cale's tummy. Let me tell you, going step by step over a cell phone on how to attach a new pod is not high on my list of fun things to do. But it was done and all was well. At least until that night. Cale and I were at a Cub Scout Dinner and right smack dab in the middle of eating, as I was going to give him his bolus, the Remote (as we call it) beeped and announced there was a communication error and that insulin delivery has been interrupted, change pod. Are you freakin' kidding me?!?!?! So we left our half eaten dinners and raced home to put a new one on. If you are keeping count, that is 5 pods in just 24 hours. Ironically, our rep emailed me this morning asking how things were going, I rambled out a decent reply and hopefully some replacements will be forthcoming.

A little setback, nothing we cannot handle. Something we don't want to handle, but "Such is Life". I am not discouraged and I am trying to keep it positive for Cale. It is a new week and hopefully everything will return to "normal".

SIGH!!!!

Can't Sleep

That's right...the time at the bottom of this post is correct...I can't sleep.

All good things must come to an end. We were doing so well with the OmniPod; Cale's numbers were great, all it took was a push of a couple of buttons and insulin was flowing, the amount of insulin was precise and don't get me started on the extend button (LOVE IT!!). Then...WHAM!!! The high BG came and it brought along their friend, Mr. Ketones.

Here is the scenario:

We had our routine pod change at 4:30 p.m. BG was 169 so we gave a little correction. We all go over to Auntie Lauren's house to give Ellie Cat (yes, Lauren, that is what I am calling her) her medicine while they are out of town. Que the stairs and two boys sliding down them. Off to dinner we go (yummy El Niagra) and the pre-dinner BG was 72, lower than we would like, but not horrible. Ate our food, counted the carbs, gave the insulin (60% up front and the remaining 40% over 2 hours). 8:30 rolls around and it's time for the 2 hour post dinner BG check. 383!!! Did I not count right?? Yes I did, turns out the cannula had come out while the boys were body surfing down the stairs. Time to change the pod, again (don't even get me started on watching the $ for these things go down the drain). 9:55 - checked the BG again..are you ready...wait for it...449!!! Are you kidding me?? Gave a correction. (Right now I am realizing one of our mistakes - did we give insulin again for dinner after changing the pod? NO!!!! Where in the world were our heads??? I cannot believe that neither one of us thought about it. Parents of the Year Award has been won hands down by Cale's Mommy and Daddy!!!) Checked the Ketones again, small amount. So we wait. 11:00, let's check him again. 469!!! WTF!!! (pardon my language) Mr. Ketone is still hanging around. So we decide to change the pod site. We had put it on his arm to give his tummy a rest against Cale's wishes (should have listened to him, but don't tell him that). Back to the tummy it goes. And once again, we wait. Midnight, BG is 410. Still high, but coming down. Gave yet another correction. 1:00 a.m., BG is 380, slowly coming down. And then we come to 2:30 a.m., BG is 314. SIGH. Give yet another correction and decide to check again for Ketones. Moderate. Until today all we have ever seen was just below trace. Ok...time to wake up the doctor. I dial the phone remembering a couple of days ago when he didn't call back (turns out the paging system wasn't working) but the answering service has me stay on the phone and connects me directly to him. Ok...gave a correction via syringe. Wait some more and if still running high with ketones, change the site once again (picture toilet, now see money and FLUSH!!!! I know it's his health, but I'm tired and I have a sore throat and am losing my voice - pity party!!).

I think I am done rambling. After reading this, I have really taken notice of a couple mistakes on our part. They are now stored in the teeny tiny vault in my brain and will be taken out should this happen again. And I apologize to our family members who are totally lost with some of the terms used, but I had to get it out and you other moms out there get it.

Ok...time to try and sleep for a short period before having to check again. Not gonna happen, but I can try.

Good night!!

On my own

Last night, of course after doctor office hours, Cale had a little incident with his pod. The pod itself was starting to come off of the adhesive (the adhesive, however, was stuck on like it was applied with super glue). Of course, this was from him being a spaz and jumping up from the table and it catching on the edge of the table (it is on his belly). I took a look at it and noticed that there was some dried blood around the cannula. So, just to be safe, I called the endo and had him paged. Turns out the paging system is not working correctly and he never called back - we had it done twice and I have since talked to his office about it. At that point, I made an executive Mommy decision and I changed the pod. Now keep in mind, it wasn't due to come off until tonight at our appointment to learn how to change it. It was so easy, Cale probably could have done it himself if I trusted him with the large needle to insert the insulin. We are still going to our appointment, only to make sure that everything is right on track and learn the last few tidbits. I'm just assuming that this is just the first of many "incidents" that will need to be dealt with. I guess we will be "Just taking it one day at a time".

So far...so good

Well, Cale has been pumping for almost 48 hours now and he is LOVING IT (who am I kidding, so am I!)!!!!! His BG has actually stayed fairly close to his target range (we have had 2 very highs and 2 lows...still working on that). He loves hearing the pod make it's very, very faint noise as the insulin is being administered. It is actually music to my ears. He also loves showing off his pod to anyone that will look.

We still have some questions here and there, nothing too major. Our endo's nurse is very helpful as is our school nurse. I am telling you, we really lucked out with our school nurse. I am trying to figure out how to bring her with us when he moves up to the next school. Or maybe I can adopt her...

One little problem would be Ryan. He still needs to remember that Cale is wearing the pod and not to tackle and pull on him. Yesterday, he actually caught the pod and while it didn't come off, some of the adhesive was torn. Oh well, boys will be boys and brothers will be brothers. My only thought was, thankfully there isn't any tubing to yank on and pull out the infusion site.

Tomorrow is our first pod change. Shouldn't be too difficult. I have already gotten the adhesive remover wipes and tonight is shower night so the boy will be squeaky clean!

I know that there is a lot more to learn and there will be some bumps in the road, but right now, I have felt a weight lifted off of my shoulders just looking at his BG these last two days. I'm still not sleeping much because of the testing in the middle of the night (I went back to our smaller meter with the awesome light - the PDM is just too bulky for a top bunk - then I manually input it), but that is just fine with me. I want to get this right!!

We are pumping!!

Ok...maybe not we, but Cale is officially on an OmniPod insulin pump. So far, so good. We had our 2 hour initial start training last night and it went very smooth. The nurse from our endo's office did the training (she has been living with Type 1 for over 20 years) and for the most part, she had Cale do all of the work. He sat between Pat and I and held the PDM (personal diabetes manager) or as Cale calls it his "remote control" and she had him go screen by screen and read what was showing. He actually did a great job reading considering he has never even heard some of those words. He learned what each screen meant and pressed all of the buttons to set it to all of his "specifications".

Once it was programmed, it was pod activation time. Insulin into the pod, belly cleaned, priming done, attached pod, pressed a button and TICK - it was done!!! I tell you, the noise is so loud - but the pain is so minimal! He was pumping!!!!

After that, we (Mom, Dad and our school nurse - gotta love her!) learned the remaining functions and had question/answer time. Maybe I am a little naive about this, but it doesn't seem all too difficult. I think I actually won't have to use my brain as much (bad thing, it will wilt away!!). This thing does EVERYTHING!! I love the fact that if his BG (blood glucose) reading is on the "low" side and he is going to be eating, the PDM will adjust his insulin lower in order to compensate. I had no idea!!! I'm telling you, so far this thing is better than a good clearance sale!

Last night, I was up a couple of times to check his BG (the only drawback I have found is that using the built in glucose monitor is a little cumbersome, especially in the middle of the night. I'm sure that we will get used to it and if we don't we can use any other monitor and just manually input the BG number). Normally, during the night, his BG rises and I have been giving him a correction shot. Last night, his BG wasn't even close to needing anything extra. At midnight he wsa 125! Granted, at about 2:30 a.m. his BG was 73, so I popped a couple of glucose tabs in his hand and he ate them (he does this in his sleep - as soon as I give them to him, his hand goes to his mouth and in they go - all while sleeping). I checked him again at 4:30 a.m. and he was 95 - not bad!! However, he did wake up at 58, so we need to look into that.

For the next 2 weeks, his BG needs to be checked 2 hours after every meal just to make sure that his insulin to carb ratios are right on and that his basal rate is correct. The school is going to love seeing me . They should just give me a real job there and all would be right in the world.

I'll keep you updated on our new adventure! YEAH!!!!

Step two...

It is finally here!!! Our "Pump Start" training for the OmniPod is tonight! ONE MORE SHOT until Cale is officially wearing the Pod. I think I am more excited than Cale, which is understandable. He is a little nervous for the "unknown", but I'm guessing that by tomorrow, when he hasn't gotten a single shot for over 24 hours, he will be fine with it!! Check back tomorrow for an update!! I wonder if I can Vlog me doing a "happy dance"? Nah...you don't want to see that. Just picture me smiling!!

Step one....

Tonight we are off to our "initial pump training" session for the Omni Pod. This is so exciting! I cannot wait until Monday!!!

Not sure what to do late on a Sunday evening??? Do what Lauren and I did, go see Bret Michaels in concert. It was standing room only, rather close to the stage, we were surrounded by trashy looking (but for the most part, polite) girls - (each other excluded - I have never felt more like an old mom than last night) and we had a blast!!! My one problem was that as I was watching him singing, jumping, gyrating, etc...I kept wondering what his blood sugar level was.

Bret scanning the crowd for Lauren.

Give me something to believe in.

Don't need nothing, but a good time!!!!

Hmmmm....how about that weather???

So I open up my home page when I logged on this morning and I have the weather showing for three different places 1-Poplar Grove, Illinois; 2-Chino, California and 3-Port Charlotte, Florida. Now I am just going to ignore Florida's for this post. However, under Poplar Grove I see this symbol:

with a high of 55 degrees.

Moving on down, I look at Chino and I see this symbol:

with a high of 59 degrees.

ENJOY!!!!!!!

IT'S HERE!!!!!

Tomorrow, tomorrow.....

So the little brown boy is not delivering the Omni Pod. Turns out the purple and green guy is and it is going to be here TOMORROW!!!!!!

YES!!!

The Omni Pod has shipped!!! Now I just wait for the little brown man to deliver it and it's off to the "pumping training" and we are shot free!!!! I am so giddy!!!

Still waiting...

We are still waiting to receive the Omni Pod. All we need is for the doctor to finish his paperwork and it will be shipped. The company was actually ready to ship last Friday, but still hadn't received the doctor's approval. COME ON MR. DOCTOR MAN!! SIGN AWAY!! WE DON'T WANT ANYMORE SHOTS!!! WE WANT TO BE PUMPING BY NEXT WEEKEND!!! Supposedly, he has everything and is waiting on lab paperwork. Yeah right! Fingers crossed!

STUBBORN!!!

Yes, I'm talking about Ryan (how ever did you guess?). Last night for dinner we had chicken and dumplings. Sounds tasty doesn't it? Well, Daddy put three teeny tiny pieces of chicken and three teeny tiny pieces of dumplings (no veggies) on Ryan's plate. He refused to eat them. Needless to say, the rest of us continued to eat our dinners as well as a yummy dessert right in front of him. Daddy told him he couldn't leave the table until he ate everything on his plate. That kid sat there for close to an hour before finally eating the three little bites (a piece of chicken and a piece of dumpling at one time). He actually sat there through the Super Bowl coin toss, first quarter and well into the second quarter. This is what I deal with most days. Of course Daddy thinks it is freakin' hilarious!! Whatever!!!!