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!!!

You Don't Say

On Wednesday afternoon, Cale came home from school complaining that his head hurt.  The look on his face was not "normal".  I went over to him and touched his forehead...CRAP!!!  He has a fever!!!  I honestly thought that the "bug" that Ryan had for 5 days straight (fever and headache), over a week ago, had escaped Cale and he wasn't going to catch it.  Not so much!! 


Cale ended up staying home from school on Thursday and Friday.  The poor guy had to miss his Valentine's Day party (gotta say, I was disappointed for him...but relieved at the same time...remember the class Halloween Party?).  He was pretty miserable all of Thursday.  Highlight would be that he can now swallow an ibuprofen pill and that really brought the fever down, for awhile.  No more sugary filled liquid medicine!!  By the time his little brother got home after school on Friday, Cale seemed pretty much back to normal, with the exception of a cough and a little congestion.  But, he was all over the place!  The energy had returned!!

The entire time Cale had a fever, his BG's were slightly elevated, but nothing alarming.  It was 2 full days of constant BG checks and ketone checks.  He couldn't understand why I had him keep checking his ketones.  He is only used to them being checked when his BG is 240 or above.  He wasn't over 240.  BUT, at one point, he had moderate ketones.  So, he got a little "sick day" lesson on all of this.  The hard part is that my "little boy", at 9 years old is already 5 feet tall.  Try getting that to the bathroom in the middle of the night, when his BG is over 240 and he is SOUND ASLEEP!!!  Dad had to come help out with that one!

The crazy part was after the fever was gone.  Cale's BG's were out of control - but no ketones!  There was nothing bringing them down!  I had to give more insulin than ever in a single syringe!  Even now, they are still on the higher side.  Inside, I am mourning the non-use of our OmniPod (DAMN ADHESIVE)!! I so wish he was able to use the pump again.  I wouldn't cringe and have to hold back the tears in the middle of the night when I have to come at him in his sleep with a needle.  I could adjust the basals to help out.  We wouldn't have had to poke so many teeny tiny holes in his skin this weekend to try and bring down his BG's.  **sigh**

Cale complains about diabetes.  Who wouldn't?  The really amusing part in all of this was on Saturday night.  We had family movie night and watched "Grownups" (I was told it wasn't so bad for Cale to see, Ryan on the other hand....let's just say - they "out" the toothfairy!!!  It got really quiet in our living room at that point, but no questions.  We did play it up in the next scene when Adam Sandler was wearing a t-shirt that said U MASS.  Ryan thought it was funny that he had a bad word on his shirt and we explained it was short for University of Massachusetts.  He said, "Oh, I thought there was a D in the front of it!"  We totally played that up to help forget about the toothfairy.). 

After that movie, I had Cale test himself...he's BG was up there.  So I gave him yet another shot and we actually started watching "Gone With The Wind".  Cale was kinda enjoying it (he likes war...any war) and Ryan went in my room to watch iCarly and he fell asleep.  During the Intermission, I asked Cale if he would mind testing himself again to see how he was doing.  He looked up at me from the floor and said, "Yes, I do mind, but I will do it anyway".  He stands up and I hear him mutter "This is friggin' ridiculous!".  I lost it!!  I couldn't stop laughing and when Pat came back in the room, I told him and he couldn't stop laughing.  It is Friggin' Ridiculous!!!  He hit it right on the head!!!  Thankfully, he was 99!!!  YES!!!!

Then, as we were waiting for the Intermission to be over, Cale asked why they do an Intermission.  After we explained about old movies and how long this movie was and how they couldn't pause the movie to go to the bathroom back then, he said "But Strange Brew had on Intermission too...didn't it??".  Ahhh...kids!!!

Having Fun in the Snow!!!

Today, we made the most of the crazy amount of snow that we received earlier this week.  All four of us suited up and drove out to Wonder Lake to go snowmobiling.  Yes, our snowmobile has been kept 35 miles away from home (the trails and fields are better out that way and there is more garage space for the sled - if we kept it here, we wouldn't even be able to fit my 1 car in our 3 car garage, like we do now - Thanks Papa and Nonnie!!!).  Not always an ideal situation, but not a bad set up.  Since my father-in-law (Papa) spends the winter in Florida, his snowmobile sits there, all lonely.  So Pat hopped on his snowmobile with Ryan and I took Papa's with Cale. 

Let me first say, the amount of snow we got was not always ideal for our ride.  The trails were not groomed well because the groomer couldn't really get out there.  To cross a road, we had to sled up the HUGE piles caused by the plows, stop and look, then head to the other side where we would have to gun it up that pile.  Needless to say, I am not the most experienced snowmobiler.  I am now, however, VERY experienced in burying snowmobiles in the snow!!!  I did it FOUR TIMES!!!! I also, WARNING....bad Mommy moment coming, "threw" Cale off the back of the sled at one point (I freaked out and he jumped up and was laughing hysterically!!  This is where the deep snow came in handy! The other riders that were nearby were giving him a thumbs up).  Pat was very patient and calm each and every time I buried one.  Even when he was waist deep in the snow trying to dig one out - with the help of 2 very kind men that stopped!  The last time I did it (which technically wasn't really my fault because I was following Pat's directions) we were only a couple blocks from the house.  I had to run up and get my Escape to pull it out!  FUN!!!

We all had a great time!  I can't wait to go out again, once some of the snow either melts or packs down more!  I am so sore from trying to keep the skis straight as they would get caught in the grooves of the tracks from other snowmobilers and pull us in one direction and that was not the direction I wanted to go. 

AND....Diabetes TOTALLY cooperated all day!!!  As we were getting ready to leave, I had Cale test himself and he was in the low 90's.  A little snack to help make it to lunch and we were on our way!  Over an hour later, at lunch, about 140 - not too bad.  And he didn't feel low the entire time!!  We were out for over 5 hours!  I did freak a little when we got home and he tested before he was going to eat dinner and it showed 367!!  Crap, no wonder he didn't feel low!!  I corrected and gave him the insulin for his dinner.  Not even an hour later and he said he felt low.  ???????  Seriously?!  He tested and was 92!!  Obviously, his pre-dinner BG was wrong!!!  So, the big D did cooperate today, just not his "ticker"!

Here are some pictures. 

Ryan and Cale waiting patiently to head out!!

Cale and Ryan on the side of the trails...I really liked when we rode through "woods".

My 3 snowmobiling guys!

Me and my 2 little snowmobilers....gotta love that all 3 of the males have really cool snowmobiling gear and I look all hodge-podge in whatever jacket, helmet and gloves that we could scrounge up!

I love this picture!  My 3 Arctic Cat Guys!!  See, they have cool jackets!

Here is the last time I got a sled stuck. (I so wanted to take a picture when he was waist deep - like another guy that rode by did - but I didn't want to add to the situation) You can't tell from this angle, but the tracks are totally buried!  That sled wasn't moving at all!!!

That is until I ran up and got my 4 wheel drive vehicle.  And that even took some doing!!!

Man...I hate cell phone pictures.  So fuzzy!!!  BRING A REAL CAMERA NEXT TIME ANDREA!!!

Our Blizzard

For all of our family in the warmer climates....here are some pictures of our Blizzard!!  This weekend is gonna be great for snowmobiling!!!