HaPpY 1Yr. D-AnNiVeRsArY KaCeY!

This time, one year ago, I was sitting in the ER at CHKD with Kacey. She'd already gotten an IV and had 7 tubes of blood taken. I had so many things running through my head and the reality of them all had not hit me yet. It wouldn't be til they admitted her and took us up to the PICU that I'd understand how sick my baby was. When we came off the elevators and I saw the sign that said PEDIATRIC INTENSIVE CARE UNIT and I felt my knees go weak. It was the beginning of a long 3 day hospital stay.

HAPPY ONE YEAR D-ANNIVERSARY KACEY BROOKE!

I can't begin to explain how my heart feels today. When I looked at the clock at 3:30pm, I started to cry. That's what the time was when I called Frankie to tell him we had to go to the ER and the doctor *thought* she had diabetes. Really, the doctor knew she did and he'd told me she did but I didn't accept it and thought it was wrong. Oh how I wish it was wrong that day! But you know what, we took what we were dealt and moved forward. Kacey's diagnosis made me a stronger mother, not that I wasn't a strong mom already, it just made me look at the way we did things so much different. The time I was spending doing other things was quickly shifted to focus on her. I've handled feelings in ways I never thought I could. I've educated as many people as I possibly could in this last year....some ignorant to what diabetes was....some that thought T1 and T2 were the same thing....and some just plain asses, you know those ones that think your kid got diabetes from being fat and eating too many sweets? Yep, I've educated them too! So when I look back at my question to God in the hospital....WHY KACEY? WHY US? Now I've got my answer! It's was God's plan to use us to educate those around us and those we will come in contact with in the future. I've accepted God's plan and we will continue to serve it. As for Kacey, she's made strides that I never would have imagined a 9yr old child could make. She's overcome struggles this last year that no child should ever have to deal with. Did she complain? Yeah sometimes. Did she cry? You bet she did! Does she hate her diabetes? Yep some days she does. But you know what? She still has a smile on her face and she doesn't let it stop her! Diabetes might try and trip her up and bring her down but she gets back up, dusts off her knees, smiles and moves on. And....thats how Kacey is! I'm so very proud of her, as most parents are of their kids, but our T1 kids are special!

I was given a poem by Chasiti yesterday that I'd like to share. (Thanks Chasiti!!) I read this to Kacey and she ended up in tears! She hugged me and said, "I have the best Mommy in the world!" *sigh* ~wipes tears~

To Kacey,

How we managed to make it through,

I guess we'll never know,

But I'm grateful that we did it together

because tough times can help us grow.

We'll find our way, we always will.

As long as we have each other,

You will always be my baby and

I will always be your mother.

-Gina Marie Lauchner

As for Kacey's special day....

Frankie took the day off to spend with us since we didn't have anyone to go with us today. :)

We started the day with a reminder that diabetes is still a part of our daily life...site change. After site change, it was off to breakfast. We went to McDonald's for the big breakfast platter.

After breakfast, we headed to Busch Gardens. The temp is only 87F today and it's low humidity so we were in for a great time! I had the backpack packed with a surprise for Kacey but she wouldn't get it until we were inside the park for a bit. We got there when they opened and since it wasn't crowded, we headed over to Sesame Street to play for a bit. Daddy was a great sport and got on all the rides with her. I snapped some fun pics that I'll share soon. After they finished in Sesame Street, he asked her if she wanted to ride Escape from Pompeii....a water ride! She frowned and said she couldn't and held up her cast. Thats when I pulled out my surprise....a plastic bag and rubber band! YES! You're gonna ride it :) She started jumping up and down. Tomorrow is another exciting day because she gets her cast off. So if she gets it wet today then I'm not gonna get upset over it but we were still gonna try and protect what we could. Off to the water ride....yahoooo! Unfortunately there wasn't enough weight in the car to get her soaked...just a few dribbles. Bummer! She sulked for a few minutes and it dawned on me....OMG! Good thing you didn't get so wet.....CozMonitor!! We'd forgotten to take it off! So then we're walking toward the next section of the park and she grins this silly grin and says "Roman Rapids?" Ughhhh! I looked at Frankie because I knew this was a ride that we WOULD get SOAKED and he winked at me and looked at Kacey and said "You wanna ride it?" She shook her head yes as she jumped up and down. His response..."Let's do it!" Ohhhh boy! This took us a second and we were once again given a reminder that diabetes is there. Instead of taking Coz off the back of Herbie, we just disconnected. There was no line and the ride was only 3min long so it was ok. We put Herbie in a bag, then into her purse which was in my backpack. LOL! Had to make sure there was no chance to it getting wet. I wrapped her arm back in the bag and she took off to the ride. And.....YES WE GOT SOAKED!!!! It wasn't til after we got off that I realized...Uhoh! I can't connect her back up because her pump lays against her clothes and her clothes were wet. **think** Ok, yes I can, I just have to take Coz off and put it back in the backpack. So thats what we did and then we didn't have to worry about Herbie because he could get wet ;) then it was a few more rides, a 20min train ride, a roller coaster and a 4D ride. After all of that, we were ready to come home. I've learned that about 4 hours is all Kacey can handle before her blood sugars start to go wacky. She was down to a 136 mg/dl and we knew she'd be falling.

On our ride home, she got a surprise phone call from her sister! Kayleigh was the one thing missing from our day today. It's hard to do these things without her :( Kacey is really having a "I miss Sissy" day! So it was nice for her to be able to talk to her.

This evening....we went to the ice cream shop! She didn't know we were going and she thought we were just going for a drive. She sat down with a huge smile on her face....tested her blood sugar.... (***pray*** Please let it be in-range)..... (BTW, how bout that new Jonas Brothers case and purse...haha!)

YAYYYYYYYY...... 82!!!!!! Herbie was dosing as I took this pic. Look at that smile :) and that HUGE ice cream...ugh! This ice cream shop makes home made ice cream so it's nearly impossible to bolus right for it. So we'll shoot for 70 carbs for this cookies & cream ice cream in a waffle cone.

You've gotta love the ice cream face! :)

And... now two and a half hours later...she checked her blood sugar....81!!! Looks like she'll be having a small snack before bed tonight. LOL!

That will conclude our excitement for the day.

A day of celebration for us! A celebration of Kacey's life. A life with diabetes. Proof that you can live a somewhat normal life with diabetes. Embrace your disease because it's not going away.

LIVE with diabetes....don't just EXIST with diabetes.

Thanks to everyone that left Kacey comments on my Facebook. I let her read them all and she felt so loved! You all are the best! :)