RUFUS....Her friend til the end!

My comment to Cara about Rufus got me thinking. I thought I would talk about him and tell how Kacey got him.

After Kacey was diagnosed at CHKD, we spent the 3 days there and when we got home I contacted JDRF about the Walk to a Cure. Since we weren't very familiar with the walk, I asked for some info about it. I got an email from Lori Camden. I felt such compassion in her email back to me and she asked me if Kacey had gotten her Bag of Hope while she was in the hospital. Bag of Hope? What's that? Ummm no I don't think she did. The Bag of Hope is a backpack with the JDRF logo on it...inside is some information for parents, an Accu-check meter with a coupon to get another free one by mail...a book about Rufus....and RUFUS! Nope I KNOW she never got that! Lori assured me that she'd send one out to us ASAP...well she wasnt kidding....we got it the very next day! When it arrived, Kacey screached with excitement! I opened up the box to reveal a cute blue backpack with the JDRF logo and inside.....RUFUS! Kacey took to him right away! With everything spread out across the table, we immediately read the book about how Rufus came to be. As she hugged him, we continued to read about his JDRF tshirt and his colorful patches that are placed in the same locations that you give injections...how cute! Most of all...Rufus proudly wore his Medical Alert bracelet. Since we'd only been home a few days, Kacey didn't have a bracelet yet. She kept worrying us til we finally got her one! Since that day....Rufus has made countless trips to Walmart....been drug around outside....tucked in a backpack with insulin and glucose tabs...hugged while watching countless movies....pricked by countless lancets and injected with water that was sucked into the syringe by a little girl that insisted if Rufus didnt check his sugar and get his insulin then he'd have to go to CHKD like she did. He's been there for her when no one else understood how she was feeling! Being able to care for Rufus, the way she was being cared for gave her the practice to finally be able to give her own injections and manage her diabetes. He's not been just a bear....he's a bear with Type 1 diabetes and knows how it feels to be a human pin cushion....just like her! Even though she is 8 years old....Rufus still gets tucked into bed with her each night...he folds his hands together as we say prayers...and most of all...he's her "friend". Im sure as time goes on, Rufus will take a back seat...but in the end...he was there when she needed that "friend" that knew how she felt and when she got the poke....so did he! He will always be a part of her life!

~*~JILL~*~

Thank You...Neal Steele!!

Kacey with Neal Steele from 99.1 WXGM radio

Kacey sitting in the interview chair with the mic (Rufus tucked on her lap)

I'm just getting home from the interview at the radio station this morning! Wowwwww! What a great guy! I must say that Neal Steele from 99.1 WXGM was wonderful this morning! He made Kacey feel very comfortable and she was prepared to answer all of his questions! ;) He asked her all about her diabetes...how she feels about it....and then about the Walk to a Cure shes doing on Saturday. He reached in his pocket during the interview and gave her $30 right on the spot!!! VERY COOL!! So now I have to keep watch on the JDRF Walk website and see if anyone registers and donates :) A HUGE Thank You to Mr. Steele and everyone at 99.1 FM for sharing their air time with us and letting us educate the community about Type 1 Diabetes and JDRF.

When we got to school, we had several teachers stop us and tell Kacey how "grown up" she sounded and how proud they were of her! Talk about a confidence boost :) I've said it before....and I'll say it again.... My Daughter is my HERO!

~*~JILL~*~

Pumpkin Patch

We took the girls to Pumpkinville on Sunday so they could get their pumpkins to carve this Friday at Nae-Nae's house. They had really good time :) It wasnt too busy and we walked out to the pumpkin patch for them to pick the pumpkins. They were able to ride the hayride and go thru the corn maze too.

We also had another bake sale on Sunday. It was only a high of 47 degrees and Kayleigh and I managed to stay out there til 2pm. OMG it was so cold! It wasn't busy at all either but we held out hope that as the day went on more people would come out....but sadly they didn't...so we only ended up making $47 for JDRF...compared to $108 last Sunday. BUT... thats $155 closer to a cure!

Tomorrow is the big day for the radio interview. I'm starting to feel a little nervous so I made some notes...just so I don't forget anything :) We have to be there at 7am so once I take Kacey to school, I will blog about it!

Also...for one solid week Kacey's blood sugars have been in range. I'm thrilled! She's still doing her own shots and doesnt want us doing them now...LOL!

Till later...

~*~JILL~*~

Call me.... C-R-A-Z-Y!!

OK...call me crazy...but I've decided to become an Assistant Brownie Troop Leader for the Girl Scout troop that Kacey is going to be signing up for! She wanted to do this last year and I just couldn't find the time. So now that hockey season is over and the meetings will only be once a week...I think Im ready! The troop will be a new troop and her cousin and a few friends are interested in doing it. Beacuse the troop is new, everyone will be starting out at the same level...which is nice because then the whole troop will fly up to Juniors together next year :) She is very excited about everything! We dug out Kayleigh's vest with all her patches and I was showing her what all the patches meant. I think this could be exactly what Kacey needs :) I do want her to go back to playing softball....but for now she needs that involvement with a small circle of friends. So I will know more soon about when the meetings are and how many we have signed up.

On another good note...I know I shouldnt say too much and jinx myself....but for the last 4 days Im pleased to say Kacey's blood sugars have been IN RANGE and she hasnt had anything over a 184 ~smiles big~ Shes felt better than shes ever felt and shes still giving all of her own shots. I just cant believe how shes taken over doing it all! Shes only had 2 lows and one was a 75 and the other a 78...both at dinner...and both times she didnt have an afternoon snack. So Im guessing thats what it was and Im not worried about it :) Im just thankful she's stayed in range and most of all....shes felt good!

Homecoming 2008

As promised, I am uploading some pics from Homecoming 2008. We ended up going to the football game on Friday night and even though we lost the game, it was still good fun! It was great to catch up with friends and watch the kids with their friends.

Kay & Kacey at the game

The Freshman float

Kay & Stephen

Kay & Stephen

Kayleigh

Injection Pic

Kacey giving herself a shot

She did her first one yesterday!

We're going LIVE!

I'm so excited I can barely contain myself!!! I just talked to Neal Steele from our local radio station. I sent him an email about Kacey and the JDRF walk and asked him to help us get the community involved and he asked me to call him at the radio station. So I called and he is putting us on the radio LIVE next Wednesday at 7:05am!!! OMGGG How cool is that?!?! We get to go on and talk about the walk next Saturday and hopefully get help from local businesses and people in the community that make up the "tens of listeners". Now I have to get some notes together to be able to talk about 10 minutes....wooohoooooo! What a wonderful way to get the donations rolling in :) So far our team has raised nearly $1100 and the donations are still rolling in! I originally set our goal at $500 and then I raised it to $1300 on October 1st and it looks like we're going to bypass that before the walk! I'm thrilled with the outpour of support we've had just from family & friends....THANK YOU!!! Also, we're having the team shirts printed within the next few days. A good friend of mine, who happens to be a screenprinter, is donating his time, ink and all the screenprinting fees (thanks Chuck @ Brainstorm Productions!) Im so excited with the way the logo turned out and I'm looking forward to getting the shirts :)

Details on the walk:

JDRF Walk to a Cure

October 25, 2008

York High School

9am- Registration

10am- Opening Ceremony & 1 mile Walk

11am- Finish & Fun

If you're interested in donating to our team you can visit the walk website at http://www.walk.jdrf.org/ and our team name is Diabetes Sweeties and you can donate under Kacey's name. With every donation of $25 or more you will get a team t-shirt with our logo on it.

Thanks again to everyone for the donations and prayers! We appreciate them all from the bottom of our hearts!

~*~JILL~*~

Exciting news!!

OMG...I can't believe its been 5 days since I blogged last. This past weekend was so busy and I never had time to get on here. Sorry :) BUTTTTTTTTTT....I do have some really exciting news!!!

First... Happy 3 month Dia-versary to Kacey.

It's been 3 months today since her diagnosis and Im pleased to announce that this morning ..... SHE DID HER OWN SHOT!!!! Yep...thats right... shes 8 years old...and she put the needle together as I figured up her dose and she dialed it up on the Kwik pen and did her own shot right in the top of her leg :) Im soooooo proud of her and how she's handling her diabetes!! She's my hero!! I was so wrapped up in watching her do the shot that I didnt get a pic so I'll get those tonight :D

I'll update about my weekend later....I just had to get on here and share the good news :)

~*~JILL~*~