Thank You Creative Memories

Thanks to Creative Memories because that is what I used to make my new blog header!

I got my Creative Memories digital software last year and ever since then I've been totally in love with it. I've found myself moving further and further away from paper scrapbooking. For those of you that are not familiar with it yet, I encourage you to take a peek at what they have to offer. I must say that I didn't want to wrap much money up in buying it for myself but it was a gift from my hubby since he knew how much I loved scrapbooking and being on the computer. The nicest part is once I finish the pages then it gives me the option to upload them right to Facebook! I've done several pages and I'm actually looking forward to taking a class with someone that can show me all the really cool features because I know I haven't even made a dent in what all it can do!

Oh yeah...and the best part....I OWN the header! I made the whole thing all by myself! The pic of the cupcake is from Creative Memories weekly freebies for the software. So just in case anyone out there wants to tell me they own that cupcake....it's mine...all mine....hahahaha! :)

I also used this same software to make Alexis a button for her blog too! So not only is it a digital scrapbooking software...it's come in handy for quite a few things now! :)

Rash

Yesterday afternoon, Kacey developed a rash. At first it was on her back...kinda itchy...but she didn't say anymore. We went to church and after church we went to my Mom's for lunch. She took her sweater off and she was peppered in the rash. All over her arms. All down her back and belly. My first thought was...great...she's got Fifth's Disease now because she already had the fever and crap. As the evening progressed, so did the rash! It was AWFUL....and she was itching so bad that she was screaming out at me. I gave her Benedryl and rubbbed her down in Benedryl cream. She was STILL itching! Then I got a call to work at the school for 3 days straight and I told the secretary that I couldn't take it because of Kacey's rash. She went on to tell me that one of the other sub's just took her child to the doctor because they had the same rash thingy and it was STREP! Ughhhhhhhh! So I had no choice but to take her into Urgent Care this morning.

It's hard to really see the rash in this pic but thats what covered her whole upper body this morning. She was still itching and crying. They did a rapid strep test and that was negative (thank goodness) and the doc said that Fifths Disease is most common in children under 2 and she'd have a slapped cheek look. I knew that because Kayleigh had it as a toddler. He also said that once they get it then it's like Chicken Pox...they don't get it again. Well...WHAT is it then? It's hives! FROM WHAT?!?! He said because of the severity and how long it's lasted, he's almost certain it's something she ate. A food allergy?!?! SERIOUSLY?!?! How much more can we really take? UGH! So he went on to explain there is a 6-8 hour window after eating for her to break out and whatever she ate in that time needs to be logged and then if it happens again we have to do the same thing and find the common denominator. Great! Do you know how hard this is gonna be to narrow down? Yeah she's diabetic and we count the carbs in everything but he went on to explain that this could be something she eats regularly and then her body all of a sudden says, "Nope! I don't like this food now!" and breaks out in hives. It could also be stuff within the food...not the food itself...like what the food is made from. OMG!!! I felt my brain swelling! So he said what I need to do now is write down what she had to eat and the date. He's giving her a prescription for Prednisone and he wants her taking 2 Benedryl for now. Once we get the hives under control then we can focus on what it is. As she eats, he said if she develops the hives again then we need to journal it. What a pain in the rear end!

So now...I'm sitting in Starbucks with Kacey while we wait for her prescription to be filled. This is my favorite hangout :) and I have a favorite worker in here. Everytime we come in, the girls always watch for Bradley. He's such a neat guy and very friendly. He takes the time to ask how customers are feeling and you can tell he genuinly cares about the customers. Its nice to see this...not just with my family...but with every single person who orders here. So it wasn't unusual when he asked how we were doing and what we were up to today. Kacey told him she wasn't feeling well and we were waiting for her meds to be filled. So to "treat" her for all her itchyness, I ordered her what she loves most....a tall Vanilla Bean Frap :) She loves when Bradley makes it because it tastes "perfect". We ordered and we went to sit down. He personally made her drink and walked it out to her..... "Hey there! I made you a grande instead of a tall since you're not feeling good today." Ummmm....if you could have seen her eyeballs. She was SOOOOO excited!!! So today...we're gonna ignore that 440 blood sugar and she's drinking her Starbucks in heavenly bliss :) TAKE THAT diabetes! THANK YOU Bradley!!! YOU make Starbuck's a better place to be and you've made my baby girl's day :)



New Pump Pack

As many of you know, my Mom is always making Kacey those really cute pump packs and most of the time she LOVES to wear them but there are times when she wants to wear a cute outfit and the shirt is a little snug and it's hard to "conceal" her pump. Well....worry no more!

My Mom bought some swimsuit material and basically made her something like a tummytote! OMG! You would of thought we just gave her a million dollars! She put it on and immediately slipped Goober inside. PERFECT FIT! The real test was when she pulled her shirt down. This is one of her tighter shirts and it's still hard to tell she's got her pump on unless you're looking for it! She was so excited that she got tears in her eyes! But it was soooooo neat to see her beaming!

Ahhhhhh...it's the simple things :)

THANKS MOM!!!!

Adding a Signature

OHHHHHH.....if any of you are interested in having a signature at the end of your posts....YOU CAN DO IT!!!! :) Go to http://www.mylivesignature/ and they tell you how to do it! This is soooo cool! You can pick and choose one to look like the way you sign your name! You make ther code and then go under settings in your blog...then formatting....then scroll down and post the code in "post template" and it will come up each time you post! LOL can ya tell we're still home sick? I've got too much time on my hands!

(((HUGS)))

A Friend Forever

Rufus...need I say anymore? Most of the Moms of diabetic children out there know who Rufus is! For those of you that don't....Rufus is a diabetic teddy bear that is given by JDRF to children recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. He came in a nice little backpack with a book about going to school with diabetes. He's been there for Kacey from the very beginning! It seems like every time she gets sick, he's right there with her! There is not a night that goes by that she won't make sure she has him with her. When I look back through the last 2.5 years of pictures, it's funny to see him pop up in different pics. Here are just a few.....

 Rufus joined Kacey at the JDRF awards banquet where she won an award for 1st place in the tshirt contest.

 Rufus was there when she got her very first diabetic alert bracelet

 Rufus always goes to Endo appointments with us but he makes sure to cover his face so he doesn't get any germs!

He waits with Kacey while the Endo gets her A1c results.

 Rufus takes a trip to the hospital where diagnosis began.

Rufus always seem to be around on diabetes sick days.

 Rufus was there when Kacey attended her very first JDRF awards banquet and won several awards.

Rufus was there to promote sneaker sales!

 Rufus was there for our very first JDRF Walk in 2008.

 Rufus in his younger days when his hair was still "fluffy".

Rufus at a year old!

 Rufus was there when Kacey did her first radio interview to promote JDRF and the walk.

Rufus is always there!



Even on the crappy horrible sicky high days.

Rufus when he was only about a month old. Kacey was practicing injections on him with water.

He was even there when Kacey got her glasses!



He still manages to make her feel better....even when those blood sugars are pinging like ping pong balls!

And....the next two pictures...Rufus is 2.5 years old now and you can see...his fur isn't fluffy anymore. His eyes can hardly be seen. His clothes have been replaced. He looks so worn out....but you know what....Kacey says, "He's not worn, he's just WELL LOVED!" Yep, that he is!  

And there you have it....in no particular order (cuz I was too lazy to drag them in order...LOL)

Do you have a Rufus? Does your child have a Rufus? If not, is there something you're attached to? Does your child have something they clutch tight to when they are sick or their blood sugars are wreaking havoc on their bodies?

WE LOVE RUFUS!!!! (***special Thank You to Lori from JDRF for giving him to us when we needed him most!)

Blog Makeover

I've been tossing around the idea of a blog makeover for quite some time! I just didn't know what I wanted....UNTIL I ran across Dotty Dot Dot's cupcake background! It seemed to fit PERFECT...since Kacey is so "sweet" and Kayleigh is my "baker". I contacted Ashlie about doing the makeover but right now I just can't do any paid makeovers right now so I took advantage of her freebie background and she is working on a header for me for later when I can do it. THANK YOU Ashlie!!! Another friend of mine heard that I was wanting these things so she taught me how to make my own button. THANK YOU to Tracy for helping me get it right! I know that all my D-Moms will agree when I say...there is hardly any "extra" money to spend on things like this so it's nice when we can create it and still have a pretty stinking cute blog :) Now go grab my button! LOL!

Winded

Do you know what it feels like to have the wind knocked out of you? Have you ever been so upset that you feel like a rug was snatched out from beneath your feet and you hit the ground knocking the wind out of you? You sorta lay there for a second to try and catch your breath and then you start to cry because it hurt.

Thats EXACTLY how I'm feeling right now!

I'm trying desperately to type this post through the tears that won't stop flowing! I type and I dab my eyes but the faucet of tears just won't stop. WHY? I know you're asking yourself what in the world could make me so upset?

I just hung up the phone with an Animas rep. They got our prescription and they're going to process the pump request with our new insurance but he wanted to give me a heads up on a few things. A heads up? Well...we're only 2 years into our Cozmo warranty. Ok...and? Well that means that insurance will probably not approve an upgrade. Ummm...wait! We don't have the same insurance! Well we still have to subit whether it is a new pump or pump upgrade and since her pump is still under warranty for another year then he said they will probably reject it BUT we could take advantage of the upgrade through them. They will give us $700 for Goober (Kacey's pump) and then that will leave us with an out of pocket expense of $200 or we could pay the $900 up front....UP FRONT...to get the new pump. Ummm...excuse me while I puke and bust into tears! For some of you, a pump is just a pump. Your pump might be like a cell phone. You can toss it to the side and part with it pretty easy. For Kacey, her pump is like some imaginary friend that is with her 24/7. She talks to this pump. She hugs her pump when she has good blood sugars and she yells at it when she has crappy ones. It's like a part of our family! When she had to send Herbie (her first pump) back, it was like a death in the family! I had told her that she would get to keep Goober but she'd be using a new pump. You know what this kid wanted to do with Goober? PUT HIM IN A FREAKING GLASS BOX! Yes, a glass box! A box to protect him for the rest of her life! A casket for an insulin pump. A glass box like Snow White was put into. ***wiping tears*** And....Now I had to break the news to her that she couldn't keep him because the difference in $900 and $200 up front is tremendous!! Money...it's all about freaking MONEY! The root of most evil! I honestly feel like I could vomit right now. I once again explained to the guy that we didn't have the same insurance. He once again explained to me that unless the pump was out of warranty or malfunctioning then they couldn't do anything about it. MALFUNCTIONING?!?! Ummm...does an Endo not being able to download settings classify as a malfunction? Can we say he's not working right? Can we tell them the CozMonitor works when it feels like it? (which it does by the way...damn those new Freestyle strips) Can we make up some story about the pump being run over by a train and not being saved? :( I'm at a loss here! So he said he would try to submit it and see what my insurance says.

Meanwhile, I keep my composure and walk into Kacey's room where she's laying and watching a movie. I sit on the edge of her bed and tell her I have a bit of bad news. She looks at me with sad eyes....she knows....she really knows what I'm about to tell her. I swallow that nasty lump in my throat and tell her that we have to make a choice. It's not for certain yet but if we decide to keep her pump then we have to pay $900 for an Animas pump but if we send it back then we only have to pay $200. She immediately clutches her pump pack and starts bawling. I felt like my heart was being squeezed right out of my chest! So I went on to tell her that her other option would be to try and stick it out for another year with Goober and we could definately go forward with getting Dexcom. That wouldn't be a bit of trouble and she'd have it in no time! She layed there just looking at me with these huge tears rolling down her face. I told her that we wouldn't make any kind of decision until we found out for sure from the insurance company and then we'd go from there but I just wanted her aware of what we were about to go through. I hugged her and left out of her room.

So now here I sit....and my biggest dilemma is this....
When we first got our Cozmo, it was March 2009. Two weeks after we got Herbie, we got a letter in the mail telling us that Smith's Medical was no longer carrying the Cozmo pump and for those that just got pumps, they would still continue to honor the warranty until the 3 years was up and then after that we would have to get a new pump. OK...so thats all fine well and good...BUT here's my gripe....when we went to the Endo last month, she came back in with Goober and said they could no longer download the pump settings. They couldn't access the Cozmo website to download what they needed to so they could make changes to her pump and see her logs over the last few weeks. I don't understand? WHY would Cozmo shut down the site for the doctors to be able to access the pump information. This means that from now on I have to use the cable that talks to her pump and upload the program settings and logs to pdf files and email them to her Endo before every visit. If something happens to that cable that we have then we have NO way of uploading these Cozmo settings anymore. Ummm....is that a malfunction? DUH! This is not OUR fault! This is Cozmo's fault! So why should we be held responsible for it? I knew in my gut that it would come to this. And I know in another year we could get another new pump with no problems but having to deal with an almost 11 year old that is attached to this pump like a stuffed animal is emotionally draining. Now....don't get me wrong....I'm in love with our Cozmo. I love the features. It still works and Cozmo will replace the pump for the remainder of the warranty. The reason we were being pushed to switch is because the Endo couldn't upload settings anymore. So, really....do we HAVE to switch right now? Should we wait out the next year with Cozmo and just move on with the Dexcom ...which is what *I* really want...*wink* It just seems like the easiest thing to do right now :(  My heart just breaks for Kacey. I guess for her it's like giving a body part back. Even though I've tried to explain it is like cell phone upgrades...she doesn't look at this pump as a piece of electronic equipment...so it makes things MUCH more difficult!

I'll update as I hear back from insurance to see what they say!

Oh yeah...and to add fuel to the fire....our insurance DOES NOT cover blood ketone meters or the strips. THANK YOU insurance! You just ROCK! NOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT! Maybe all of us D-Moms need to rally and tell them how important these are. Just like tonight....try getting a sick kid to pee on a stupid little strip while you add in being modest. Ummm...at almost 11 years old you really dont want your Mom holding a pee strip between your thighs and watching her peek down there to make sure your pee is making it on the strip. UGH!

Ornapods & Lows

I think we're finally out of the "low funk" that Kacey's body decided to take us through.

We had a VERY long night on Saturday night. When Kacey went to bed she was a 125 with no IOB so she had a snack, milk and a graham cracker, and bolused for it. Off to bed she went! It was already almost 11pm since we visited with some friends so I knew the 2am check wasn't very far off. Frankie said he would set his clock so I could have some rest since I had done the 2am checks all week. It didn't take long for me to doze! I never heard his alarm go off at 2am but I was jolted out of the bed by a shout from the other room..."Mumma! She's a 62!" C-R-A-P! I jumped out of bed and totally bypassed Kacey's doorway and went right to the kitchen for the juice. C-R-A-P! Omg! You mean I FORGOT to get another gallon of Hawaiian Punch?!?! (insert forehead smack here) I poured the last of the juice into a cup and hurried to her room. She was still in a daze but we managed to get her to suck from the straw. ***15 minutes later*** Retest...56! Are you freakin kidding me?!?! Give her 4 glucose tabs while I rummage through the frig to find something to give her. UGHHHH! I can't believe I forgot juice! I managed to find 2 Kool-aid koolers in the bottom drawer. YES! I ran back to her room with one in my hand. ***15 minutes later*** Retest...62! SERIOUSLY?!?! Well...Daddy knows what that means...LOL...he gets kicked out of our bed and moved to Kacey's bed and she gets moved into bed with me so I can keep an eye on her until she comes up over 150. By now it's nearing 2:45am and I struggle to keep my eyes open. Thank goodness there was something on TV! I didn't get her above 150 until after 4am. I set the clock to retest her at 5am. I dozed for that hour...one hand on her chest so I could feel it rise and fall....***5am test***...305! REALLY?!?! Ugh! So I corrected her and I knew I could grab at least 2 hours of sleep. So 7am rolled around and she had come back into range and I snuggled back in the covers and at 10am, I was awaken by "Mumma! Breakfast is ready!" I rolled over to see my hubby standing there with 2 plates, one for me and one for Kacey. I could smell coffee already and I stumbled to the kitchen where I saw Kayleigh washing up the rest of the dishes that were in the sink and she had made a whole pot of coffee. Ahhhhhhhh! That was soooo needed! As much as I wanted to be in church, there was no way I could even function to drive myself. Sunday...a day of rest! And that is exactly what I made it. I spent the whole day in bed...watching movies and scrapbooking. It was actually pretty nice. The one thing I'm so greatful for...Kacey was able to rest the entire night. Even though she was low, I was the one taking care of her so she was able to sleep and she didn't budge during all those checks. But she couldn't understand WHY I was so tired? LOL! If she only knew! :)

We also received a very special surprise in the mail. The Houston Family from Houston We Have A Problem blessed us with 2 Ornapods for our tree next year.

Kacey was soooo excited to get such a special present! These ornaments are not just ornaments! They were attached to Super Nate for 3 days to keep him alive! For us, that has such special meaning. Kacey sat there with the pods in her hands and she smiled and then she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "Mommy, these are so special." and she clutched them to her chest and hugged them. So from the bottom of my heart (and hers)....THANK YOU HOUSTON FAMILY! We will hang them with pride each year and say a silent prayer for a cure. We love you bunches!