Miss Blogging

Wow...its amazing how much you actually miss blogging when you don't have the time to! I've been really busy the last week or so :) and my head is a whirlwind right now so its wayyyy past time to blog!

Let's see...

I finally got my application turned in...the transcripts were sent...and all the letters of reference are in :D So hopefully I will hear something soon! In the meantime, this is the first day that Ive not been at Kacey's school until after lunch. Kacey's school nurse will not be back until probably the middle of Dec now so they hired on a part time RN to help from Wed-Fri and the teacher thats been in there since Mrs. H left to be with her Mom will be in there Mon-Tues. OK... so this new RN... Ms. Heather... OMG we love her!!! She's very knowledgeable and I feel like Kacey is in really good hands with her (not that I didn't feel like that before) but it just makes me feel better knowing theres a RN on site now! She's very nice and personable and Kacey's really taken to her. I sat with her for a little while this morning going over past blood sugar numbers and she was trying to help me find trends.... yep she used the word trends too....kinda makes you smile inside when you talk to someone and they know what you're talking about and you don't have to explain what a trend is before you even start! She's familiar with "diabetes lingo" ...lol! As a matter a fact, she told me this morning when she worked as a neonatal nurse at Children's (the same hospital Kacey goes to) she said she worked with another nurse that was Type 1 and she was on a pump but she'd have the lowwwww lows... the kind where you get confused, etc....the kind that Kerri talks about having! But she said she could see when they were coming on and she'd get her juice or snacks...so you can imagine as a Mom ...hearing this made me feel VERY safe to leave the school today :) Now...dont get me wrong...we love Mrs. H and we're glad she takes good care of Kacey....but we really like Ms. Heather and we're thankful they found someone to cover as an RN! So here I am... finally back home....got 3 loads of laundry done...dishes washed....bathrooms cleaned....and now Im here catching up! Haha...a mother's job is never done!

Now...for Kaceys update....shes feeling much better :) still has that nasty cough but with the weather going from the 20's to the 50's and back again...its hard to NOT be sick! Thankfully the sinus crap is gone tho and her numbers are still bouncing like Tigger *grumbles* I faxed blood sugars on Monday and it is now Friday and I've not heard a single word from them! I've used that logbook from Kevin at www.parenthetic-diabetic.blogspot.com (which btw we absolutely love) and I've noticed that her sugars are jumping from the 140-160 range at lunch up to the mid 300's about 2hrs later .... sounds like a carb change huh? So I went on and made the I:C change from 1:20 to 1:18 like all the other meals and we'll see what happens :) She's still running in the 180-300 range on a good day...so not sure what other changes they will want to make but Im really getting comfortable with trying to tweak this on my own! Im still doing the middle of the night checks and the results seem to vary so I guess her body is still doing some wacky things...LOL! Other than that, she's doing good. She's seemed to adjust to the highs and she just rolls with it...not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing....LOL she's had so many highs lately that shes just used to it and deals with it.

As for me...I had a few Mommy Meltdowns over the last week. I think it was more due to the emotional roller coaster my body was on because of PMS, lack of sleep and stress of dealing with it all because they were the uncontrollable crying urges and I seemed to get choked up by the littlest things...so yeah....I feel much more normal now that things have adjusted! It's amazing what stress will do to you!

I guess thats about all :) Hope everyone is doing well and I hope to be back in the blogging world regularly now!

~*~JILL~*~

Biggest Loser Bitch!

OMGGGGGGG Caraaaaaaaaa..... Can you believe what just happened on The Biggest Loser? Dangit! I thought for SURE Vicky was gone! OMG I cant believe Amy would keep her there after all that happened....that sucks!!! I guess she's playing the game now...LOL cuz if she keeps black in her corner and then has blue in her corner, she can weasel her way thru to the finale!

Geesh! I wanted her to leaveeeeeee!!!!

Fall Festival 11-15-08

Kacey taking a dive during the obstacle course

LOL she was like a rollie pollie...least she was smiling!

Kacey & Nae Nae (my Mom) doing the Cake Walk

Kacey, Kayleigh (her sis), Stephen (Kays boyfriend),

Samantha (Stephens sis) and Austin (Stephens brother)

Weekend Update

Whew! This was a fast weekend :(

I left off on Friday morning. Kacey woke up at a 163 and was feeling well enough to go back to school. She was really excited about going to the play....so much that by 9am she was up to a 286! I had a chance to speak to the teachers about the note. Geezus...lack of sleep combined with major PMS emotions had me all choked up and I ended up in tears trying to talk to Mrs. S about what happened. She assured me that it wasnt just Kacey that wasnt listening that day...it was the whole class...and she wasnt singled out...they all were spoken to. So after making an emotional blubbering ass of myself, I boarded the bus with Kacey to leave for the fieldtrip. The play was at Kayleigh's school and it turned out to be a production by Theater 4 and was "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". The kids loved it! While we were sitting there, it was time for Kacey to test and have a snack... 257! Grrrr... ok so that meant we had to do a correction shot. This really sucks! By lunchtime she was down to a 169...ok we're back in range....for now! So 3pm rolls around....time to test again.... 361!!! Holy cow!! Have I mentioned how frustrating this is....and again...lack of sleep and PMS has me in tears again! We come home and 5pm...shes a 251...so we do dinner and a correction. Since Kayleigh was gone out with Stephen and his family and Frankie went to meet a friend...it was just me and Kacey for the evening. We dug out the UNO game and played about 30 games :) It was good to see her laugh (even if she was running on the high side). So by 8pm it was time to test for bedtime.... imagine the shocking smile on her face when the beep revealed a 128! YAY! OK...so all the correcting all day long finally has her back on the low end of the range and she's all smiles! We decide to celebrate with popcorn and watching "Super Nanny" in my bed :D She dozes off and I do her 11pm test without her even flinching...194...wow! This is good...this is real good! Set the alarm for 2am....By then I knew she should be coming down...167...yes!

Saturday morning I tiptoe in and test her at 6am...143! Wow! This is great! Today is the Fall Festival at school. We met my Mom for breakfast at 7am...149! By 9am she was back to a 286 but she insisted that she felt well enough to go to the festival....still coughing! So we got there around 10am and she had 100 tickets to use up :) She had a good time playing all the games and the exciting part was...she did the cake walk and she won....she went over to the table and said "Mom, can I get the cake with no icing?" ... part of me wanted to cry (again) but the other part of me was so proud of her for choosing that way! Her principal was there and she actually praised her and gave her a thumbs up for getting the pound cake. Some of the games she played gave candy prizes and she'd play and put the candy in her bag and then she handed the bag to her sister and said "I got to play the game so heres a prize for you!" and she gave all the candy to her sister! While we were at one of the games, one of her friends came up and hugged her and then said "Kacey this game doesnt give the toy prizes!" (She's in Kaceys class so she knows) and Kacey turned around and said "It's ok! I don't want the candy! Im playing for my sister!" It made my heart smile :) As lunchtime got closer I figured she'd start fussing about being hungry...she didnt! I kept asking her if she wanted something and she just wasnt hungry...so I dont know what that is all about...but I made her test at 12pm to make sure she was ok.... 244! Ok...so the excitement is still kicked in...LOL! We got home at 1pm and she was still at 224 but I made her eat a little something. By dinner she was a 238 and then 8pm she tested for bedtime....133! YES! She was back in range before bed :) I'm thinking that maybe those lunch carbs need to be changed now!

Today has been a lazy Sunday. We've stayed around the house and she played most of the day. She woke up at a 212 though :( By 9am she was a 192 and ready to eat breakfast. Not sure whats going on with her appetite. Shes not been very hungry the last few days. Maybe the antibiotic has her out of whack? By lunch she was a 137 ... good number for her! But by dinner....306!!! Geesh!!! Don't know what in the world spiked her up like that?

This week will still be a little crazy. A bit of bad news.... Mrs. H's (Kaceys nurse) mom passed away on Friday :( We knew it was coming and our thoughts and prayers are with her as she makes all the arrangements and travels back home from Boston. I don't know when she will be back but the school does have an RN coming in by the end of the week. The sub thats been in the nurses office, Mrs. W, has been so good to Kacey since Mrs. H was gone. Even though Ive been up at school til she gets her shot, shes made sure to call me whenever Kacey wasnt feeling good and every time she tested so I knew what her numbers were. We're thankful that she's been in good hands :) I cracked up laughing the other day because Mrs. W (who Ive known for about 15 years now) told Kacey "Come over here and gimme some sugar (hugs & kisses)" and Kacey blurts out "Mrs. W, you have to stop giving me sugar because you're making my blood sugar stay high!" Hahahaha! It was priceless!

Thats about all for now :) I hope everyone had a nice weekend!

~*~JILL~*~

World Diabetes Day

Today is our first World Diabetes Day. It's not a holiday I really want to celebrate but its a day that I ask myself...What can I do to educate those around me? My first step is trying to encourage as many parents as I can to have their blood sugar checked and to have their child's checked at their well-checkup. This test is a simple finger stick that could be the difference in life & death. This simple test is something that Kacey does 8-12 times a day and all I'm asking is for them to do it once. I really think that a finger stick should be mandatory at every well check up...most of the finger sticks they do at check ups just check iron levels....not blood sugar! My next step is to encourage everyone I talk to today to go to www.jdrf.org and donate! They can still donate under Kacey's team name "Diabetes Sweeties". I will explain to them what JDRF does and how the money they give is helping researchers get one step closer to a cure!

My hope... a cure in Kacey's lifetime!

Wear blue in support of World Diabetes Day....wear blue in support of Kacey!

Update on Kacey:
I've been doing finger sticks every 3 hours since we were told to yesterday. She woke up at a 163 this morning :) I'll take it! We had to do 2 correction doses in between the regular doses and shes finally come down. Im going to leave the Lantus at 11 units and see how she does since she woke up in range this morning. She is feeling well enough to go back to school and shes excited about going to the play today. I'll be with her at school all day today and then we have the weekend to get things back on track. Hopefully her school nurse will be back on Monday. I havent heard anything so I hope shes doing ok. We've missed her the last 2 weeks!

More later...
~*~JILL~*~

Doc Visit Update

We found the culprit for the rise in blood sugars.....a sinus infection! Yep and we walked out with a prescription for Zithromax and a cough pill called Tessalon... hmmm cough pill? Apparently this pill wont rise her blood sugars like cough syrup will. LOL ... reminds me of some sort of gimmick thingy. Anyway...she just got her first dose and shes eating dinner and wanting to lay back down. When I checked her at 3pm she was a 309 so she did the correction shot without too much fuss. I explained to her that her Endo wanted her to check her sugar every 3 hours and if she was high then do a correction shot and as much as she was going to hate getting the shot, with any luck she'd actually feel better once she got her sugar back in range :) She agreed that she'd rather feel better than worry about a shot. Im just so proud of her! The blood sugar checks every 3 hours are gonna be a bitch tho...this means shes gotta do that at school too *grumbles*

Now I wanna rant about this visit with the doc....lol Im just all about ranting today but this is really bothering me. I dont have a medical degree...I dont claim to know everything about diabetes....and often Ive been known to ask more questions than I really should...but its only because I DO wanna know all I can about my daughters illness and be the best parent I could possibly be. That being said.... The doc is our family PCP. When I talked to the CDE earlier she suggested since Kacey hadnt been feeling well and was coughing til she threw up then she thought maybe we should see the PCP for a prescription to help her feel better. I took her advice and made the appt as soon as I could. This is the same PCP that I took her to when I thought she had the bladder infection and he sent us straight to the ER at Children's because she had Type 1! OK...so here is the convo:

Doc: So how much insulin does she get a day?
Me: Well it depends on her blood sugar. She gets 1:18 for bfast and lunch and 1:20 for dinner and then we do a correction dose for anything over 150.
Doc: Ok so how many units does she get?
Me: I dont know...it depends on whether she needs a correction dose and how many carbs she eats?
Doc: Well how many carbs does she eat?
Me: Ummm it depends on how hungry she is
Doc: Well how many calories is she eating?
Me: We were told not to watch calories...we watch carbs and dose her like that
Doc: I think your problem is food intake. Thats why she is having high blood sugars and once you get that under control then her numbers will come down.
Me: Thats not the problem for the highs...shes sick and shes still in her honeymoon and they are tweaking her dose.
Doc: Well she has more highs than normal blood sugars so its her food intake and she should be getting a set amount of insulin a day and she should be getting about 1400 calories a day or she should at least have a set number of carbs she is allowed to have.

Ok...by this point I could feel my cheeks getting red...I could see my oldest daughter shaking her head because she knew EXACTLY what I was thinking!! Clearly this doc was talking about TYPE 2!!!!! Not only that....he was telling me about the woman that came in and was taking 60 units a day and he just up'ed her dose to 70 units. Geezussssss 70 units of Humalog a day would kill Kacey!!! I was at a point that I couldnt even argue back because of the knot in my throat that was making me want to cry!!! I think I need to make an appt with the CDE just to discuss things going on and get us all on the same page. When Kacey is sick, I will just suck up the $40 copay and take her over there rather than taking her to a Family doc. Even tho Im not a huge fan of her Endo, they know all about her and have her blood sugar records and can make a better call as to what to do for her. This just sucks! I felt like I could have done more for her if I had the prescription pad! LOL!

~sigh~ So there ya have it....the frustrations of being a Mommy of a child with diabetes!

Who knows what tomorrow holds?!?!

We have the fieldtrip but it will all depend on whether she grumbles or smiles when I poke her in the morning. I'll update as I can!

~*~JILL~*~

ANOTHER Dose Change!

~sits up and tries to smile thru gritting teeth~

Yep...ANOTHER dose change! The CDE called and said the doc wanted to change her breakfast carbs from 1:20 to 1:18... hmmm isnt that what I wanted to do already? LOL! She said it seems Kacey's running high after breakfast.....DUH! Haha! Geesh...if I dont laugh about it then I'll cry!

We had another drop this afternoon...not as bad...but a BIG drop. She was a 287 at 3pm and she just tested for dinner and was a 79! Instead of treating a low, I just had her eat dinner. This way I'm not stuck in the situation I was the other day with overcorrecting. She said she feels fine so thats always a good thing :)

As for me, I picked up my application this afternoon and I dropped off 2 of the 3 letters of reference that I needed filled out. I was at Kacey's school all day again today :) It really has lit my teaching fire again and I really like being there. It also makes me feel better knowing that Im just an announcement away from getting to her. I will be up at school every day the rest of the week because her school nurse, Mrs. H, is still out of town. Her Mom is still really bad off *sad* I'm still keeping her in my thoughts and prayers.

~*~JILL~*~

Happy Blog Day!

Today is a GOOD day!

Today Kacey woke up at a 135 and she smiled when I kissed her cheek to wake her up. Yes. Today has been a good day! She's been in the best mood, despite creeping into the 200's at lunch. She's danced. She's played Barbies. She's gone outside with her sister. She's laughed. She's the Kacey I wish we could have every day!

Happy Blog Day to all my fellow bloggers out there!

I only started blogging just a few short months ago, yet some days I feel like I've been here longer. After we came home from the hospital with Kacey, I was internalizing all my feelings. I was scared to let anyone see me cry and I tried to remain so strong...it was the Mommy part of me! I thought if I let anyone see me cry then they'd see weakness and I didn't want to be seen as the Mommy that couldn't handle such a terrible diagnosis. So I turned to the internet as an outlet. I dove into reading everything I could get my fingers on...I clicked...clicked...clicked...and I started to run across blogs. Linking from one blog to another, I found a world that exsisted on here that I never knew about. A world filled with other people struggling with the daily in's and out's of diabetes and their stories gave me hope. I'll admit...there are many nights I sat here reading blogs (all the way back from the person's very first post) and by the time I got to the present day, I felt like I actually knew that person! I'd never chatted with them...never met them face to face...but we had a common link....diabetes. I didn't feel so alone anymore! I started blogging...started posting...and started to become "friends" with some people that I'd never even spoken to! How fascinating! These people that I'd become friends with had read my story like I did theirs...they knew some of my inner most feelings...they felt my struggle, my frustration, AND most of all my pain!

Sheri...if it wasn't for the blog and myspace...our girls never would have linked. You've given me hope...motivation...and the courage to be a parent of a type 1 child with diabetes. You're "been there, done that" helped me when I needed it most and I'm forever greatful for you and I'm proud to call you my friend! We love you and Nikki!! BTW, remind me to tell you about the "package".

Cara...being type 1 yourself you've been able to share info with me and let me know that what seems to be "not normal" ...really is "normal in diabetes life" and its ok to feel the way I do sometimes! Im thankful for the info you've shared with me and the hope you've given me as well! *HUGE HUGZ*

To all my other fellow bloggers that I don't know on a more personal level since I'm so new to this...I hope to get to know all of you better...and I'm thankful to all of you that have taken the time to post to me and let me know that things WILL get better...I just have to give it time! Every single post was taken to heart and you have NO idea what they all mean to me! Thank you SOOOO much!

To our friends and family that read the blog...thank you for your support over the last 4 months! We couldnt have made it without the love you've all given us. Your kind words...your support....your hope...and most of all your prayers! If you are reading the blog and keeping up on our daily struggles...dont be a stranger :) Leave me a post and let me know you're here! I'd love to know who's out there following along with us. :) Thanks!

As I close....I close with a smile and tears. A smile because this IS a good day...we're thankful and pray for more days like this. And tears because I really am so very happy to be a part of the Diabetes OC and to walk hand in hand with each and every one of you as we continue the day to day struggles and walk this long road together.

May you all have a blessed day!

~*~JILL~*~