Monumental Moments

When my children were first born, I kept a journal rather than a baby book. In it I logged a lot of firsts as well as my impressions of things and stories of the silly little things that they did. The other day, while ordering pump supplies, I realized that since Diabetes moved into our house there have been a lot of "other" firsts.  

When my son was two, I remember our first meter.  It was an AccuChek and we eventually got a cute polar bear holder for it.  The meter took a tonne of blood. I had to cover his entire little finger with blood to get a reading.  We were lucky that we had meters and that the count down was "only" 60 seconds.  That was forever!  I remember when we had more than one meter and it took only 15 seconds to read!

Later when he turned three we saw the first time he tested on his own.  He knew how to lance his finger and knew how the glucometer worked. He would soon be going to preschool and it was important for him to be able to test himself.  I was busy when he needed to test so I pretended that I couldn't do it at that moment. I asked him if he could please do it for me.  He did and I remember holding back the tears.  My baby was growing up...but what a way to have to grow!

As he aged he learned how his ABC's in two languages.  He learned how to count (again in two languages).  My son also learned how many "cow-boe-hydwates" were in a glass of juice or a slice of bread.  He couldn't say the word and most of the adults around him didn't know what a carbohydrate was but he did.  Again, I was both proud and sad.  He was learning but I hated that he had too.

He is much older now and has had many other firsts.  There was the first site change and filling his own insulin cartridge. There was logging on his own and answering the questions when we saw his diabetes team.  I remember the first time one of his basal rates was over 1.0 units per hour.  I was scared to death that it would kill him! I remember the first time that we had to fill the entire 300mL cartridge because that was what he needed to get through until the next site change.  That same amount used to last him a month!

This week saw a few more firsts.  I ordered new infusion sets and decided it was time to get the longer tubing for him. He uses his limbs and hauling out a pump attached to his teenaged legs is requiring a little more tubing than it once did.  He also figured out a few more features on his pump and is customizing it to "his" needs not mine.  

Today we had follow up pictures done for a Canadian Diabetes Association campaign.  Tomorrow is World Diabetes Day. Diabetes is everywhere in our lives.  It has even become the source of monumental moments in our lives.