Its too early for "The Lecture" Mom

I got up at an ungodly hour to take my son to the airport. He was heading off to spend part of his Easter holidays with his dad, brother and friends.  As we drove to the airport I began....

Trip down memory lane...Easter many years ago

"Don't forget to text me with your readings.  If you are on quad or running around all day, use the "active" basal not the travel basal.  You need less insulin not more."

"Mom, we haven't even got to the airport yet! Its too early for "the lecture"....  Don't forget to text me.  Call me once a day with your readings.  Don't forget to test. Make sure that you bolus.  Do a site change."

I looked at him and laughed.  It is never too early to remind him but he seemed to have the rules down pat and I told him so.  I then suggested that since he obviously remembered what I was going to say, it would be really nice if he actually did everything that I asked.

He told me that he always remembers. I just shook my head and continued to drive.

As we sat in the lounge before his plane boarded I gave him a gentle reminder...I wouldn't want him to think that I forgot the full "lecture". I also reminded him to enjoy himself...now that is one thing that needed no reminding!

Diabetes Haiku

Today's WEGO Health Writers Activists challenge is to write a health haiku.  I have done no poetry of any kind since high school...and that was not yesterday no matter what I tell people! I am sure my attempted haiku is written proof that poetry is not my strength...

Poking, testing, hurts.
Highs and lows, no end in sight.
Diabetes sucks.

Cows equal diabetes?

Go to flickr.com/explore and write about the image that you see.
This is the prompt for today's WEGO Health Writer Activists challenge.

The picture I received is a picture of a painting. A lone man and a herd of cattle.  It took me only seconds to see how it related to my health issue...diabetes.

The cattle are divided into two groups and I instantly had my connection.  Diabetes!! The cattle can be seen as the disease commonly referred to as diabetes.  The large group of cows on the right represent the larger category of Type 2 (Adult onset) diabetes.  The smaller group to the left reflects those living with Type 1 diabetes.  Statistics always say that only 10% of people with diabetes have Type 1.

I was on a roll! The lone man walking between the two groups? Well he is not necessarily a man. He is me! He is a parent of a child with diabetes. It does not matter what "type" of cow his/her child is.  He watches over all of them.  He is concerned with all of them. He wants to protect all of the cows--to watch over them and keep them safe from harm.

A simple farm scene quickly becomes a health scene.  My brain is filled with diabetes and can see it in the most unlikely of pictures but there it is..."Bringing them home" becomes "Guarding the Herd" in my mind's eye with very little effort.  It is almost scary how easily that came to me.  How diabetes fills even the most obscure crevasses of my mind.  

Why do you do it?

Another day in April and another WEGO Health Activists Writers Challenge topic! Today they ask, why do you write about your health? Well actually I don't, unless I am writing about my deteriorating mental health which is in part related to the health of my youngest son. 

Why do I write about the health of my son? For so many reasons! First, because its great therapy for me.  When I have been stressed or frustrated, by writing it down and getting it "out there", I have often been able to get perspective (or have someone give me perspective).  Sometimes it doesn't seem so bad when its spelled out on my computer screen.

Secondly, a friend once said that she liked reading what I was writing.  Silly woman!  Now I write to entertain the other one or two people who actually are interested in what I have to say.

This leads me to reason number three...so others know that they are not alone.  That is actually why my friend encouraged me to continue to write. She goes through similar events with her child with diabetes. My ranting, raving, and general discussions have shown her that she is not alone.  All of us parents of children with diabetes are in this together. We experience many of the same issues and seeing a variety of ways to cope allows us to find the best way to manage our own situation.

That actually brings me to a fourth reason (and here I thought I only had three!).  The fourth reason that I do this is to help those who are not yet at the stage in their diabetes life that we are.  I have learned a lot from those who have gone before.  When my son was a toddler I listened to the stories of those with pre-teens with great interest.  When my son became a pre-teen, I followed the horror stories of teenagers praying that some of their wisdom would help me through. Now that my son is a teen, and my older son is getting ready to move forward into his post-high school life, I read the tales of parents of young adults hoping to gain inspiration and guidance.  Hopefully, my stories will help prepare others for their next stage in life with diabetes.

The final reason to write about my son's life with diabetes is simple...some of his stories and points of view are priceless to me.  They amaze me.  They inspire me.  They make me laugh.  Blogging about it allows me to share his unique perspective with the fifty or so other people who follow my blog and allows me to preserve the memories in a unique form for both of us.

Back to the original questions...Why do I write about my son's health? To preserve my own sanity and hopefully to help out a few others along the way. Its as simple as that!

Spidey Senses on the Job!

Its Day three of the WEGO Health Activists Writers Month Challenge and the topics are getting more challenging. Today they ask "if you had a superpower, what would it be? How would you use it?".  This seriously had my tossing and turning last night trying to first think of what a superpower was and what super hero had the power that I would want.

My first thought was "aren't all parents super heroes?". I mean we know things. We feel things. We have to be on alert all of the time.  I then thought of parents with diabetes, or any chronic illness, we worry even more about our children. We hover and try to let them be children.  We try to carry as much of the burden for their health as we can, knowing that one day we won't be able to do that any longer.

These were not the kind of super heroes that this question was getting at so what did I know about other super heroes? Very little! There was Wonder Woman but her golden lasso really wasn't going to work for me.  There was Superman but flying and super strength did not appeal to me as things that would benefit my life either. What I really needed were Spidey senses.  That was it! I needed to be like Spiderman!

Climbing buildings is not my thing. I am terrified of heights but those tingly senses would accentuate the Mommy senses I already had.  That could be a really good thing!

Spidey senses would let me know when my son was dropping. They would tingle and alert me if we were heading into dangerous areas. It would be better than a CGM (and cheaper too!).

My new super power would alert me when he was going high. I would pay a little closer attention to that tingling feeling and I would know if there was a site problem, a pump problem or human error. I would intuitively know just what to do in all cases.

This hyper alertness would allow me to sleep knowing that if there were trouble on the horizon, my new spidey senses would wake me up! I would no longer just rely on intuition or guardian angels to get us through each night. This new super power would allow me to rest peacefully knowing that when danger was present I would be there!

Spidey senses. That is definitely the super power I could use! It would not get rid of that 3am site change we had last night, but it would have let me know that I had done the right thing and that all was fine afterwards.  This was definitely a must have super power for all super heroes...also known as parents or people living with diabetes!

Quotes that Inspire

For the month of April I will be trying to take part in "The Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge" hosted by WEGO Health. The goal is to write a post a day for 30 days...holy cow can I do this??? If you want to challenge yourself as well, sign up here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012 and you'll be able to torture yourself start posting April 1st.

Today is day 2 of the Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge and I am still here!! For the second day of April, the task is to take a quote that inspires you and write about it. I love quotes. I have a book of inspirational quotes near me at all times. I add to them. I read them. I am inspired by them. Having to choose just one therefore is very difficult.

When I first read this task, I thought of the quote by Diabetes Dad which simply states "Don't do nothing". I love this quote. Its something that I pass on to families asking "what can I do?" I remind them that they must do what is right for them as long as it is something!

Its a great quote to get people going but I decided that if I had to write for 15 minutes, I wanted more from a quote. This led me back to my Facebook page. What quotes have inspired me enough to post them for all of my friends to see?

"Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it."

This is a quote that really resonates with me.  I try to be positive and believe in the best of people and situations. I try not to dwell on the negative or those who have been negative towards me. I use those experiences to grow and move forward (well I do try!).  I strongly believe in the last half of this quote.

I truly believe that there are no accidents in life. Everything happens for a reason. Every person crosses our path with a message. Its up to us to chose to pay attention and learn from those messages or not. A lot of people have crossed my path at just the right time. 

I met a woman in the hospital the day my second son was born who has become a life long friend...and so have our sons. She helped me through the bad times and laughed with me during many, many good times. 

A year or so after Diabetes entered our lives, I went online searching for other "parents of children with diabetes".  The parents I found have become friends, mentors and lifelines through the ups and downs of life no matter where on the planet they live. 

I wanted a support for my son so he would not feel alone.  In my travels online, I came across a woman who had felt the same way about her son.  She created Rufus the bear with diabetes.  Through her, I was able to send bears to numerous children in our area who also were living alone with diabetes at the time.

I learned about insulin pumps and discovered the amazing work of a woman in Nova Scotia. We talked for hours as if we had known each other a life time. She would inspire me and help me to do many other things.

Another amazing person to cross my path at just the right time was someone who I also found online. This person had spent years fighting for the rights of those suffering with mental illness. This person became my mentor and showed me how to fight...but more importantly how to win on a scale that I never imagined possible.

I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. Diabetes came into our lives to show us the value of life, to bring us amazing friendships and to open doors that I never knew existed. It allowed me to change things and see things from a different view. I would make it disappear tomorrow but I would carry forward the friendships and lessons learned to my death.

These people, these chance encounters have created a variety of opportunities and thankfully I have somehow seen them and taken them.  The results have helped to create and mold who I am.  I think that they have not only made me stronger, but blessed me in ways that previously I could only imagine.

Our Diabetes Time Capsule!

For the month of April I will be trying to take part in  "The Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge" hosted by WEGO Health. The goal is to write a post a day for 30 days...holy cow can I do this???  If you want to challenge yourself as well, sign up here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012 and you'll be able to torture yourself  start posting once April 1st.

I have been asked to create a diabetes time capsule that will not be opened until 2112.  That's one hundred years from now! What will they think of the items that we use today? Will there have been a cure? So many questions but they will be answered in 100 years. Today my job is to pack this capsule....

First thing is our beloved Cozmo pump.  We still have our very first pump.  Will they know what it was used for? It seems so small, but I hope it will be obsolete by the time this is opened.

We also have to have the infusion set and mastisol for sticking the sites on. I should also have a cartridge to put the insulin in as well as a battery...just in case it still works in 100 years!


We need a bottle of insulin. I know I have an empty vial here somewhere.

If the pump fails...well I might as well put in a spare syringe. It is so small compared to years before.

A meter is also a must...which one to chose? We have a large collection.  The One Touch Ultra Minis seem to be my son's favorite so I will add one of those.  Test strips will not be difficult to find...they are everywhere!

A glucagon kit is a necessary evil that we have thankfully never had to use but the glucose tablets are a staple that we rely on often.

I think we are ready. That is about everything we could need...Everything that a family living with Type 1 diabetes in 2012 uses.