4/30/14 It's been a while Since I last posted. Owens numbers still aren't where we want them most the time, but the adjustments his Endo made are keeping them fairly level. His mood swings still happen allot when he's high or low but I think it's better when he's low because he at least knows he feels sick and is being a jerk. We still have to do the 2am checks but I haven't been battling the lows since they changed his Lantus which means more sleep for both Owen and I. YAY!  He is also finally gaining the weight, he's still considered underweight but he's getting there!













Todays been pretty good, Just waiting on our 2am check hoping it's not low :) Owen got his bracelet! Isn't it fabulous?  https://www.facebook.com/KnotRightParacordDesign

Ups and Downs

With ups and downs my adorable sweet helpful child turns into a monster. His overly helpful and kind mannerisms change and let me tell you this boy can scream for hours and hours. I honestly don't think he knew what he was crying about. I hate diabetes, Its made my son, our sleep and all of our lives unpredictable. He was doing really good checking his blood but lately he pulls his finger away before he gets a good poke which results in more pokes ... I wish he would let me do it but the only ones he never pulled away from were his night and day nurses. Silver lining his bracelet came in today :) woot! It looks fabulous! I'll post pictures tomorrow.

A Little Type 1 Humor

Owen talking about Type 1

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Just Another Day In A New Routine / Thanks Diabetes Type 1 You're So Helpful!

 So tonight hasn't been the best of nights for my husband and I. I'm grumpy, he's grumpy , we're all tired and overwhelmed. I desperately want to Scream at him to just stop talking but am taking the passive aggressive keeping my mouth shut with "that look" route . I am sharing this because some people think I am not capable of having a breakdown and that's far from the truth. This is a stressful time and I think this is fairly normal... I mean if it's not we all know I'm a little odd anyhow. I love my husband, he loves me but we are both overwhelming the crap out of each other... can I say crap? Well this is my blog and I'm going to. I called a friend upset my husband and I were arguing and She thought it was hilarious I was this upset over my husband and I not embracing while running through fields of flowers reassuring each other that everything's going to be ok.... " I love my sarcastic friends they are my fav" So to those of you having a rough night, if you're new to this it will be a stressful time for you. You and your spouse may argue about how you are going to afford the bill even if you're both in agreement you both don't know what to do.  Yes we are both being childish arguing over things if said in a normal tone we would both agree with. It has to be the exhaustion. We are like two overly tired drunken toddlers with no rationalizing skills. This doesn't mean you don't love each other, tomorrows a new day, thank goodness. So If you find you and your spouse are annoying each other during this time you're not alone, I hate to break it to you but you're dare I say? Normal.  Moving on to more news I have been having a hard time figuring out carbs in the recipes I currently use. My friend Katies mom Lisa was nice enough to buy us a beautiful kitchen scale that will be here Thursday. I feel that will make things allot easier on all of us. I am so happy I have these amazing people in my life wanting to jump in and help our family. Owens been keeping his blood levels in range ... there is so much more for me to learn about this disease but I'm still numb from all of this I can't help but to have moments where I am freaking out about the financial ramifications but for now the tears have stopped and we have gotten into a routine we are comfortable with. Tonight we checked the mail and this week I haven't seen a bigger smile on Owens face aside from when he got his pal Rufus. We are trying to look at the upsides, Owens middle child syndrome is all but a distant memory this week. With that being said  What do you think? Owens new bracelet custom-paracord-diabetic-medical-alert  pretty awesome right? I really love this boy he lights up my life <3 all my children do.

Added note the store owner of KnotRightParacord was sweet enough to send Owens bracelet as a gift! I can't wait to take pictures of it for you guys :) Opps Tme to run to do Owens 2am BG check!  You may wonder why I am awake so often between 9 and 2am well lets just say I am a very sounds sleeper and when I am out, I'm out like a freaking light it just makes more sense to go to bed after his check ... for now.

Score! Resources That Have Been Helpful!

 www.apidra.com has an RX assistance program it costs nothing to sign up! You can't use it if you have Federal insurance however you can check your private insurance carrier to see if they allow you to use the card to help with the copay!  How fabulous is that? 

http://jdrf.org JDRF is wonderful, they give out a free starting kit, for younger kids like my son they even provide a special Bear named Rufus. 

http://www.diabeteswellness.net Free I.D Necklace all you have to do is pay shipping... pretty sweet if you ask me! Y

Discouraged about the price of diabetes camp? Don't say you can't afford it yet! Most of them offer financial Aid, some will cover up to 90 percent!   

Fix You - Coldplay - Acoustic Cover by Tyler Ward & Boyce Avenue / I'm feeling this song tonight.

What Is Type 1? How Is It Different From Type 2?

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5. Your body makes too little or no insulin. This is called type 1 diabetes, insulin-dependent diabetes (IDDM). Only 5% of people with diabetes have type 1. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that may be caused by genetic, environmental, or other factors.²There is no known way to prevent diabetes type 1. Effective treatment requires the use of insulin.
6.       Your body can not use the insulin it makes. This is called type 2 diabetes, non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM).Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90%-95% of diabetes cases and is usually associated with older age,obesity and physical inactivity, family history of type 2 diabetes, or a personal history of gestational diabetes.²Type 2 diabetes can usually be prevented through healthy food choices, physical activity, and weight loss. It can be controlled with these same activities, but insulin or oral medication also may be necessary. 
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8.                                                                            Type 1                                   Type 2

9. Cause	Beta cells in pancreas are being attacked by body's own cells and therefore can not produce insulin to take sugar out of the blood stream. Insulin is not produced.	Diet related insulin release is so large and frequent that receptor cells have become less sensitive to the insulin. This insulin resistance results in less sugar being removed from the blood.
   Genetic basis	Possibly. In most cases of type 1 diabetes, the patient would need to inherit risk factors from both parents.	Type 2 diabetes has a stronger link to family history and lineage than type 1.
   Bodily effects	Thought to be triggered by autoimmune destruction of the beta cells. Autoimmune attack may occur following a viral infection such as mumps, rubella cytomegalovirus.	Appears to be related to aging, inactive lifestyle, genetic influence and obesity.
   Climate	One trigger might be related to cold weather. Type 1 diabetes develops more often in winter than summer and is more common in places with cold climates.
   Diet	Early diet may also play a role. Type 1 diabetes is less common in people who were breastfed and in those who first ate solid foods at later ages.	Obesity tends to run in families, and families tend to have similar eating and exercise habits.

   My son Owen in the front left is living with Type 1. He did nothing to cause this and it couldn't have been avoided. With that being said about 10 percent of people with type 2 have not done anything to cause their type 2. it's important to remember not everyone with type 2 is overweight or unhealthy. One of the most difficult things socially so far is people assuming this is caused by life style. I'm sure it's worse for otherwise healthy people with type 2 then it is for us. let's understand some of them are in a similar boat, more then 10 percent of them actually. Think of how hard this must be for them as well.   

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1. Sources http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/7504.php

Type 1 diabetes : Sometimes life just sucks

 

     I truly have so many things to be grateful for. After this week I know how amazing my support system is and how willing people are to step in and help. First before I'm judged I want to say I know there are conditions far worse then type one diabetes. I volunteered for the Littlest Hero's Project in the past and have taken photos for families who only had a brief amount of time with their little ones. I mourned and cried for them and their families as well. I still keep in touch with  some of the families and think of them often.
   As a person it's hard to see anyone suffer. As a mom it's hard to see any child struggle, especially your own. Diabetes always seemed like a lazy disease to me. Yes I'm guilty of thinking the misconceptions were true as a teen. Until I was about 19 my friend at the time had told me about her husbands struggle with it and how they kept a stash of otter pops for his lows. I still didn't know much about it but her husband changed my opinion of it at that point, now I knew it could effect people that seemed  healthy but I still didn't have the motivation to look up the differences between type 1 &2, obviously now I know.
   It was a morning like any other. My oldest son was home sick and my youngest son was saying he didn't feel well " a common occurrence in our house if one kid is sick"  I told my youngest son Owen to suck it up and go to school. The past 2 weeks I noticed he wasn't like himself. My sweet boy turned into a mean drunken moody brat that cried about everything. I was losing my mind and getting ready to set up therapy. Having 5 kids in the same house can be interesting to say the least. They seem to strive to stand out so when Owen started eating like a horse and peeing like one we honestly thought he was showing off.
   Our kids get themselves dressed and take their own showers so I hadn't seen Owen without his shirt on for about a month. Our house stays at 60 so even inside we wear sweatshirts.  I feel so guilty. I didn't know his body had been pretty much starving, no matter how much food he ate it just couldn't convert into energy, he was just starting to waste away.
   We got a call from the School nurse Owen was acting lethargic and his blood sugar was high, so I stayed home with our eldest son cleaning out throw up buckets while my husband took Owen to the ER. It was there where they confirmed he had type 1 diabetes. At first I thought well this wont be too bad, but then came the dietitians, doctors and diabetes educator and  the overwhelming amount of information. They were telling me if the proper levels weren't maintained and if he got to low my son could go unconscious, into a Coma  or even die. If he got too high he would suffer long term damages but overall highs were less of an immediate threat then the lows. Everyone I dealt with was kind and understanding but all the information  had me overwhelmed and sobbing.
   It was hard the first day in the hospital . My son cried after every poke and it seemed like there were so many. More then anything I wished they could poke me instead. The nurse David had told me it would get to the point the pokes didn't bother Owen much. I looked at him like he was crazy, I mean was he looking at the same crying child? but he was right and I'm so thankful for that. After day 2 the crying was replaced with ouches. By day 4 he said it hardly hurt it just felt like someone pinched him really fast.
    I think this was the turning point for him, the point where he was ok with this chronic disease. I  however was ... well "am" still far from it. I was scared that I would miscalculate their ever changing formulas for the units of insulin, or not calculate his carbs right. It's the first full day of him being home and I am still  freaking myself out. His doctor is amazing and she gave us her cell if we had any issues. We are to call is he's over 400 . 350-400 was almost Owens normal range during allot of the hospital stay. His base BG was 200 but they changed it to 150 the day before we left.
   Day 4 Saturday was the day we were originally going to leave but with high levels over 500 hundred again and large ketones they wanted us to stay while they upped the units of insulin, they wanted to make sure his levels, "while they wanted them to drop" didn't drop too quickly. Although we wanted to be home I was ok with staying. The thought of taking him home pumped full of so much insulin scared me.So we stayed until Sunday night, They wanted one reading where he was under 300 and we got it.
   So here we are. Home ..   I want to say I know other people have had much worse experiences with type 1. Many come in unconscious or in a coma and are close to death or sometimes are too late and do pass. I know in many ways we are lucky. I'm not trying to disrespect anyone. I guess this is my new therapy and my new norm.  It feels good to let it out and if your going through something similar with a recently diagnosed T1 diabetic in the family I want to say you're not alone, It's not your fault, It's not your child's fault and you don't have to go through this on your own.  Feeling guilty "something I still feel" isn't helpful to anyone so try to let go. Easier said then done right?