Girls Weekend

Okay, I realize this I should have posted this about a week ago...but better late than never, right???

Memorial Day weekend was a lot of fun for Charlotte. Charlotte's favorite twin cousins came in town to visit for Great Pa's 98th birthday celebration...and that meant a fun-filled girls weekend for the 3 little "besties"! 

After packing up what seemed like an insane amount of stuff for only a 2 day stay by Am-maw and Paw-Paw's house, the girls and I took off across the lake...daddy to follow later in the day! As soon as we got there the squeals of excitement began...we unpacked the care and (of course) they all immediately wanted to change into their bathing suits and hop into the pool! We were on day #6 for Dexie and day 2 of her pump site so I thought all was well....how foolish of me! 

Charlotte lounging pool-side...what a diva!

Within less than 30 minutes from setting foot in the pool I had a gaggle of little girls running to tell me that Charlotte's Dexie sensor had come out. I take a peek, only to see the darned thing halfway hanging out and stuck to her only by the grace of a tiny bit of the adhesive backing. I had questioned myself before letting her in the pool if I should reinforce with a Tegaderm, but she had refused and I thought it would hold at least for the day so we could get the full 7 days worth of use....lesson learned! So I pull the sensor and shut Dexie off and let Charlotte back in the pool. Not much later she comes running again with the gang to show me that her pump site is coming out. Now this makes me cringe, to see that needle pulled out and rubbing/scratching against her skin since the Tegaderm is still trying to do its job to hold everything in place....ouch! So off that goes. Check her sugar...looks good...so I let her back in the pool for a little while longer. Once lunch arrives (courtesy of Am-maw and Paw-Paw) I pop a new site in, bolus her up, and let her eat. Fortunately, that ended our run of D-site fails and complications for the weekend. 

D behaved itself well for the most part and let Charlotte just enjoy the birthday festivities and holiday weekend with her cousins. She even got to indulge in a few very special treats...cake, beignets, and a chocolate snowball! And yes, she can have all of that...we just cover with insulin! This D-momma can SWAG bolus like a pro (most of the time)! 

Red velvet birthday cake for a VERY special Great Pa!

The girls composed and sang an original song for Great Pa

Beignet breakfast with the cousins

Charlotte was SO excited to be able to get a
Chocolate Snowball....takes after her momma!

Dexie and an Unexpected Surprise

Before I get started on this, I just want to say sorry for my disappearance over the past week or so. I've been crazy busy (as I'm sure many of you have been too) with the end of school year, dance recital, and trying to get ready for Children's Congress in just a few more weeks! Hopefully now that the dust seems to have settled from the girls finishing up school last week I'll be more organized and able to post a bit more....goodness knows that with all we've had going on I have plenty to write about!

A few weeks ago we welcomed Dexie (our Dexcom SEVEN PLUS CGM) into our home. She has been well-behaved for the most part...although I will admit she's given us two sensor errors already. The first error was on Day 6 of our first sensor session...it was the morning after we had spent the previous day at the pool. I'm not so sure I troubleshot (is that actually a word?) the error correctly and ended up getting frustrated and pulling the sensor site. With the second error (3rd sensor session, day 2) I did a little more research and was certain there wasn't anything more I could do before I pulled it...it was an "Err 1". I ended up calling Dexcom's Customer Service and they were awesome! After going over what had happened, they agreed to send out a new sensor right away. So...we're currently on our 4th sensor and everything is going along just fine for the moment (hang on a minute while I find some wood to knock on)...hoping I can get a full 7 days at least out of this one!

I will say that I was a little nervous when Dexie first arrived. I had thought that I would have immediately started a sensor on Charlotte. But I actually ended up waiting a an extra two days while I read through the manual and made excuses to hold off...can you say procrastination! Honestly I have no idea why this anxiety had taken over me. I mean really, I'm a nurse for crying out loud...this should be a piece of cake, no different or worse than doing a pump site change or an IV or the like! I guess it was just the idea of me starting the sensor on my sweet little girl for the 1st time! I'm glad I finally did it though...and she said it really wasn't any worse that her pump site changes...whew! I have to say my little girl is amazing! She didn't fight me or act scared or anything....and all this as I am literally reading through the steps in the book as I'm doing it....as a kid I would have thought my mother had lost her mind if she had attempted such a thing with me!!!

Ready for her 1st night with Dexie

So what do I think about Dexie so far??? While I'm not particularly thrilled with some of the glucocoasters I've seen on the screen, I'm glad to be able to see the constant stream of data...these "in-betweens"...so that I'm able to be a better pancreas for Charlotte. I love not only seeing the number on the screen but knowing which direction it's heading and how fast. I haven't made any major adjustments yet...but plan to sit down with the information in the next few days and do some serious tweaking -- hopefully it won't be too overwhelming.

There has been an unexpected benefit that Dexie has provided for me too. On the first night, after starting her sensor, I brought out our old baby monitor and hooked it up in the girls' bedroom so that I would hear if Dexie alarmed overnight. I didn't really think much of this...and neither did the girls. But, this has turned out to be so much more than a safety precaution. You see, each night when I turn on the monitor at my bedside I'm able to listen to my girls' conversations with each other. (yes, I do suppose I'm technically eavesdropping...but they know the monitor is there) They don't really talk about anything in particular, just silly little girl stuff...it's heartwarming to listen to their sweet little voices giggling and talking softly as they drift off to sleep for the night. Funny how if it wasn't for Dexie, I'd be missing out on these special little moments!

What We've Learned....Diabetes Blog Week - Day 7

Today is Day 7, the final day, of the 2nd Annual Diabetes Blog Week! The topic for the day is "What we've learned": What have you learned from other blogs - either this week or since finding the D-OC?  What has your experience of blogging the DBlog Week topics with other participants been like?  What has finding the D-OC done for you?  If you'd like, you can even look ahead and tell us what you think the future holds!

This week has been a lot of fun...and I'm a little sad it's drawing to its close! To be completely honest, being "new" to blogging, when I signed up to participate I wondered if I would really be able to follow through, but I stuck to my committment and did it...and am so glad I did! I've enjoyed writing each of the posts and have learned more about myself and my feelings about dealing with T1....and more importantly, this week provided an opportunity to talk with Charlotte and gain more insight into her thoughts and feelings about living with T1. She really enjoyed having the opportunity to blog along with me...in fact, I think the "10 Things" post was actually therapeutic for her! (It gave her the opportunity to tell me exactly what she thought without feeling bad or guilty about sharing those feelings...and then we talked about it and were able to laugh about some of the things too!)

I also really enjoyed reading through TONS of posts written other D-bloggers! It's been insightful to read through each of them and see how while we're each unique individuals with our own stories, we're all the "same" too. I've enjoyed discovering several "new" (to me) blogs and reading posts from my "oldies, but goodies"! I was amazed each day to read through the posts and see how each blogger took the same topic and approached it from a slightly different perspective from the next.

Participating in Diabetes Blog Week has been awesome! Reading through all the posts and their comments (and receiving such loving and supportive comments on my posts) has helped to reinforce that we're not dealing with this alone. There are so many wonderful, amazing people out there dealing with the "same" on a daily basis! And we're (the DOC) all here to read/listen, support, and help each other through this journey...one blog post at a time :)

Saturday Snaphots - Diabetes Blog Week - Day 6

Today is Day 5 of the 2nd Annual Diabetes Blog Week. Today's topic is "Saturday Snapshots": inspired by the Diabetes 365 project, let's snap a few more d-related pictures and share them again. Post as many or as few as you'd like. Be creative! Feel free to blog your thoughts on or explanations of your pictures. Or leave out the written words and let the pictures speak for themselves.

Diabetes spoils everything...
no "sugary" goodness on her beignets :(

Feeling low

In the hospital just weeks before her 5 year Diaversary

But diabetes isn't all bad....there is some good stuff that comes with it too :)

Camp Victory bonfire - Summer 2010

JDRF Walk to Cure 2010 - We have an AWESOME team! 

Having fun at her Lemonade for a Cure stand
supporting JDRF 

And while diabetes does tag along EVERYWHERE with Charlotte...it certainly doesn't define her!

She's a "typical" 2nd grader

Who loves to swim...

and skate...

and be a Diva!

And just for some added fun...here's a bonus pic for today that my dear hubby texted me this morning:

Not so sure I want Charlie as
JDRF's newest spokesman ;)

Charlotte's Awesome Adventure -- Diabetes Blog Week - Day 5

It's Day 5 of the 2nd Annual Diabetes Blog Week! I realize I'm getting this in right under the wire, but between the Blogger issues yesterday and Charlotte being sick the past few days I'm honestly surprised I'm getting this in at all...whew!

Today's official topic is "Awesome things": What awesome thing have you (or your child) done BECAUSE of diabetes? 

For this topic, I (again) deferred to Charlotte to get her thoughts on this. Her response made me laugh...she initially asked me, "Do I have to come up with 10 things....cause I don't think I can!". She was relieved when I let her know that she only had to think of one...and she told me, "Well, that's easy....it's Children's Congress"!

I guess technically she hasn't done it yet, but...

Charlotte is one of 150 children throughout the U.S. selected to represent her state on Capitol Hill this summer to remind Congress and the Administration of the critical need to find better treatments and a cure for a disease they live with every day -- type 1 diabetes.

These children -- ages 4 to 17, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia -- will converge on Washington, D.C., to talk about the challenges of living with type 1 diabetes to lawmakers during the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Children's Congress 2011, from June 20 to 22.

Check out what Charlotte has to say about Children's Congress and click over to learn more about Charlotte and the other 2011 delegates.

Charlotte is really excited about this opportunity to meet travel to Washington to advocate for herself and all the other people (children and adults) living with type 1 diabetes. We're hopeful that our visit will make an impact and help to bring us another step closer to the cure. She's also excited to meet and make friends with other children who are the "same" as her...and I have to say that I'm especially excited that opportunity for her too!

Charlotte's Top 10 List -- Diabetes Blog Week - Day 4

Blogger ate this post, so here it is again. Sorry that your comments were lost, but I read them all and thank you for them :) 

Today is Day 4 of the 2nd Annual Diabetes Blog Week! Today's topic is Ten things I hate about you, Diabetes: Having a positive attitude is important . . . but let’s face it, diabetes isn’t all sunshine and roses (or glitter and unicorns, for that matter).  So today let’s vent by listing ten things about diabetes that we hate.  Make them funny, make them sarcastic, make them serious, make them anything you want them to be!!


For today's post, I thought it would be fun (and most appropriate) to let Charlotte provide her list...since she is the one actually bearing the brunt of this beast and all. So without further ado...here's Charlotte's list:

1.   Being interrupted from the things I'm doing to check my sugar
2.   Getting a new pump site every 3 days (and sometimes sooner)...but at least it's better than shots
3    Getting a new site for Dexie...but I like her a lot once it's in
4.   Having to pee on a test strip to check my ketones....cause the blood ketone strips are too expensive!

5.   Having to go to the hospital and get an IV sometimes when we can't get my sugar to behave at home...at least the nurses are nice though :)

6.   Not being able to think when I'm feeling low
7.   When people call it "Di-a-beet-us"....now that just sounds silly!
8.   Being embarrassed by Dexie's alarm going off in the library (or other quiet place)...and people asking if it's "the bell"
9.   People asking if my pump is a cell phone...c'mon really, have you ever seen a cell phone with tubing coming out of it!!!!
10.   People telling me about how someone else "had" diabetes....don't they know that there isn't a cure yet???

Diabetes Blog Week - Day 3: Stepping out of the box

It's Day 3 of the 2nd Annual Diabetes Blog Week! Today's official topic is Diabetes bloopers....and although Charlotte did share a couple with me (including one serious gusher which ended up staining her classroom ceiling...oops!) I just didn't feel I had enough to say about them. So instead, I'm pulling out the wild card and "Stepping outside the box". Today I wanted to share with you a special piece of artwork....created by my 4 year old daughter, Amelia.

Charlotte and her "D-stuff" - by Amelia

For those of you not familiar, or those who just have difficulty interpreting 4 year old artwork. This is a portrait of Charlotte (see Charlotte's name there at the top...although it looks like this might have started out with the intentions of Amelia doing a self-portrait and then having a change of heart, lol). Charlotte is surrounded by some of her D-stuff on her side...if you look closely you'll see her pump, meter with a test strip (which looks a little too knife-like, in my opinion), a juice box, and her "diabetes bag". And on the other side is "04" which Amelia has informed me is Charlotte's sugar....ummm, perhaps we need to teach her to write more 3 digit numbers (preferably those in the low 100s). And finally, like any great artist, Amelia has signed her work (at the bottom).

I know to some this may not seem like anything special...just a child's drawing. But I see more than that. I see it as Amelia having drawn a picture of her sister and all the things she knows her "sissy" needs in order to stay healthy and safe. If you've ever met Amelia, you know that she is a caring and sensitive little girl who loves with her whole being. She and her sister may fight like cats and dogs at times...but when she proudly presents me with a piece of art like this, it helps to reinforce that she does really care deeply about her sister and that she is becoming one of Charlotte's greatest advocates and supporters!