My First "Goofy" Giveaway!

All right y'all...I had planned on waiting until Adam's 1 year diabetes anniversary to do my first giveaway, but this one just couldn't wait!

The amazing Roselady over at Diapeepees put me in contact with a media rep for the Lilly Diabetes/Disney collaboration. I mentioned in our email conversation that I have a lot of friends who would love to get their hands on one of the Coco books for their children and asked her when they would be sent out to the pediatric endocrinologists. Well, she responded by saying that they were on their way out, and would I like her to send me some extras for my friends?

Um, YES!! And just to add how wonderful this rep is, she OVERNIGHTED them to me via FedEx!

So, my dear, sweet DOC...I have a giveaway for you. I have FIVE (yes, count 'em, FIVE!) "Coco and Goofy's Goofy Day" books to share with you!

How awesome is that? Thank you Lilly Diabetes and Disney!


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Leave me a comment before midnight on Sunday, July 31st. Please include your first name. Comments left without a name will be eliminated.

 
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• No duplicate comments are allowed. Duplicate comments will be eliminated.
• Winners will be selected via random draw at http://www.random.org/.
• Winners' names will be posted here on this blog on Monday, August 1st.
• After winners' names are posted, winners will have 48 hours to send a message to me at mylifeasapancreas@gmail.com If I do not hear from a winner within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.

so...much...stuff

I know that in a month this will all be much easier...but right now I am...

FREAKING the freak out.

There is so much information to gather for the school. So many supplies. I am at the pharmacy like every day because I keep forgetting things for all of his "kits." One for the nurse, one for the classroom (hello, just bought a One Touch Meter for full-price because I don't have time to go stalk one for free and wait for it to come in the mail) one for the music teacher and the P.E. teacher.

Thanks to some great advice from Donna, I went to Target this morning and bought some clear pencil pouches to make "low kits" for the specials classes. And some larger containers to hold his supplies in the nurse's office and his classroom. I have this huge Word document going...and I keep adding things.

We are up to 5 pages, people.

I am  panicking. What if I'm in MY class for school and the nurse needs me and my professor won't let me use my cell phone? I have seriously been having some doubts about me going back to school, but I'm trying to talk myself down off the ledge and remember that there are plenty of D-moms who work outside the home and their child's diabetes care is managed just fine. And really, let's not be dramatic. I'm only going to be "unavailable" for like 5 hours a week.

Meanwhile, I have piles of diabetes supplies, boxes, bags, snacks and juice boxes sitting on my dining room table. I'm going to have to show up at our school meeting with a pick-up truck and they are all going to laugh at the overprotective, anal-retentive mother of a diabetic kid. :)

Putting my new SKILLZ to the test!

This D-mama is about to embark on a new adventure. Or, a new twist on an old adventure...this mama is hitting the books and heading back to school.

I already have my BA in English...and that provided me with a decent career post-graduation. I worked as a copywriter, made a pittance for a salary, but felt creative in what I did for a living. In college, I had aspirations of being a nurse or a teacher, but I immediately dismissed those thoughts as I thought I was a.) too squeamish and b.) too afraid of public speaking to be a teacher (nevermind the fact that these would be CHILDREN I was teaching!)

The nurse thing kept nagging in the back of my head. Before kids, I volunteered at our local hospital, just loving the feeling of working in a medical setting. I hated my job at that point and dreamed of another career, preferably one where I was providing a needed service. But then the kiddos came along and I was happily ensconced in my new "career" of stay-at-home-mom.

The last few years I've been wondering what I'd do when the kids were in school full-time. Two years ago, Sydney was very ill and in the hospital for a week with a rare complication of a staph infection called Scalded Skin Syndrome. She was in the PICU and I was so interested in how the nurses took such great care of her and were true advocates for their patient. It really spurred my interest, so I attended an information session about the nursing program at our local community college with a friend of mine. I got all fired up to take some pre-requisite classes, and then I promptly....chickened out.

Fast-forward to last August. I had all of my transcripts in place and was ready to meet with a nursing adviser at the college. I found out that since I already had my degree, I only needed to take 2 pre-requisites before I could apply to nursing school. Score! I was ready to sign up for a class....then the next day Adam was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. I pretty much gave up at that point.

Over the last 11 months, I have had to do things that I never would imagine I could do. Inject my son with various sharp needles, calculate and dose insulin...essentially, we are diabetic nurses on the fly! As devastating as his diagnosis was, it has been a confidence booster for me.

I can do this.

So this year...this D-mama didn't chicken out. I pushed through silly roadblocks and made the move. I am signed up for my first class this fall in 14 years. Yes, ladies, it has been 14 years since I graduated from college. I am old. I am taking a Biology class in a real classroom with kids almost half my age.

Let's hope I can remember how to do this thing called school!

OMG! Talk about Friends for LIFE!

I seriously have goosebumps here, my friends. Remember my post from yesterday?

Take a look at what I received in my mailbox today:

I can't believe I am crying over a book. Well, not really a book...but the fact that one of my DEAR friends who attended the CWD Friends For Life 2011 sent Adam this amazing care package! And she had no idea that I had just sent out a plea for this book.

Goosebumps, people.

Tiffany doesn't have a blog, but she has been one of my main supports through this thing we call diabetes. We were "online" friends for years - having babies together, watching them grow. Then one day, about a week after Adam was diagnosed with diabetes, I received an urgent message from one of our mutual friends via Facebook. Tiffany's son was just diagnosed with diabetes too. I got the chills. These two boys were dx'd a week apart! And so our friendship took on a new dimension.

I am so excited to read this book to Adam, and to his Kindergarten class. And I already ordered a few suggestions from you guys - "Taking Diabetes to School" - so we are going to be set!

Coco?

Does anyone know how to get one of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse books with Coco? From what I have read, they are only available from providers (which is SO lame, they would make $$ selling them to us!) I called Adam's endo today and they haven't heard of it. Are they not being sent to doctors yet? I would LOVE one to read to Adam's kindergarten class this year...speaking of which, if I can't get my hands one one of those, do y'all have any favorite diabetes books or info that is child-friendly? The Rufus book we have is a bit too involved for a bunch of kindergarteners, I think.

Another Quarterly Report Card

In a way, I kind of like quarterly endo appointments. True, it's like a report card, where you can get "bad" grades (or at least we feel like we're getting bad grades as a pancreas stand-in), but for me it's also a start-over point, a fresh start. I know when I walk out of there, I've got a new set of basal rates, carb ratios and correction factors.

Yep, we walked out with new EVERYTHING. His A1C was still 7.7, which is perfectly fine, but looking at his average and his numbers, I know he can be in range more.

Oh, and Adam eats too many carbs. Whoops. THAT's where I felt like a bad mom. Trying to get a 5 year old to eat anything but carbs has been a challenge. My kids are the worst eaters...but this is a fresh start, right? I had Dr. Hahnke tell Adam directly that he needs to eat more healthy foods, fruits and veggies, etc.

Then Adam says, "But Mama, we can still get my donut after, right?"

Hahaha....*cough, cough* uh...we'll talk about that later honey. Busted in front of the endo!

We also got all of our paperwork filled out and signed for school. And and a script for EMLA. Did I mention we've been having issues with him letting me put Dexcom sites in? I'm not sure we'll use it, but I am glad to have it on hand just in case.

I also need to take Adam in for his yearly labs. It's a bit early, but he's been having some tummy trouble and I'm worried about Celiac. I'll take him in this week. Anyone ever used EMLA before a blood draw?

So, we are holding steady, and frankly with diabetes, that's all we can ask for some days. My goal in the next 3 months is to get him eating fewer carbs, more veggies and lower his A1C by a few points.

Feeling so nervous

I cannot believe that there is only 3 weeks until school starts.

I'd be nervous and feeling funny about it anyway, since Adam is my baby and sending him off to Kindergarten is enough to make me want to cry, but the diabetes thing...it is starting to feel incredibly overwhelming to me.

Plus, we have our endo appointment tomorrow. I need to fill out the info for his school forms and have him sign off on it. I haven't even thought about what to do about a 504. There is a meeting at our children's hospital this Thursday that we are attending, so hopefully I will leave with a better understanding of what I need to do.

I am completely overwhelmed at what I have to do to get him ready for school. Training the nurse, the nurse assistant, the teacher, the teacher's assistant and the front desk lady. How do I train them when so much is based on my instinct? How do I explain it all?

Do your kids get pre-bolused for lunch? I pre-bolus Adam, but usually only for half of what I've given him, because there is no way to know what this 5 year old is going to eat at a time. I'm guessing he will have to be bolused after he eats lunch at school.

Do I want to deal with the CGM at school? I know most would say YES, but as most of you know, our experience with Dexcom is that it's pretty unreliable for us. I'm trying to decide if I want to deal with it or not. Plus, Adam is totally rebelling against the CGM right now and unless I can get some EMLA from the endo, he's not having any part of it. Frankly, these days I have to chase him down just to do a site change. I don't understand why he's giving me problems now, when it hasn't been a big deal before.

Airport Security and Pumping...PITA!

Tap, tap...is this thing on?

We have been out of town for the better part of 2 weeks and I there is no way I'm going to catch up on my blog reading. Or on my own blog!

I first wanted to write about our experiences flying with Adam's insulin pump. It reminds me of Kelly's TSA experience, except x4. I have read that many people have gone through security with no issues, so I wasn't expecting it to be a big deal. But honestly, it was a total pain in the a$$. Maybe my view on this is clouded because we took 4 flights in the last 2 weeks, and each one we had issues with security. Is it safe to just disconnect and run his pump through the x-ray machine? Because I am not going to put him through this again. If there was a set way to handle diabetics, it would be fine, but there were different rules and issues at EVERY SINGLE AIRPORT.

First 2 flights were at a smaller airport. Adam goes through the scanner and he alarms. I tell them he has an insulin pump and the TSA agent immediately pulls Adam aside and says he needs to be screened. I move to be with him and they say, "Don't touch him!"

Excuse me? Don't touch my 5 year old son? I'm about ready to pull my own bitch-switch on him.

Then they say if we want to go with him, we have to be patted down as well. Whatever. My husband doesn't want me to rock the boat, even though I'm ready to riot against it. Jason goes with Adam and gets the additional pat-down. They don't seem to know what to do with his insulin pump and look all confused while they pat him down and then consult each other on what to do with the pump. They finally decide to tell him to touch the pump then they swab his hands. Because, you know, I could have strapped a bomb to my 5 year old son.

sigh.

Meanwhile, we have a confused little boy with people staring at us, adding 15 minutes to our wait time at security. PITA. Oh, and they never even mentioned the juice boxes I had stashed in his diabetes bag. Way to go, TSA. YOU ROCK.

On the trip home, it was even LONGER. In addition to Adam alarming (rinse, lather, repeat) they decide that since I am with him, they will need to go through MY bags. But no pat down for me. Go figure. Again with the "Don't touch him!!!" ridiculousness.

Our next 2 flights are at bigger, international airports. I was hoping the security would be more, uh...lax? This security stop had no issue with his insulin pump - he alarmed, we stepped aside and they swabbed his hands, that was it. BUT now they had an issue with his juice boxes and his contact lens solution!! So we wait another 10 minutes while they open Adam's contact lens case, open the saline solution, TEST IT, then SWAB THE FRICKEN' JUICE BOXES to test them (even though I said that we were allowed to take them through security due to his diabetes - as printed on the TSA website.) The grumpy TSA agent just grunted at me like I was trying to pull a fast one over on him.

On our way home, out of Denver, this security session takes the longest and is the most invasive. Adam goes through, he alarms, I say he has an insulin pump and the TSA agent looks scared and confused and pulls us aside. This time I have my arms wrapped around Adam on purpose, because NO ONE is going to tell me not to touch my son again. Plus, he's tired, feeling low and wants no part of this security business. So we wait...and wait. They call for a "male assist" to pat-down Adam. Then they need a "female assist" to pat me down. This takes forever for some reason, despite the place teeming with TSA agents. They finally pat me down first - and wow...this one was, uh...personal. Inside waistbands, inner thighs, etc. I didn't think I'd feel violated, but I kind of did. Especially this is all because of stupid DIABETES.

Then they move on to Adam. They do a quick pat down on him, but want him to take off his pump so they can inspect it. I say no. The TSA agent is barely over 20 years old so I stare him down and say, "Look, he can't do it himself, so if you want it off, I have to do it. He is 5 years old." I pull up his shirt and show him and he backs off and says, "Okay, it's fine." They make him touch the pump, swab his hands and we are finally on our way 20 minutes later.

Sheesh.

I didn't think I'd be pissed about all of this, but I am. I understand the need for security and all that, but if you're gonna do stuff, be consistent! Don't act like my 5 year old is a criminal. Have some compassion for a cranky, tired little kid who doesn't want to be touched.

I think it will be awhile before we fly again.

What a Cluster&%$#

Calgon, take me away!

Actually, I will be getting away, in a mere 24 or so hours....but still.

Yesterday was a day from h-e-double hockey sticks. Arizona in the summer + blackout for 8 hours = the aforementioned h-e-double hockey sticks.

112 degrees out, no air conditioning in the middle of the afternoon. We spent from 2:30pm to 8:30pm in the pool. That's 6 hours of swimming, folks! I couldn't keep Adam's pump off for that long, so I had to stick it in his tummietote belt and let him wear it, despite my cringing. I *know* they say it's waterproof...but I just don't want to take any chances. Anyway, it became clear that while swimming with it off, his BG had swung up to 500, so he had to have that basal going.

Adam was ready to go to bed and his pump alarmed that he had 10 units left. I was NOT about to do a site change by candlelight, so I let it go, knowing he'd have enough to get him through the night.

This morning, I did a quick site change before his last day of summer pre-K and sent him on his way. Note...he does not have Dex on this week - this would have been helpful and I would have caught this much sooner!

Anyway, he was a bit high when I picked him up, but I knew he had a smoothie as a snack and dosed him for it. Then he fell asleep on the floor (he was tired from last night) and I heard a new alarm from his pump... the OCCLUSION alarm! We've never had that one before, so I had to drag out the manual (nerd alert!) and I disconnected, re-primed like it said and went on our way.

We were busy today and every time I checked him, he was pretty high. I kept correcting and figured it would get better. Finally, before dinner, Jason checked him and we saw the dreaded HIGH GLUCOSE on his Ping meter. And the oh-so-helpful text at the bottom that says, "over 600 mg/dl" No shit, sherlock!

I thought back to the occlusion alarm earlier and realized he must have a bent cannula or something. So we ripped out that site, (sure enough, bent cannula!) got a new one in, gave him a 3 unit bolus and put him in a warm bath.

Did I mention I'm packing for our trip?? And cleaning up the fricking, fracking MOON DOUGH out of the tile, carpet, and every other crevice he managed to get it in today? I should have known it was too quiet this afternoon....

Vacation, please!