Saturday Snapshots

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.

 Wowwie Wow Wow!  I LOVE sock monkeys!!

And I love TooSweet Boutique's pump pouches even more!

Visit Bitter~Sweet to see more Saturday Snapshots! And don't forget to check back tomorrow for "What we've learned".

Awesome things

Awesome things:  In February the #dsma blog carnival challenged us to write about the most awesome thing we’d done DESPITE diabetes. Today let’s put a twist on that topic and focus on the good things diabetes has brought us. What awesome thing have you (or your child) done BECAUSE of diabetes? After all life with diabetes isn’t all bad!

The most awesome thing that has happened to Ally, and our whole family, because of diabetes is the level of appreciation that we have for one another.  We are much more aware of things that, at one time, we may have taken for granted.

In January, I posted about Ally's two sweet sisters.  This excerpt is my all-time favorite conversation between the girls.

Jessi:  "You know Ally, I would do ANYTHING to make your diabetes go away."

Ally:  "Aww...that's nice of you."

Jessi:  "I would even rip my whole arm off if your diabetes would go away."

Ally: "I WOULDN'T LET YOU! I'd rather keep my diabetes than have your arm ripped off!"

Jessi:  "Aww...that's so nice of you."

Visit Bitter~Sweet to see all of the posts on this topic today! And don't forget to check back tomorrow for "Saturday Snapshots".

Ten things I hate about you, Diabetes

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!!

Dear  Darn You Diabetes,

I am tired of playing nice and pretending that you will eventually come around to my reverse psychology.  So here it goes, today I'm gonna let you have it!  I hate you, Diabetes!  Let me count the ways...

1.   I hate that you have made tiny black holes on the ends of my little girl's fingertips!

2.   I hate that you don't ever give her a break!  You manage to intrude on many special occasions, like birthday parties.  Didn't your Mama teach you that you do not invite yourself to parties?

3.   I hate that my super sweet girl ever, even for one minute, thought that she was going to die!  Die-a-betes, please consider changing your name, won't you?

4.   I hate that when my beautiful daughter wants to wear a tank top you steal the show!  You see, she is such a pretty young girl, but then you go and draw attention to your ugly self.  Some might say that you are a sight for sore eyes site that causes sore eyes.  I hate that she feels embarrased when her pump site shows.

5.   I hate that she can't be a care-free kid!  She would love to jump on her bike and ride around the neighborhood without a care in the world.  But you are SO needy that you require her to take a backpack tag-a-long everywhere she goes. 

6.   I hate that you make it so difficult for Ally to have a sleepover at a friend's house!  Again, you're just too clingy! 

7.   I hate that every three days I have to pierce her skin just to appease you.  If you like needles so much, you should try acupuncture!
8.   I hate that I have to think about whether or not Ally will have a good job, and more importantly, good insurance when she is an adult.  I don't want her to have to choose between a car payment and prescription co-pays each month.

9.  I hate that you make my daughter cry!  I hate that you have power over her moods.  I hate how you make her feel.

10.  And last, I don't recall you asking to move in with my daughter.  You know, we had a very strict no dating until 30 policy...that didn't mean you could skip the dating and move right in!  If I pack your bags (test strips, alcohol swabs, meter, lancets, insulin bottles, syringes, pump, infusion sets, tubing, reservoirs, glucose tabs, glucagon, juicy juice...everything you need!), will you please move out now?

Ok, I only have time for ten but don't let that fool you into thinking that my list stops here.  I really, really hate you Diabetes! 

Visit Bitter~Sweet to see more diabetes vents today! And don't forget to check back tomorrow for "Awesome things".

Diabetes Bloopers

Diabetes Bloopers: Whether you or your loved one are newly diagnosed or have been dealing with diabetes for a while, you probably realize that things can (and will) go wrong. But sometimes the things that go wrong aren’t stressful - instead sometimes they are downright funny! Go ahead and share your Diabetes Blooper - your “I can’t believe I did that" moment - your big “D-oh” - and let’s all have a good laugh together!!


I'm going to give this topic a try today.  At first glance, I told myself that I couldn't write about this because as the parent of a child with diabetes, I take the things that go wrong personally.  If there was a blunder, it would most likely be my fault and my daughter would be the one paying the price of it.

But after a little reflecting, I thought about some things that have happened in our diabetic life that are deserving of a good laugh!

Is it still considered a blooper if I've done it more than one time??  On occasion, I find myself fixing a meal, measuring out the food, counting the carbohydrates for the meal...only to realize that Ally (the one with diabetes) is not even the one eating!

This was actually not a blooper, but my 5 year old thought it was.  Jessi's sister has diabetes; she does not.  One night she woke up after having been asleep for a few hours and needed to use the bathroom.  There were a couple of other things that had been "off" about her behavior that day and so Keith and I decided to check her blood sugar.  Jessi woke up screaming, "I'm NOT Ally!"  She thought that we had accidentally checked the wrong child's blood sugar!

This winter, following an ice storm, I wrote the blog post Ice Ice Baby.  In case you missed it, I'll fill you in on a blooper that was surely avoided by my then 7 year old's intuitive thinking.  The girls were sleeping at the wrong ends of their beds as part of their "Let it Snow routine".  This is what I found when I went in to check Ally's blood sugar at midnight.



Don't prick my toes!  My fingers are at the wrong end of the bed!

I'm sure that, as a parent of a child with diabetes,  I have made many mistakes.  Some funny and others not so much.

The last blooper that I'll share today is about a mistake that I made as a blogger.  Back in November, several other D Mama bloggers and myself had worked with the Komar company and PJs for the Cure to have a Great PJ Giveaway on World Diabetes Day.  We had communicated about how we would present this giveaway and how the winners would be chosen and announced since there were several of us hosting this Great PJ Giveaway.  The details were set - we would hype up the giveaway but not give the details, a specific day to announce the special giveaway, a specific time to go live with the post.  And I had a major BLOOPER!  We had been trying to hype up the giveaway by saying that there would be a GREAT giveaway, but we had not said what it was that we would be giving away.  I got my post ready a couple of days early and instead of hitting the "save" button in blogger, I hit "publish post".  The title was the Great PJ Giveaway.  I "gave it away" alright! 


Visit Bitter~Sweet for more good laughs today! And don't forget to check back tomorrow for "Ten things I hate about you, Diabetes".

I will fight your fight...

Letter writing: You can write a letter to diabetes if you’d like, but we can also take it one step further. How about writing a letter to a fictional (or not so fictional) endocrinologist telling the doctor what you love (or not) about them. How about a letter to a pretend (or again, not so pretend) meter or pump company telling them of the device of your dreams? Maybe you’d like to write a letter to your child with diabetes. Or a letter from your adult self to the d-child you were. Whomever you choose as a recipient, today is the day to tell them what you are feeling.



It is day 2 of D-Blog Week.  Today's topic is Letter Writing.  As soon as I saw this topic, I knew that I wanted to write a letter to my sweet Ally.  I began to ponder what I might say.  This was on my mind for a  couple of days.  Then I was driving in the car and heard this song by Rascal Flatts - I Won't Let Go.  With tears streaming down my face I knew what I wanted to say!  Play this video and listen to the lyrics...then read my letter to Ally below.




Dear my Sweet Ally,
I want you to know that it hurts my heart to see you cry about shots, site changes and fingersticks, about being different, about not being able to sleepover at a friend's house.  I want you to know that I will always stand by you when you have a low blood sugar and need a steady hand.  I will dry your eyes when the highs and lows all just get to be too much.  When you have just had it with diabetes and you don't want to deal with it anymore...I will help you through and I won't let you down.  I will continue to fight your fight against diabetes every single day until there is a cure.

I am so proud of you.  You are extremely smart, and strong, and brave, and positive.  YOU are my inspiration daily.  You are already so responsible when it comes to taking care of your diabetes.
 
But I want you to know that I will always be here for you...at age 8, at age 16, at age 32 and on and on.  Whenever you need me, I will hold you tight...and I won't let go! 

I love you so much!
Mom


Visit Bitter~Sweet to see all of the posts on this topic today! And don't forget to check back tomorrow for "Diabetes Bloopers".

Admiring our differences...

So this is Diabetes Blog Week!  Karen at Bitter~Sweet organized this fantastic idea last year and I truly enjoyed reading around the DOC.  I am so excited to be participating in the 2nd Annual Diabetes Blog Week this year!  To see a complete list of participants, click here.



Admiring our differences: Pick a type of blogger who is different from you and tell us why they inspire you - why you admire them - why it's great that we are all the same but different!


I am a parent of three beautiful girls.  But two years ago, I also became a "parent of a child with diabetes".  As any parent does, a parent of a child with diabetes looks out for their child, does their very best to make sure that they are safe, happy and healthy.  I would do anything in my power to ensure that Ally's outcome in life is the best one possible.  Enter diabetes.  How do you ensure that you are doing everything possible when you don't know what it's like to live with diabetes??? 

People living with Type 1 Diabetes.

I love to read blogs written by PWD.  They provide an insight that I will never have.  No matter how diligent I am.  No matter how many carbs I count.  No matter how much research I do.  No matter how many shots I give or site changes that I do.  No matter how many basal adjustments I make.  No matter how much sleep I lose ;)  I am an outsider to this disease.

When Ally is low, I can only guess how that may feel.  She has been too young to be able to adequately articulate the experiences of being high or low.  Sarah's post, He Held Me, and her experience with a bad low is etched in my mind, maybe forever.  Or at least until Ally can articulate what she feels.

Haley and Kelly teamed up to write about how much Diabetes Camp meant to them.  As hard as it is for a parent (who manages the majority of their child's D care) to send their child away for a week, they have given me the insight that I needed.  They showed me how very much Ally will benefit from this experience.

These are just a couple of examples of wonderfulness that I have found in the "bloggy people living with type 1 diabetes".  There are many, many more.  Every high, every low, every doctor's visit, every A1C, every prom, every wedding...they all give me a new perspective about my daughter's life with type 1 diabetes.  So thank you to all the T1s for sharing your stories.  Please continue to do so!

I feel such a sense of unity among the members of the DOC.  We are all fighting the same fight.  We are all fighting for the same goal.  But, today, I am especially grateful for the Type 1 Bloggers - the ones that know this disease inside and out - for sharing their experiences with me and helping me to do a better job as a parent of a child with diabetes.



Visit Bitter~Sweet to see all of the posts on this topic today!   And don't forget to check back tomorrow for "Letter writing day".