NO SUGAR NEEDED

This Ain't Nothin'

2012-02-08T01:46:00.005-05:00

Pictured Above: A Few Daily Realities for Life with T1 and Celiac

I was listening to the song "This Ain't Nothin'" by Craig Morgan today and I realized how enormously -- and simply -- true the song's message is. The monotony of life tends to overcome us as we go about the business of day to day living. Often, that monotony tricks us into focusing on petty, unimportant moments which can consume us, if we aren't paying attention.

One of the many lessons I've learned in the years since Nikki's T1 diagnosis, and the recent months with her additional diagnosis of Celiac, is that life is too short to let insignificant 'things' become a significant part of your life. I was joking with my mother yesterday that I just wanted everyone to learn to get along (to which she responded "you sound like a flower child"...okay, so my mom gets me). I realize wanting everyone to 'just get along' may be naive; but seriously, wouldn't it be wonderful?

As I watch my daughter face and battle diabetes and celiac disease every hour of every day (something she will do for the rest of her life), I am constantly reminded of what is really important and what is not. Nikki (and all others in her boat) not only have to face life & death every day, but since they don't "look sick" they also face the reality that the majority of the world just simply does not understand diabetes or celiac; and they do not understand the seriousness and life changing consequences of those illnesses. There are many times I feel like saying to other people "give me a break, trying dealing with what my 13 year old deals with and then come to me and complain about your life" -- of course, I don't actually come out and say it. I do try to remember that everyone has to deal with what life throws at them -- real or imagined, big or small -- in their own way.

So anyway.......this rather 'ranty' blog was totally inspired by Craig Morgan's song. It is not meant to sound like a pity party or anything remotely close to that. After listening to and thinking about the words to that song, I truly found myself wishing that someday every person, everywhere, will have that one moment of pure and absolute clarity in their life, when they realize "this ain't nothing".

Bringing Home Diabetes

2012-01-31T19:25:00.011-05:00

Following is a reposting of the 2nd part of our diagnosis journey. As I look back over those early, traumatic months it brings up many feelings. Though this particular writing reminds me of anger and sorrow, it also reminds me of the strength we can draw from each other when its least expected.

I left off our Diabetes story at the point Nikki was released from the hospital. We get home and are a feeling a mixture of relief in just being back in our own house and complete fear that we won’t be able to take care of Nikki and the worst will happen.

Of course, there was our other daughter, Amber, to consider as well. One thing that can and often does happen, is that the chronic illness of one child can completely over shadow the needs and even the existence of your healthy child(ren). I will touch more on that in future writings, but I would like to say that Amber is another of my heroes.

There is so much involved in the day to day living of life with diabetes that I won’t try to go overboard in details. Instead I want to touch on a few milestones. For this posting, the milestone is acceptance.

I mentioned in the first writing Nikki’s anger toward me. That is sort of putting it mildly. I would say that in her 5 year old mind she bordered on hating me, at the time. Of course, I didn't blame her. Her anger at having Diabetes was totally directed at her mommy. She was not capable, at such a young age, to identify her feelings and/or give a voice to them; so they naturally came out as anger directed at the person who she thought could fix everything, mommy. The outbursts were frequent and increased in violence. The final outburst came about a month after her diagnosis, during a trip to Kroger.

We had finished our grocery shopping; Amber was at home with Daddy so it was just Nikki and I. She decided, for no particular reason (and I believe there really wasn’t one) that she was not going to get in the car with me to go home (I think she felt so out of control that she was trying to control whatever she could, namely me). Up until that point, I will admit that I indulged her anger toward me because I felt so guilty that she had this thing to deal with; so I overcompensated in inappropriate ways. Anyway, she stopped about 8 feet from our car and said “I’m not going home”. I told her, most likely in a very sappy tone of voice, that we needed to get home because she had to eat. Looking back now, I believe that comment was the trigger for her almost instant and complete emotional meltdown.

She started trying to kick me. A light bulb went on in my head and I realized that I was losing control of my 5 year old. It suddenly occurred to me that having diabetes was no excuse for public temper tantrums. I picked her up. Those of you who have ever had to pick up a 5 year old in the midst of a temper tantrum, have an inkling of the strenghth they can have; combine that strength with an overwhelming anger and terror at not really knowing why your parents are constantly sticking you with needles, making you eat when you don’t want to, not letting you eat when you do want to, etc. etc. and you get a minature Incredible Hulk.

People stopped and stared at us; most likely convinced that I was (a) kidnapping an unwilling victim or (b) a terrible mother; at that point I didn’t care. My only objective was trying to get this little person into the car. I finally succeeded, and then it took another almost half hour to get her into the car seat. I backed out of the parking spot and began the short drive home. About halfway there Nikki managed to get herself out of the carseat and was attempting to get out of the MOVING car. I just kept going. I drove the last 2 mintues to the house with one hand on the steering wheel and one and on the door lock in the back seat, with Nikki biting my hand, and I don’t mean a nip, my hand was bleeding.

I get her home and by then yes I was fussing at her; we get inside and I just collapsed on the kitchen floor in tears. I began sobbing, really sobbing and she suddenly stopped being angry at me and just looked. After a couple of minutes I felt her little hand on my head. I looked up at her and it was in that moment we reconnected .... through our tears. We continued crying and holding on to each other. I think it was then that Nikki realized I hated what was happening to her as much as she did. Obviously, a 5 year doesn’t process information in that way but that was the jist of what she understood in that pocket of time.

What I learned from all of that is this: You have to be strong for your kids. To me that meant -- at the beginning of her diagnosis -- not falling apart before, during or after a crisis. You don’t want your kids thinking about how mom will act once the crisis is over, that will only add to their stress. So I kept it all in. The message Nikki got from me was that I was okay with her having diabetes. She thought it didn’t matter to me. Showing and sharing our feelings with our children is a good thing, when done appropriately. They need us to be human. They need us to say "I'm sorry" when we screw up, or when they are hurting. Sometimes they even need to see us cry. Sometimes they need us to cry with them. Nikki never had another outburst after that day.

A Gluten Free Feast

2012-01-28T21:34:00.004-05:00

Today we celebrated my mother-in-law's 78th birthday with a family dinner. This was the first BIG 'feast' type meal we've hosted since Nikki's Celiac diagnosis. It was delicious and stress free. We had homemade mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, veggies, olives, and ham. Nikki cooked all the desserts -- chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Every bit of it was gluten free and amazingly tasty. It's a good feeling to know that neither T1 or Celiac has defeated our treasured family feasts; or the spirit of my wonderful daughter. Her blood sugar was 139 before lunch. As of this evening (and after a few too many chocolate chip cookies) she is 166.....not too bad.

Here's looking forward to a thousand more gluten free and blood sugar friendly family feasts.

In the Beginning

2012-01-23T23:50:00.010-05:00

Nikki the year of her T1 diagnosis: Age 5

Nikki approximately 9 years later: Still Smiling

I've been going back over some old blogs and, because Nikki's 9 year 'Live-a-betes' anniversary is just around the corner, I thought it would be a good idea to share the beginning of our journey with friends and family who may not be aware of the events that took place in the early weeks of our life with diabetes.

This blog is a reposting. It describes the first part of our life with T1.....the diagnosis.

Diabetes Journey: Part 1

It was a busy afternoon in April 2003. I had both my girls: Amber age 9 and Nikki who had just turned 5, in the back seat of the car. We were on our way home from a trip to the mall when Nikki announced “mommy that pointy thing is hurting my stomach”. I literally felt exasperated; Nikki complained constantly about her tummy hurting, we had done everything we could to figure out why and it always made me feel helpless when she fussed about it. I said “Nikki your tummy always hurts honey; I don’t know what else I can do”. My sweet little girl accepted that answer and complained no further.

About an hour after we got home, I had fed the girls lunch and was busy with this and that around the house. The girls were playing downstairs. I went to check on them and found my baby Nikki on the floor, sitting up, leaning against the couch with her hand on her chin, sound asleep. I remember thinking “isn’t she so beautiful and sweet”; and I went and got my camera to take a picture.

A day or so later, April 5 to be exact, I had just finished placing dinner on the table and my Nikki immediately reached for her drink first. I said “Nikki Marie you have to stop drinking all your meals, you can’t have another drink until you eat something”. Her little face fell; Nikki doesn’t like to be scolded and is very compliant, so she complied. She ate but continued to ask for drinks throughout the night, her favorite Gatorade. That morning I bought a new gallon of Gatorade thinking it would last quite a while. By the next morning, April 6, 2003, I realized it was all but gone, that’s when I instinctively knew something was very wrong.

I called one of our closest friends, who also happened to be our family doctor, and told him what had been going on. He told me to bring her in right away. I loaded up Nikki and Amber and off we went. On the way, I phoned Bryan who was traveling for work about 4 hours away and told him I was taking her to the doctor. He said “just call me and let me know what Troy says”. The three of us sat in the examination room, unknowingly waiting for our lives to change forever. Troy came in listened to me explain what her symptoms were and told me we would have to check her blood sugar via a finger stick. My niece Brittany, who was an intricate part of our lives, had Type 1 Diabetes so we were all very familiar with “finger pokes”. Nikki protested but managed to make it through what would be the first of a million finger pokes.

Troy left the room and returned a few minutes later with tears in his eyes. He looked at me, put his hand on my shoulder and said the words I dreaded “Sheri her blood sugar is 545, Nikki has diabetes”.

There is no way to describe shock, so I won’t try. A million things went through my mind and then my mind went blank. I didn’t have time to indulge, I needed to fix this and I needed to know what the next step was. Troy said to me “get your running shoes on, I want you to go home, pack her a suitcase and head directly to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital”. I shook my head yes, gathered my precious girls and began this new journey.

The first stop on the journey was to call my husband. “Nikki has diabetes”. I don’t remember much more of the conversation except him turning the car around as we spoke saying that he was on his way home, he would come directly to the hospital; he was still about 4 hours away. In the meantime I have 2 very quiet, very young little girls trying to figure out what was happening. I tried my best to briefly explain what was happening and told Nikki that she was like Brittany, she had diabetes and now we were going to the hospital to get her medicine and learn all we can about how to take care of her. At that point, she simply didn’t understand. Like many children with diabetes, Brittany never really complained about her diabetes, so the girls really didn’t get how big this disease is. I called my mother to tell her that another one of her grandchildren had diabetes. She was very quiet and I really only remember telling her I would call her later once I knew more. She lives about 1-1/2 away from me. The next 5 days were a blur and full of more doctors, dieticians and diabetes social workers than I can remember. Instead I will touch on few events that are very clear to me during that time.

The first would be Nikki’s slow realization that her life now consisted of daily interactions with needles; I remember the way her cry sounded. I remember how helpless I suddenly realized I was and how useless to her I thought I was going to be. More on this later.

The second thing I remember is my mother walking into the emergency room. I didn’t know she was coming. As I said, we live an hour and a half away and by the time she was able to arrive it was dark and the hospital is located in a rather scary part of downtown Cincinnati. But there she was, as brokenhearted as I was.

The third thing I remember is my husband walking into the room and the overwhelming relief I felt that we were all together, the 4 of us. The following days consisted of IV’s, shots, learning to eat and when to eat, silent grief and Nikki’s anger. Nikki was mad at me, her mommy, because I was letting this happen and I wasn’t fixing it. I agreed with her. Finally, we were released to go home. Now the journey really begins. Diabetes affected not only Nikki, but our other child waiting at home. She was trying to figure out where she fit in the family dynamics now that this new, unwelcome ‘thing’ had arrived to plant itself firmly in the middle of our lives, forever.

To be continued…….

Celiac Disease

2012-01-23T22:23:00.005-05:00

Sooooo....I mentioned in my last post that Nikki had a newly diagnosed condition related to T1. A couple of months ago she was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. She was seriously malnourished and felt like she was exhausted all the time. For those of you who may not know, Celiac is an allergy to wheat, oat, rye and barley. So now, she is faced with the fact that food is, once again, her enemy (so-to-speak).

Believe it or not, Nikki didn't bat an eye. When I asked her how she felt about this new diagnosis she said she was a little relieved to have an answer as to why she felt so bad all time and why her blood sugar levels were all over the place. She also said to me "mom, what good will it do me to get upset and feel sorry for myself? It won't make this go away any more than it will diabetes". Have I mentioned that I am my daughter's biggest fan? Since our household has gone gluten free, Nikki's energy levels have quadroupled. She no longer suffers from severe and constant, intense stomach pain, her skin color has returned to normal and her blood sugars have evened out.

Nikki is my 'artsy' daughter. She has a love of ballet, music, sketching and....COOKING. Now if that isn't a GOD thing I don't know what is. She has found that being gluten free has meant a whole new world of wonderful recipes and great tasting food and has actually enjoyed learning to cook all over again. But then, that's my Nikki Mouse for you. I must also add that big sister Amber has been her constant champion and won't eat anything that Nikki can't eat, because she doesn't want to make her little sister feel bad. Additionally, my nephew (we think of him as our son) was home for a visit over the holidays. He was at Meijer (great place for gluten free food) picking up some food for me and went out of his way to find the store manager and thank him for selling gluten free food "for my little sister".

GOD is good .... All the time.

All for now,

Keeping it Together

2011-12-01T20:21:00.005-05:00

I've come to the conclusion that I can no longer keep up the multitude of tasks I seem to keep assigning myself. In my attempt to take on too much, one of the things I've lost track of is my diabetes blogging; a situation I sincerely hope to fix.

Nikki has had additional health problems, directly related to diabetes. She was diagnosed with Celiac Disease about 2 months ago. This will be the subject of my next blog. Tomorrow Nikki will visit the school where I teach and talk to the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes about diabetes. I remain so very proud of all the ways she's willing to put herself out there when it comes to educating people about T1.

All for now......

Time Flies

2011-07-01T18:46:00.006-04:00

WOW!! I didn't realize it's been A YEAR since I've had time to blog!!! It's been a very busy, very wonderful, very hard year. Nikki has had a year of many crazy blood sugar readings and went through a - short - but painful depression or 'diabetes burnout'. However, like she always does, she bounced back and came out stronger.

I finished my first year teaching in a new school, with a group of kids (and their parents) that I would love to have adopted. Amber finished her sophomore year of high school with flying colors .... and a driver's permit (gulp). And here we are.

Diabetes camp is just around the corner - always an exciting for Nikki and her T1 friends. The JDRF walk is not too far off and it feels like time is just always in fast forward these days. Which should be a strong reminder for me to slow it down and remember to enjoy all the little precious moments GOD gives me each and every day.

All for now,

I AM DONE!!

2010-06-03T23:21:00.008-04:00

I am very happy to report that I am finally done with school (& I actually managed to graduate with honors)! Graduation was May 15 and it felt great. The best part was that my girls, my husband, my parents and my nephews were there to share in the day with me! I'll be teaching full time this fall and can't wait to begin this new journey. I have to say a special thank you to my Nikki Mouse. The day of my graduation happened to fall on the same day as one of her chorus competitions. She was adament that I 'walk' instead of skipping it and going to her competition. She repeatedly said "mom, I've got a lot more competitions and you only get one graduation!" what a wonderful, sweet young lady (yes I'm biased....but still). Another very cool thing about these last couple of weeks is that my nephew (who is more like our son) Cody is graduating from high school - it was a blast to be able to take 'graduation' pictures with him....... AND he is graduating from my high school alma mater.

God is Good...All the Time

Twenhofel Middle School & JDRF

2010-06-01T14:15:00.008-04:00

At the beginning of this school year, Nikki's homeroom teacher sent out an e-mail to parents to get some ideas on community service projects. I, of course, tossed back a quick reply that JDRF would be a great project. Not much more was said until a few months ago. That's when Nikki's teacher contacted me once again to say that she had chosen JDRF as the school's community service project and would I be willing to help out (YES!!). We were excited to say the least. I've spoken before about how great this middle school, but they stepped it up even more for this walk. We decided to make the fundraising time period last about 2 weeks - we kicked it off with this video (click and watch it if you can, it's a good one!) then the middle school kids were off and running. They raised about $3,000! I want to send a special thank you to Sharon Cross and Cheryl Jones for their willingness to bring T1 awareness to TMS and for their enthusiam and love for the kids; you rock!!

Bret Michaels

2010-05-30T13:04:00.002-04:00

ARTICLE FROM DIABETES LIFE:

It was a great win for diabetes on Sunday night as Bret Michaels, lead singer for the rock band Poison and reality TV star, was crowned the latest Celebrity Apprentice winner after struggling with several medical scares in the past month. Just as impressive is that throughout the season, Michaels' various wins raised more than $390,000 for the American Diabetes Association, including the final challenge prize from Snapple, worth $250,000. The 47-year old Michaels has lived with type 1 diabetes since he was six years old.

Throughout the season, Michaels shone in the competition and consistently impressed the host and creator of the show, Donald Trump. He joined the cast of the third season of Celebrity Apprentice known as a rock and roll badboy and the star of Rock of Love, a VH1 dating show. In joining Celebrity Apprentice, he wanted to raise money for diabetes and, as he told Entertainment Weekly, "show people that you don't just get lucky, especially in the music business for 20 years. I wanted Trump to see that I could win by really working hard and being creative."

And boy, did he show Trump, and the world, how hard he can work. To say that the season was a struggle for Michaels is an understatement. First, he was dealing with a grueling schedule, much tougher than being on tour, with 4:45 AM wake-up calls and workdays that lasted until 1:00 AM, only to start over again the next morning. Combining this with controlling his diabetes was a challenge, to say the least. Several times throughout the show, we could see Michaels struggling with his sugar levels, his energy, and his spirit, yet he always came out doing a great job and impressing Trump.

In the middle of the season, Michaels learned that his daughter Raine may also have type 1 diabetes, and he had to go through the emotions of that revelation on camera. But then, another great challenge began. In April, he underwent an emergency appendectomy while on tour in San Antonio. Soon afterward, he suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage, or bleeding at the base of the skull. This was followed by a stroke. The latest discovery came just last week, when he learned that he has a hole in his heart. He will undergo surgery to repair the hole in the fall, once his body is free of all of the drugs, including blood thinners, that he is taking for his three other health problems. Doctors believe that none of these medical difficulties is related to each other or to his diabetes.

Despite all of his recent scares, Michaels is in great spirits. He even performed on the finale of American Idol, and he is continuing to raise awareness and money for diabetes. To ride the wave of his Celebrity Apprentice win, he has partnered with www.bandannawarehouse.com, where you can purchase a special edition bandanna similar to those he wears. Net proceeds from the sale of the bandannas will help support the American Diabetes Association. It's just another step in Michaels' heroic journey to combat the disease he has lived with most of his life

Willy Wonka

2010-05-25T22:45:00.003-04:00

OKAY, I am like months behind on my blogging - but once again, things have been crazy busy. Last month Nikki performed in her middle school's performance of Willy Wonka Jr. It was a great show - and Nikki had the time of her life. I hope you enjoy some of the sites and sounds from the show in this video!

Michael Hunter

2010-03-20T23:06:00.004-04:00

We spent today visiting family about an hour and a half from our home. Nikki had a low while we were there, 56, and got quite dizzy, faint and unfocused. After the incident was over, I was silently brooding over how much I hate type 1. Shortly after this we arrived at my parents’ home; my niece Brittany, who also has T1, her son and my youngest nephew Michael were there as well. Michael, who is 9 years old, immediately, began talking to Amber & Nikki in the kitchen – I figured he was trying to convince them of something, and with Michael you’re never sure what that may be :-D. I moved closer to investigate. He turned to me and asked “Chi Chi would you like to give a dollar to help me cure diabetes?”

Well, needless to say I was touched and listened as he told me all about the fundraiser he’s doing at his school. I called him on my way home to ask him why he decided to do this fundraiser; he doesn’t usually participate in school fundraising projects as a rule. He told me simply “I wanted to help Nikki and Brittany”. I also asked him if someone else convinced him to raise money or is this something he wanted to do on his own. He told me that no one made him; he just wanted to help his sister and his cousin. (In case I've lost you: my daughter Nikki is his cousin, and my niece Brittany is his big sister. Brittany and Michael are pictured above holding his fundraising envelope.)

Of course I knew no one made him, I just wanted him to put his reasons for raising money into his own words. I couldn’t be prouder. Michael doesn’t even know that his efforts tonight, and his simple question “would you like to help me cure diabetes”, made a huge difference in how down I was feeling about T1 at that moment. Hope comes in all shapes, sizes and moments. Tonight it came in the form of Michael Hunter.

The Sugarless Plum

2010-03-19T13:28:00.006-04:00

I'm sure I have mentioned, about a thousand times, that Nikki is dancer. One of her idols is prima ballerina Zippora Karz. I just realized that Zippora has published a book detailing her life; including her misdiagnosis of type 2, when she really had type 1. I thought the following article on the book was interesting. I'll be picking up a copy for us this weekend. Happy reading!!

From a young age, Zippora Karz desired to achieve her dream of becoming a ballerina. By the time Karz had reached the age of 20, she had attained professional status and had obtained work with the New York City Ballet.

The Sugarless Plum: A Ballerina’s Triumph Over Diabetes is a debut memoir written by Zippora Karz, a former soloist ballerina of the New York City Ballet, best known for the high praises she received as the Sugar Plum Fairy in Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. From 1983 through 1999 Karz performed with the New York City Ballet.

Karz simply and honestly tells of her struggle and anguish as a competitive athlete. As she worked her way within the ballet company’s echelon, she examines her fears, and anxieties, as well as her ambitions, both professionally and personally. All are set forth from a genuine self-reflection of her experiences. Thinking that her hard work and aspirations had merely resulted in exhaustion, she continued to overlook her symptoms. Karz goes on to find out that she has Type 2 Diabetes.

She speaks of her challenges to modify her diet, as well as maintain medication compliance. Karz battles to eradicate herself of the disease, knowing the life-threatening complications that can befall her. However, to her surprise, she goes on to find that she was erroneously diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, and had in fact had Type 1 Diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes would mean that she would require daily insulin injections for life.

Her struggles, particularly for an athlete or dancer, certainly serve as an inspiration to never give up your dream. Karz’s memoir contains photos of her three generations of dancers, her grandmother, her mother, and herself. How she managed her medical condition as well as continued to press forward and pursue her career, is quite motivational. The back of the book contains a list of several resources Karz found helpful (N.Y Book Cafe).

Look Who's On The Cover!

2010-03-11T11:50:00.002-05:00

The yearly diabetes camp brochure arrived today and much to our surprise, and excitement, Nikki and Mikayla are on the cover!! The girls are so happy and the parents more than a little proud.

Dogs 4 Diabetics

2010-03-04T08:11:00.003-05:00

Using dogs to detect changes in blood sugar levels is something that is fairly new. As of today, there is no proven scientific evidence that dogs can detect lows or highs. However, I think it's a subject worth following. Nikki is hoping that a chapter opens up near us - because I guess having FOUR dogs isn't enough (:-D).

Dogs4Diabetics, Inc. began almost seven years ago, when its founder began researching the possibility of training dogs to detect diabetes-related hypoglycemia and physically alert the diabetic to the impending hypoglycemia.

In October 2003, a dog named Armstrong was obtained from Guide Dogs for the Blind and his scent and alert training was started. Armstrong enjoyed his new job and was soon alerting on diabetic-related hypoglycemia.

In October 2004, Dogs For Diabetics, Inc. was formally incorporated in the State of California and applied for nonprofit status. The IRS granted 501(c) nonprofit status in early 2005.

Today, our dogs are obtained primarily from Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, California and retrained for diabetic alert work. We have also obtained dogs from Canine Companions for Independence, Tony LaRussa's Animal Rescue Foundation, Genesis Services of Boise, Idaho, and through private donations.

When we receive our dogs for diabetic alert training, they've already been professionally trained and socialized as assistance dogs from the time they are eight weeks old. D4D dogs reside in local foster care homes while being trained. Foster care providers bring the dogs to Dogs4Diabetics each day for training. In the evening, foster care providers socialize the dogs in their local community. Read some frequently asked questions to find out more about Dogs4Diabetics.

The Heart of a Champion

2010-02-26T19:21:00.006-05:00

Nikki and I read this Sports Illlustrated article with tears in our eyes. Not because we felt let down, in any way, but because we understand ..... Nikki more than me ...... how diabetes can gut punch you when you least expect it. We do want Kris to know that he is already a champion, and it has nothing to do with skiing. Whether he comes home with a medal does not matter; his heart, strength and determination is what makes him an inspiration to T1's - and their families. It's not possible for us to feel anything but pride and admiration for him. Following is the article:

WHISTLER, British Columbia -- From a spectator's view, everything seemed to be going according to plan for U.S. cross-country skier Kris Freeman during the 30 km pursuit on Saturday. A third of the way through the race, he was tucked into the single-file line of about 20 competitors who had broken away from the rest of the pack, just 11 seconds back from the leader.

But when the pack came through Whistler Olympic Park stadium at the halfway point of the race -- where skiiers make a pit stop to change from classic to freestyle -- there was no Kris Freeman in the top 20. Nor in the top 30, or even the top 40.

America's lone hope for a cross-country medal in men's cross country -- Bill Koch's 1976 silver is the only one in U.S. history -- and the only acknowledged Type I diabetic endurance athlete in Olympic history was the victim of a sugar crash. In the span of about three minutes, the 29-year-old Freeman went from cruising smoothly among the world's best to lying down in the snow near the 12 km mark, begging the crowd for some sugar.

"I got a twinge that something was wrong, and then a few minutes later I came to a standstill and went to the side of the trail," Freeman says. "No one was coming to help me, because my coaches weren¹t around, and people think I just dropped out of the race, so they wanted to leave me alone."

But Freeman started yelling to the crowd, asking for sugar. A German coach who heard him prodded some spectators to go through their bags, and pretty soon, Freeman has a Powerade and one of the goo packets that endurance athletes use to keep their energy stores up. It was enough sugar to get Freeman up and skiing, and "at that point I was pissed off," Freeman says, "so the last thing I wanted to do was go mope, so I finished the race." A crestfallen Freeman finished in 45th place, nearly eight minutes from the leader.

"Right now, I'm trying to live by the same things I say when I go to summer camps [for diabetic kids]," Freeman says, "which is, 'Don't get angry at yourself when you mess up, move on.' I gotta say at the moment, though, that¹s pretty hard."

Part of the trouble with being the only Type I diabetic Olympic endurance athlete is that you literally are writing a chapter of the sports-medicine book every time out.

Freeman first got the diagnosis during a routine blood test shortly after he began training with the U.S. Ski Team in 2000. The first doctor Freeman spoke with told him that he could continue to ski but that his career at the elite level was over. Freeman says he "wasn't interested at all in skiing at a level below what I was aspiring to."

Three opinions later Freeman found Larry Gaul, a doctor willing to work with him, and now a doctor with the U.S. Skiing's Nordic team. Freeman had to learn quickly which conditions would cause his blood sugar to fluctuate.

"If I get nervous before a race, the adrenaline triggers the release of sugar into my bloodstream," Freeman says. So, for example, he has shelved pounding pre-race pump music in favor of more placid tunes.

About a year-and-a-half ago, Freeman was granted a new measure of control by a pump called an OmniPod that attaches to his arm or chest and can be programmed to automatically deliver small doses of insulin through a needle in his skin.

In conjunction with Dr. Gaul, Freeman has become very adept at taking food and drink during races and at programming the OmniPod appropriately to get him through a race. But he has had time for much more trial-and-error in 15 km races than in 30 km races, where he had the trouble last week. "Obviously, I was on too high of an insulin dose during the race," Freeman says.

In the 15 km at the 2009 world championships, Freeman finished fourth, just 1.3 seconds off the podium. The better he has become, the more he has had to experiment with insulin doses. "I've been pushing the limits more and more because I'm not satisfied with finishing in the 20s," he says. "I can let my blood sugar run a little high and finish in the 20s. But I need perfect spot on control when I'm in the top 10 and top 5; and the smaller target you aim for, the more you miss."

Freeman has one more shot, the 50 km mass start on the last day of the Games to, as he puts it, "show I can ski. I want to show the U.S. Ski Team how I can ski, I want to show the country how I can ski, and more than anything, I want to show the diabetes community what¹s possible. I really did not want to have a blood-sugar episode on the biggest stage. I wanted this to be 'You can do anything with this disease' -- and I still totally believe that -- but there are setbacks along the way. I got one more chance."

I'M A SQUIRREL!!

2010-02-24T09:32:00.004-05:00

Nikki tried out for the middle school musical, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, this year. She was very nervous during try outs, but more so waiting to find out if she got a part. She had to sing a solo, do a monologue (she chose a scene from Lord of the Rings) and then do an improvisation. A few days later she came running in the door from school shouting "MOM, I'M A SQUIRREL!!!". Of course, I didn't immediately understand; but it turns out that in the new Johnny Depp version of the story (which I have now seen and love) there is a scene where a room full of squirrels test Veruca Salt to see if she is a "bad nut". Click HERE to see a bit of it.

Anyway, Nikki is also playing the part of an Oompa Loompa and a Candy Kid. The musical will be Easter weekend and I'm really looking forward to it. The director is a wonderful lady; she also directed Amber in Beauty and the Beast & Cinderella when she was at the same school (Sherry you rock). Amber is a little homesick for her musical days with Mrs. Clark as she watches how much fun Nikki is having; but she's also very excited for little sister. You can bet that there will be plenty of pictures for me to force everyone to look at :-D.

I can't help but smile a bit that my T1 will be playing a candy kid.....but then again, she is extra sweet.

NO LIMITS! Diabetes be Damned!

2010-02-17T06:46:00.006-05:00

It's Olympic time! Our favorite Olympian, Kris Freeman, is competing as the FIRST EVER Type 1 endurance sport athlete! Check out THIS LINK to see Kris' interview on The Today Show. Nikki and Kris met a couple summers ago at Camp Korelitz. This is a camp for kids with diabetes. He has had a big impact on her life. Whether he wins gold or not - he will ALWAYS be our champion!

Here is the article that was featured in Outside magazine.

The U.S. squad heads into Vancouver this February 12 stacked with veterans, including Kris Freeman. They've all got something to prove, but none more than Freeman, who plans to break our 30-year cross-country medal drought—diabetes be damned.

By Sam Moulton


	Photograph by Marc Hom

A BIZARRE THING can happen when you repeat an unnatural motion, like skate-skiing, as intensely as Kris Freeman does. Your muscles literally grow too big. It's called compartment syndrome. In the ten-time cross-country-skiing national champion's case, this happened with his monstrous calves, and the pain was excruciating. "The pressure in my legs was well over twice what it should have been," he says.

But for Freeman, 29, the episode before the 2009 world championships was a hiccup compared with his Type 1 diabetes. So he decided to compete anyway, which made his fourth-place finish in the 15K Classic even more impressive. Especially when you consider that no American skier has won a world-championship medal or any Olympic hardware in cross-country in more than 30 years.

Freeman's diabetes, however, is harder to play through. The disease requires him to be hypervigilant about everything from his caloric intake to the playlists on his iPod. "If I get too fired up before a race," he explains, "I leak adrenaline, which will raise my blood sugar. So instead of listening to 'Welcome to the Jungle,' I might have to listen to 'Patience.' "

It's an apt choice. Vancouver will be Freeman's third Games. And while he was touted as a contender in Turin, there's reason to believe this is his year. Actually, there are several: At 29, he's in his prime. He's healed from surgery he had last year to fix his calves and has a new insulin pump, with no tubes exposed.

Then there's what is essentially a home-field advantage. "We've been training [in Vancouver] since the trails were built," says Freeman. "We know the courses backward and forward."

The one thing he hasn't been doing? Attracting attention. "I've been living in Thornton, New Hampshire, for about a year and a half, and I think some of my neighbors might know that I'm a ski racer now."

Happy Birthday Mouse!

2010-02-16T13:16:00.008-05:00

Exactly 12 years ago today (at 1:19 pm to be precise) I gave birth to the sweetest little blonde baby girl - Nikki Marie! I can't believe so much time has gone by. I also can't believe how much she's already experienced in her short 12 years & how she handles everything with absolute grace!

We are snowed in, so we won't be going to a movie and dinner; we'll have to do that once we dig out or the snow melts. However, her party was this past Sunday (Valetine's Day) at Lazer Kraze. She had a great time and spent the day with amazing friends!

Alexis was able to join Nikki for her party and that was very special. It also gave Bryan and I some extra time with Troy & Andrea (Alexis' mom & dad) who we love dearly. In case I'm losing you: Alexis was diagnosed about 3 weeks ago with T1. Troy is one of my husband's closest friends and, as it happens, our family doctor. He's also the one who diagnosed my Nikki almost 7 years ago.

It was a great party for many different reasons!

However, the party didn't end at Lazer Kraze, we continued it at our house: sleepover! Nikki's only gift request this year was The Beatles' Rock Band. Yep, she's a Beatles' fan! I find that hysterical, but no complaining because its music I can actually enjoy with her!

We will add this birthday to our list of blessings! Happy Birthday Miss Mouse - you make us so very proud!

Then There Were FOUR

2010-02-14T23:36:00.004-05:00

Many of you know that we lost our beloved dog Buddy about 4 months ago. His death was VERY unexpected and hit us hard. Its been hardest on Amber. We adopted Hope, our Jack Russell mix, 3 months ago and she is such a little joy – and boy does she give our Border Collie, Angel, a run for her money.

If you’re counting, that means that we still have 3 dogs. About a week ago, a friend of mine (who works for SAAP) wanted me to stop by her house and see some new puppies she was fostering; and meet her new Lab, Andy. SAAP rescued approximately 48 dogs from a high kill shelter in Kentucky and she was fostering 2 of the puppies. The first one came out and she was just adorable – a little white and tan Lab/Beagle mix. THEN the second one came out – and I about died. This little guy was/is the spit-n-image of our Buddy; down to the unique markings on his back and chest.

SOOOOOO…..you probably already figured it out….we now have FOUR dogs. We named Buddy’s clone Chance and he acts as if he’s always been here. All 4 dogs get along wonderfully. To make this story perfect, Chance’s sister has found her forever home as well.

Check out these pictures of our furry family members – past and present.

GOD is Good, All The Time!

Dancing Breds!

2010-02-07T12:23:00.005-05:00

One of the really cool things that has happened for Nikki over the winter is dance team. She tried out for and made the middle school dance team right around Christmas. She has had a blast! The team is quite good (and yes I’m biased, but they are). A few weekends ago they competed in Regionals – the first time her middle school has EVER competed. They came in second, but the best part of the day was the extra award the team received. Over all the middle schools and high schools competing, they were given the Most Spirit Award! Check out some of the pictures from the season as well as the video from competition! I have to end by saying that Nikki has been blessed once again by having another great adult leading her; her coach is amazing!

Click HERE to watch the video :-D.

The Grace of GOD

2010-01-31T19:26:00.003-05:00

My stepdaughter, Briana, was in a pretty bad car wreck yesterday. It’s a pure miracle that she wasn’t hurt. She hit an icy/slushy spot in the road and lost control of her vehicle, it flipped around 4 times before coming to rest upside down. After dislodging herself (she was also upside down, dangling by the seat belt) she managed to crawl out through the windshield. She then climbed an embankment and flagged down help. She was taken to the hospital and …… no broken bones or serious injuries. Of course, she was terrified and is sore all over, but what a blessing that she wasn’t hurt. Briana, we love you!

We Know HE Has Been Here

2010-01-30T21:46:00.002-05:00

I was thinking about blessings today and how about how many of them GOD has placed upon our lives. Like I said in my last blog, our close friends just found out that their 10 year old daughter has T1 – and Dad/Dr. Troy diagnosed his own child. Troy is also the one that diagnosed our Nikki almost 7 years ago. Nikki went to visit Alexis (her friend and newly diagnosed T1) today and took her Rufus, The Diabetes Bear and some other things. It made Nikki feel good to reach out to someone the way people reached out to her when she was diagnosed.

Which brings me back to blessings; rather, blessings in disguise. Nikki is getting ready to celebrate her 12th birthday (yikes). We are planning a medium sized party, with plenty of giggling girls and rowdy boys. 4 of the girls, some of which are her inner circle of friends, have T1. I wonder what the odds are of that. Aside from her friends, Nikki has 2 cousins with T1 and 2 dance teacher/friends with T1. I look at how GOD brought all these people into our lives and it humbles me beyond words.

We live in a teeny tiny town. The only way we get the intimate diabetes support in our daily lives is through the hand of GOD. Nikki and I were talking tonight and we both agreed that there is no doubt that GOD is taking every step of her life with her. It reminds me of what Joyce Meyer (Christian Speaker) says “You may not see HIM coming, but you sure know when HE has been there”.

GOD is Good ,All the Time!

Thoughts and Prayers

2010-01-28T12:39:00.001-05:00

Well it has been AGES since I’ve updated my blog. As many of you know, I’m ‘back’ in school pursuing another degree in Child Studies/Home Visiting with a minor in Family Studies. I’m happy to report that I’ll graduate May 14, YEEE HAWWW! I say all this because last semester took all of my time and energy and that is why there have been no blog updates.

HOWEVER, so much has happened over the last few months. I’ll probably take the next few entries to share some of what we’ve experienced, both good and bad. Today, I’d like to take the opportunity to extend wishes to our very good friends; their daughter was diagnosed with type 1 last night.

If you go back to blogs from the “JOURNEY” section and read about the day Nikki was diagnosed, you will see that she was diagnosed by our doctor -- who is also one of my husband’s closest friends. Last night, this friend had the ….. Well, I just don’t have the words …….. He diagnosed his 10 year old daughter with T1. As of this writing, they are in Children’s going through the first, very stressful hours of a life that now includes diabetes. Our prayers, love, hugs and thoughts go out to them. Nikki is very impatient to visit her friend and let her know that she’s not alone.

Though this incident prompted me to get off my rear and start blogging again, I also have many wonderful moments to share; but I’ll save those for a later blog. In the meantime, I hope everyone had a safe and blessed Christmas; and I hope that included great NUMBERS!

God Bless

Walk Day Rocked!

2009-09-19T22:29:00.004-04:00

The walk today was a blast! We had 13 people walking with us and it was so fun. 3 of our team members this year are T1's - Nikki, Zoe and Mikayla - they are all at the same school now and have become close friends. They even call themselves "D 3" which I think is adorable. I decided to do a video for my walk day blog - and I wanted to thank everyone who donated to our team, walked with us and prayed for us. We are so very blessed.

A Very Special Walk Update

2009-09-18T18:08:00.007-04:00

Okay people tomorrow is walk day! We are so pumped. I wanted to take this opportunity to let one of Nikki's best friends say a few words. She took it upon herself to organize a Max Life Bracelet sale at her school and worked so very hard to raise money on behalf of Nikki and all those affected by diabetes. Soooooo, Here is Brooke's blog:

Hello! My name is Brooke Willis and my very best friend (Nikki) has diabetes. I can never know what she goes through every day, but I do know that it hurts her so it hurts me. I pray every day and every night that someone will find a cure. I love walking with Nikki and selling pop at her pop stand to raise money to help JDRF find a cure, but this year I wanted to do more. I decided to sell bracelets at my school to raise money. I am a 5th grader at Piner Elementary. My principal thought it would be a great idea. So every morning for a week and a half I sold bracelets before school. They interviewed me on our school news and I told the whole school how I wanted to help find a cure for Nikki. I am very proud of how the students at my school supported me by buying bracelets. Every student who bought a bracelet got to hang a shoe on the wall. The wall looked really cool with all the shoes on it! Tomorrow at the JDRF walk I will get to turn in the $170 dollars I raised! I would do anything to help Nikki, she is a very special friend! Also, I know that there are children all over the world that have diabetes. I hope that this money really helps find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes, because it is a very mean disease!

2009 Walk Day in 3 Days!

2009-09-17T01:01:00.003-04:00

We are getting pretty excited about walk day this coming Saturday. We've had some great momets fundraising this year. Nikki and her friends (who you have all heard me talk about on a regular basis) Samantha, Brooke, Emily and even Samantha's little brother Gus all came out last weekend for one last day of fundraising.

They were just too cute for words. But more than that, I was secretly watching them on and off and at one point I just thought I would bust with pride. Here are these 5 Tweens, spending a beautiful Saturday afternoon working their little behinds off and it was not for a trophy, a blue ribbon or to win a place in the 'in crowd' - it was to help other people - period. That was definitely a "My cup runneth over" moment.

I can't wait to see what our final fundraising figures will be - you can bet I'll be blogging the total immediately! Thanks to all of you who have donated so generously and to those of you who have lifted us up in prayer.

God is Good, all the time

More Doggie Drama

2009-09-16T19:07:00.006-04:00

By now, most of you know that we are a family that loves our dogs like they are part of our family (because they are). The last weekend in August we adopted our new baby girl – Hope. A teenie, tiny little munchkin who is like a little typhoon running around the house. Hope, who is Amber’s puppy, is part Jack Russell and believes that she is as big (or bigger) than our Border Collie and Beagle.

On Thursday night, September 3, she decided to prove this by following Angel & Hollee up the basement stairs (which she couldn’t do about an hour before this) and resumed her play fighting with them at the TOP of the stairs – not a good idea. Before I even knew she had gone up, I heard this HORRIBLE scream. I turned around and she was sort of sitting/leaning/laying against the wall at the BOTTOM of the stairs.

Another trip to the doggie emergency room and another terrible night of worry for Miss Amber (well, all of us). They didn’t do much at the e.r. besides give her a pain shot, take x-rays and wrap her leg. Her right front leg was broken at the elbow (growth plate) and she was in excruciating pain. I literally held her against me and sat up in a chair all night long because any type of movement caused her to just scream and scream and scream. In the morning we took her to our vet and he sent her on to a specialist. She wound up having to have a permanent pin placed in her elbow through a surgical procedure. She is stitched up pretty good but was already walking around quite well the day after surgery. Today, 1-1/2 weeks after the incident, I can’t convince her that she’s not supposed to run, play, bite, chew and generally terrorize her furry sisters. She gets her stitches out on Friday but won’t be released for full play for another 3 weeks – ugh.

She’s quite the sweet little thing and is such a joy to watch. The accident didn’t slow her down for much more than 24 hours – a tough little nut. Angel is annoyed is the attention she gets because she thought she was the only princess on earth, but they are getting along wonderfully. Hollee thinks she is Hope’s mommy, so sweet to watch the level of patience Hollee has with the ‘baby’. The vet proclaimed her part Jack Russell, part Shark - a very accurate description.

Anyway, that’s the latest update on the doggie drama at the Turner house – let’s hope that’s all for a very long time.

Walk Day is September 19

2009-09-08T09:13:00.004-04:00

We are in total “walk mode”. Nikki and her best friends spent the weekend raising money by selling Sprite, Coke, Diet Pepsi, etc and the orange Max Life bracelets. They have raised quite a bit and will be at it again next weekend! In addition to that, the wonderful Principal at Brooke’s (bff) school has given permission for Brooke to sell the Max Life bracelets during the school day! It’s so great to see they young women these ladies are becoming – they all make me so proud.

We still have almost 2 weeks until walk day, so if you are able to donate anything (there is no amount too small) we would be extremely thankful! 100% of all the money we raise goes directly to research dedicated to finding a cure for type 1 diabetes. You can get to our walk page to make a donation by clicking here: http://walk.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=extranet.personalpage&confirmid=87310416

Thank you to all those who have already donated and to all those who are praying!

Nikki & Middle School

2009-08-27T13:35:00.004-04:00

With the sudden death of our beloved, 8 year old Lab - Buddy, I 've been in a bit of a fog for the last 2 weeks. However, since the arrival of Hope, our 12 week old Jack Russell things have been a lot more 'up'. I was looking through my last few blogs (not including the article I posted yesterday) and realized I have not spoken one word about Nikki's new adventure in middle school!

Let me just sum up her first week of school in the words she used when she came home the first day "it was the best first day of school EVER" and that is how she continues to feel about the subject. I have had exactly one phone call from her since school began and that is wonderful!

Oh....wait....did I mention that Nikki's new, wonderful school nurse has diabetes and wears an insulin pump? Did I mention (I think I have) that one of her closest friends is on her 'team' and in at least one of her classes AND she also as T1. Now hang on, that's not all! She's made another new friend who is in a couple of her classes and....you guess it....she has T1! It's like a mini diabetes camp every day. So things in that area are just great (knock on wood). It also helps that she's been blessed with great teacher's again this year.

We've had pretty consistent blood sugars in the mid to high 100's except at night when they seem to be running higher. I'll be adjusting her nighttime basal this evening and we'll see how that helps.

After so much sad news lately, it's awesome to think and share the wonderful things going on! We are continuing with our fundraising efforts - the walk is only 3 weeks away! THANK YOU to those of you who have already donated to our team, you are a blessing to millions of people! If you are able and would like to donate to our walk team you can access our team donation page and donate online by clicking the link at the top left side of our blog.

God is Good :-D.

Parental Alienation Sydrome

2009-08-26T22:53:00.003-04:00

What on earth does this have to do with me & my husband; Amber, Nikki or type 1 diabetes - well, nothing. Honestly, it is a subject that I have been researching for some classes I'm taking. I felt that the article(s) were very informative and simply wanted to share some of what I've found. I think the subject is a serious one and one that will hopefully gain more attention as more research is done.

What is Parental Alienation Syndrome?

Richard A. Gardner, M.D., first introduced Parental Alienation Syndrome, or PAS, in 1985 as a way to describe what he refers to as a "cluster of symptoms" present in children who, during the process of a child-custody dispute, reject one parent as a direct result of strong, negative claims introduced by the other parent.

In addition, in cases of true Parental Alienation Syndrome, the negative propaganda that is being introduced to the child by the alienating parent is not substantiated by the alienated parent's behavior prior to the dispute. In many PAS cases, the child enjoyed a warm, vibrant relationship with the alienated parent prior to his or her parent's divorce.

Another notable distinction in true cases of Parental Alienation Syndrome is the idea that the child so strongly adopts the alienating parent's point of view that he or she begins to vilify the alienated parent independent of the alienating parent.

Alienated vs. Estranged
Children who are estranged from one parent are typically not victims of PAS. In many cases, when a child is estranged from a parent, that parent chooses (perhaps for a variety of reasons) not to be involved in the child's life.

Alternatively, there are also situations where an older child may be estranged from a parent due to that parent's own behavior. For example, a child whose mom is an alcoholic might choose not to participate in unsupervised visitations. This is not an example of PAS, however, because there is a valid reason for the child to resist contact.

Abuse Cases
Substantiated cases of abuse - whether emotional, physical, or sexual - should be differentiated from cases of PAS as well. When there is abuse, it is reasonable for the child to reject the parent. Therefore, it does not constitute a true example of PAS.

PAS Should be Considered When a Child Consistently, and Without Reason:

Shuns the parent in question

Denigrates, belittles, or disparages the parent

Appears unable to distinguish lies from the truth in regards to the parent

Unjustly hates the parent

Defames the parent with invented stories and lies

Uses inappropriate language to deride the parent in public

Views the parent as singularly bad; sees nothing good in the parent in question

Shows extreme resistence to seeing or maintaining contact with the parent

Degrees of PAS
Parents who contribute to Parental Alienation Syndrome do so to varying degrees. Mild alienation may be perpetrated by a parent who avoids conflict with the other parent and allows pent-up anger and resentment to spill over to the children. Moderate alienation may be perpetrated by a parent who is extremely angry with his or her ex-spouse, but lacks the self-control to manage his or her own behaviors. Thus, the child becomes indoctrinated in the same anger and resentment. In both mild and moderate forms, the alienators may not intend to cause harm to the child's relationship with the alienated parent and usually responds positively to education.

In cases of severe alienation, though, it is more difficult to change the alienator's behaviors. He or she truly believes that the child is better off without the other parent, intentionally withholds the child from the other parent, and purposely uses his or her influence to destroy a once-positive relationship between the child and the alienated parent. (Wolf, 2009)

Gardner's definition of PAS is:
"The parental alienation syndrome (PAS) is a disorder that arises primarily in the context of child-custody disputes. Its primary manifestation is the child's campaign of denigration against a parent, a campaign that has no justification. It results from the combination of a programming (brainwashing) parent's indoctrinations and the child's own contributions to the vilification of the target parent." (Excerpted from: Gardner, R.A. (1998). The Parental Alienation Syndrome, Second Edition, Cresskill, NJ: Creative Therapeutics, Inc.)

Basically, this means that through verbal and non verbal thoughts, actions and mannerisms, a child is emotionally abused (brainwashed) into thinking the other parent is the enemy. This ranges from bad mouthing the other parent in front of the children, to withholding visits, to pre-arranging the activities for the children while visiting with the other parent.

One criteria necessary for the detection of PAS is probably the least described or identified, but critically is one of the most important. It has to do with the existence of a positive relationship between the minor children and the now absent or nonresidential parent, prior to the marital separation; and a substantial deterioration, of it since then. Such a recognized decline does not occur on its own. It is, therefore, one of the most important indicators of the presence of alienation as well. as a full measure of its relative "success." By way of example, if a father had a good and involved relationship with the children prior to the separation, and a very distant one since, then one can only assume without explicit proof to the contrary that something caused it to change. If this father is clearly trying to maintain a positive relationship with the children through observance of visitation and other activities and the children do not want to see him or have him involved in their lives, then one can only speculate that an alienation process may have been in operation. Children do not naturally lose interest in and become distant from their nonresidential parent simply by virtue of the absence of that parent. Also, healthy and established parental relationships do not erode naturally of their own accord. They must be attacked. Therefore, any dramatic change in this area is virtually always an indicator of an alienation process that has had some success in the past (Boone & Walsh, The Florida Bar Journal, 2009, sic).

Any attempt at alienating the children from the other parent should be seen as a direct and willful violation of one of the prime duties of parenthood

Hope is Home

2009-08-23T19:47:00.008-04:00

We went and got Hope yesterday, early afternoon. She is just so precious and tiny! After leaving her foster home we stopped by Lexington to let her meet her many grandparents and then headed home. Angel wasn't exactly sure if Hope was a dog at first, but Hollee loved her immediately. It took about 2hours and they were all 3 playing like they had been together all their lives; it made you feel good just to watch them. So I guess this will begin a new chapter in our lives and it looks like it's going to be a busy one!

Hope

2009-08-20T18:02:00.004-04:00

I like that word - Hope. It's been especially important over the last few days. Even better, it's the name Amber has picked for her new puppy - Hope - who will be coming home on Saturday. She's a 14 week old Jack Russell mix and we just can't wait to have her become part of the family. You can be sure that I will be bombarding everyone with pictures of her and of her with her new furry sisters. Angel has been very lonely since we lost Buddy, so I know she will love having a sister who likes to play as much as she does. Our Beagle Hollee, had a real hard life before she came to us, so she is not much for playing - her favorite thing (aside from sleeping) is sitting beside me wherever I am. She will play with Angel from time to time, but not enough to make Angel happy.

No one can ever come close to replacing Buddy; but it will be great to have a new little furry life to love.

Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

In Memory of Our Buddy

2009-08-19T01:48:00.006-04:00

I found myself looking through a lot of old family pictures today and that usually means a video (see). In this case, it was so helpful to relive all these wonderful memories.

Buddy Turner

2009-08-18T09:22:00.009-04:00

It was an April morning in 2001, I was outside talking to a neighbor & waiting on my oldest daughter – Amber - to hurry herself out to the car so I could get her to school. As the neighbor and I stood there talking a scraggly looking rather large puppy walked up and attempted to say hello. My first instinct was to look around for my kids because I didn’t know if the puppy was friendly, he was very obviously friendly and hungry and covered in ticks and thirsty and loving.

The girls didn’t see him as I got them into the car so I didn’t mention anything about the dog. However, my mind was thinking that perhaps we had found Amber’s “Air Bud” dog (it was her favorite movie at the time, she was 7; Nikki was 4). When I returned home the puppy was still hanging around so I went in and got my husband who is normally traveling for business, but happened to be home at that point. He fell in love with this scraggly, ragged puppy as fast as I had. We made the decision to keep him. I called the vet and made an appointment to take him in that day and we took him around to the backyard – which is fenced. I couldn’t let him in the house at that point because he was literally covered and I mean covered in ticks.

When the girls got home from school he was still in the yard; Amber took one look at him (and he at her) and they were instant friends. She was a tiny bit intimidated in the first few seconds because of his size but that passed immediately and for his part, the puppy wanted to continuously “hug” Amber -- I couldn’t let him because of all the ticks. We left a few minutes after all this to take him to the vet. They took over 120 ticks off him and removed an imbedded flea collar (how’s that for irony). He was approximately 6 months old; Amber named him Buddy.

The months and years that followed were mixed with laughter at his antics and anger at his antics – like eating my custom made blinds, the carpet, the doors to the bedrooms, oh and he could climb fences. While we admired his talent for climbing we weren’t too thrilled with the fact that we had to replace our newly installed, and rather attractive, fence with a not as attractive 7 foot high privacy fence.

Amber and Buddy were inseparable; he was her very best friend and pillow. Buddy got sick this past Saturday morning – to say it was unexpected is putting it mildly. Although Amber and I rushed him to the vet and then on to the animal ER, his spleen had already ruptured due to massive tumors and he had lost a lot of blood; which all leaked into his belly. We had no idea AT ALL that he had anything wrong. He fought hard but died during surgery at approximately 7:00 Saturday, August 15, 2009.

I have so many Buddy stories to share but right now it’s all a little too fresh. I know not everyone will understand why we are so devastated over the loss of a “pet”; the only thing I can say is that Buddy, and our other furry babies Angel and Hollee, are much, much more than pets – they are our family and the loss of Buddy is huge, especially for Amber.

Buddy loved to play in the lake; sleep on the bed; chase the 4-wheeler; chase flies, squirrels, rabbits and birds. Buddy loved his furry sisters Angel and Hollee; he loved company coming to the front door and stealing food off the counter. Buddy loved to patrol the backyard and follow Bryan whenever he was outside working; Most of all Buddy loved his people and especially his girl, Amber. Buddy was 8 years old, we brought him home and laid him to rest in the back yard under his favorite tree.

Diabetes Camp 2009: Update

2009-08-10T21:12:00.002-04:00

Today was Camp Thoroughbred at Nikki’s school. It’s a middle school orientation for incoming 6th graders (I know I mentioned this in my blog yesterday – just reminding - :-D). Anyway, Mikayla’s mom picked the girls up around 7:00 a.m. They met their other (non-D) friend Emily at the school and spent the day doing things like practicing how to open their lockers and find their way around the school – they had a blast.

I picked them up at 2:30 and we headed straight back to camp because they were in a rush to make the horseback riding outing. Emily went with us to drop them off – they giggled for the entire hour drive. It was raining when we got there so Nikki’s group was hanging out in their cabin; which had no affect on the very good and giggly mood (and I mean Nikki, Mikayla, Emily and the rest of the cabin of 11 year old girls).

On the drive back to camp, one of the conversations centered around Mikayla having a low last night and Nikki being unable to fall asleep right away (which prompted her to brush her hair instead of count sheep – I didn’t ask for details). The best part was that they were laughing about the fact that by the time Mikayla’s blood was up and Nikki finally fell asleep it was time for midnight blood checks for the cabin so they were all wide awake for a long time: “and mom the funniest part was that ‘S’ couldn’t get her finger to bleed so we all climbed on her bunk and took turns trying to help her get blood out; but we were all laughing so hard that it didn’t work so she finally changed hands and then she got too much blood – it was so funny.” Now, for many people nothing about that incident seems funny; but I did understand it. From my point of view, the truly best part of that story is that all of those girls felt perfectly normal and not like the center of attention because of diabetes – I mean, they ALL have diabetes – no biggie.

God is Good!

Diabetes Camp 2009

2009-08-09T17:42:00.004-04:00

Well, today was the big day for Nikki. One of her favorite days of the year….the first day of diabetes camp. This is the 4th year she’s attended and each year her excitement leading up to camp grows by leaps and bounds.

I noticed a couple of things this year; the first is that this year Nikki was reuniting with friends from previous years. After 4 years of camp she has her own special group of ‘camp friends’ and they were very happy to see each other. The other thing I noticed was the campers themselves. What I mean is this; in a typical setting it takes kids a day or so to warm up to each other – not so with D kids at D camp. When I left, all the girls were huddled together around one lower bunk talking as if they had been best friends for years. Some of them knew each other, but a lot of them were new to camp – D has a way of bonding them.

Of course, Nikki is blessed to be at camp with one of her closest friends, Mikayla. This is a big year for them because they will also be attending the same middle school and they will be on the same team. That is a priceless support system for them both. In fact, tomorrow is what we call “Camp Thoroughbred”. It’s a day long camp for incoming 6th graders; the purpose is to help them become familiar with their new surroundings. Since a huge factor in D blood sugar highs and lows is stress/anxiety Mikayla’s mom and myself feel that Camp Thoroughbred is a an absolute necessity for both our girls. Sooooo, Mindy (M’s mom) is picking the girls up in the morning and taking them to the school and I’ll pick them up in the afternoon and return them to D camp – about an hour away. Nikki and Mikayla both informed me just as I was leaving that they HAD to be back to camp by 4:00 tomorrow because they are going horseback riding at 4:30 and they DO NOT want to miss it.

A final observation from today is how much Nikki did not mind that we were leaving; in fact I’m not sure she noticed. The responsible parent in me relishes her independence; self-confidence and how comfortable she is at camp – the stingy, clingy parent in me wishes she was a tad sorrier to see me go. Actually, I’m kidding. It does my heart good to see the young woman she’s becoming.

Family, Friends and a Trip to the Mall

2009-08-02T22:13:00.006-04:00

We just got home from a wonderful day spent with some of my high school friends and my awesome family. It was truly a great day. Nikki managed to con her grandfather (my Dad) into taking her to the mall - now that's definitely only something a "Poppa's Gerber Baby" could do - but she will remember it forever.

Amber and my nephew Michael went along for the outing. Did I forget to mention that Nikki did not have any money on her and I was at my grandmother's with my mom. Of course, Poppa came through with some $$'s but evidentally the thing Nikki was after in the mall was still a little out of her price range - so (PROUD MOMMY MOMENT HERE) Amber gave Nikki the money Poppa had given her to spend. Now is that sweet or what? I am just so proud of Amber.

Nikki leaves a week from today for diabetes camp, for (gasp) 7 DAYS - no matter how many years she attends camp I don't think I'll ever get used to her being gone for that long. Once she returns from camp she'll have 3 days and then school starts.

I'm planning on really focusing on the walk in early September - I have to figure out how close we are to our goal. Looking forward to participating as a team again this year; one day I just know I will say "Nikki USED to have diabetes".

Good Numbers and Camp Fun

2009-07-27T21:56:00.008-04:00

First, I must report that the problem with Nikki’s blood sugar was not, apparently, the pump. Rather, it was the INSULIN – we must have gotten a bad supply the last time we filled the order. The morning we were leaving for camp we had had a terrible overnight so, in a last ditch effort not to cancel camp, Bryan went and got a new refill on the insulin and PRESTO perfect numbers.

Having said that, we had made tremendous changes to her correction factor, meal bolus and target BG. Because I was not 100% sure the problem was fixed, I was hesitant to change all those numbers back to what they were – UNTIL we had 2 major crashes at camp.

Nikki is a go-getter and a very competitive little thing so she was very busy at camp. The first crash was just after she had hiked quite a way, zip-lined over two canyon areas, hiked up a hill and was on the return hike when she crashed. Thankfully, we were with a group of AMAZING leaders who had a golf cart magically appear and transport Nikki the rest of the way down the hill, to our dorm. She was up and at em’ again within 30 minutes – blobbing on the lake.

The following day we had a BAD (40) crash after a day of wall climbing and blobbing. Again, the staff at Cedarmore moved heaven and earth (almost literally) to get a golf cart to us, so I could get her back to our dorm. It was then that I felt completely justified in changing all of her ratios back to their original numbers – and we had no more crashes; AND we have had really great numbers since then. By-the-way, just like the day before Nikki was up and at em’ about 30 minutes after this crash; in a MUD PIT – Seriously.

We had a wonderful time at camp with old friends and made some new ones. One of Nikki’s best friends, Emily, gave her life to Christ during camp – something she has contemplated for 3 summers now – we are still praising the Lord for that decision.

Nikki is spending the night tonight with another of her best friends and has reported in some good numbers this evening. So things are pretty much back to normal….whatever that is. Check out some a few pictures of Nikki in action :-D.

God is Good! All the Time!

Stomach Punched

2009-07-20T20:23:00.004-04:00

This is a hard blog to write – we went for Nikki’s diabetes check up today and it was the worst one we’ve EVER had. Her A1C’s are and have been consistently in the 7 range since the first check up after her diagnosis (they want a child of Nikki’s age to be under 8), today they were at 10. My heart stopped. We have suspected for the last few weeks that her new (relatively) pump is the root cause of so many astronomically high numbers. The diabetes team at Children’s shares my suspicions: we have made adjustments and are doing a couple other monitoring steps over the next week to confirm that. Once we are sure that the pump is the problem we will start the process of changing back to Mini Med. We are also going to file paperwork to begin her on a CGM device (continuous glucose monitoring).

What we are seeing with this Deltec pump is that it begins to deliver insulin and then just stops – no alarms, no reason; it just acts as if a bolus command was never entered. What we are afraid of now is that it sometimes says it has completed an insulin bolus delivery that it did not actually deliver – meaning she has not actually received any insulin at all. Again, this is just a suspicion at this point. Other things - a big one is puberty, she'll turn 12 in February - are most likely contributing to some of this as well.

All of this is well and good but the bottom line is that my child’s life is being compromised and that is not acceptable. I haven’t felt much like talking about it today, don’t feel a whole lot different tonight – I just can’t get my mind around that number and the feeling that I should have done something more, sooner. It does feel like I've been punched right smack in the middle of my stomach, a whole bunch of times.

Last blood sugar reading today was 103.

All for now,

Sweet Summertime

2009-07-17T21:27:00.003-04:00

I've been sooooo neglectful of my blog for the last month or two that I hang my head in shame :-(. Things have been so busy - good busy - with vacations and family visits that I've left it unattended far longer than I wanted to. -

We had an amazing time in Disney World - but I know I've already said that 1000 times - in this instance I'm referring to Nikki's blood sugars and all things diabetes - we had not one single problem the entire 10 days!! Thank you Father God!!

The day before yesterday we were at our local theme park - Kings Island - and her blood went completely wacko for no apparent reason - and she ended up with ketones!!! UGHHHHH!! All was back to normal by the next afternoon, so I will have to add that episode to my unexplainable file.

We go Monday for her diabetes check up and I'm honestly worried about what her A1c's will be this time -

This coming Wednesday we leave for church camp for 4 days - I go as a group leader (I think that's what we're called) on that one because they aren't equipped to care for diabetes. However, in about 3 weeks she leaves again for diabetes camp and is completely stoked about that. I just wish there were more time between when she comes back from D. Camp and when school starts - there is only 2 days in between each summer.

I'm refocusing our fundraising efforts since the walk is rapidly coming upon us. We are doing pretty good so far, but would really LOVE to hit our goal of $2000 this year. If you or anyone you know is able to donate any amount (there is nothing too small) you can click the link on the upper left side of our blog and it will take you directly to our fundraising page.

I hope everyone is having a magnificent summer with awesome blood sugars!!!

A Most Magical Trip

2009-07-09T01:31:00.012-04:00

We got home Tuesday morning (actually the middle of the night) from an unbelievable 8 days in Disney World. I was going to post some pictures here, but since there are so many that I wanted to share – I just did a video. We are already planning our next trip to the Happiest Place on Earth, the problem now is coming to back to reality! Nikki's blood sugars held pretty well the entire time - Praise God!

Disney World 2009

2009-06-27T22:08:00.005-04:00

I am so very excited - we are heading for Disney World tomorrow morning - for 10 days! Of course, I'm sure I'll be blogging pictures (at the very least) throughout our trip - I won't be able to resist making everyone look at them!

Blood sugars are good and I'm praying they hold steady so that Nikki has a fabulous trip as well. On the 30th we'll be celebrating my oldest daughter's (Amber) 15th birthday at a place called Akershaus Royal Banquet in Epcot Center - both girls are pumped about that!

So...go on...ask me...."what are you doing tomorrow?"

You got it "I'm going to Disney World!!!"

God Bless,

Thinks

2009-06-26T21:26:00.005-04:00

This evening I was thinking and that made me think (seriously); I wondered how much of my time is spent worrying about Nikki's blood sugars and then worrying about whether or not I'm doing all the things necessary to help her become a healthy, successful and independent young lady - That's when I realized that my overactive worrying/thinking button had been pushed and that, in turn, caused me to start speaking in "Suess language" again. The result is the following poem:

MY THINKS

Oh the thinks I can think
In one quick little blink
I think about hope
I think about nope
I think about ways to help her cope
When I think what I'm thinking, I shake my head hard
Still my mind starts in blinking, which causes MORE thinking
I think about shots
I think about red spots
then I think about tears
and I think about fears
and I wonder if diabetes will last all her years
When I think what I'm thinking, I shake my head hard
Still my mind starts in blinking which causes MORE thinking
I think of her smiles

I think of her eyes
and I think that her future will soar past the skies
When I think what I'm thinking, I shake my head hard
I let my mind blink and I welcome the thinks
Cause' her future's much brighter than all the thinks I may think.

What Does Chronic Illness Look Like

2009-06-23T23:24:00.003-04:00

I just finished this video for my Consumer and Family Sciences CFS380 class at Western. Since it is dedicated to all those dealing with any kind of chronic illness I decided to go on and upload it here on No Sugar.

Checking In

2009-06-17T21:36:00.005-04:00

Hey Everyone! Still busy here, but now I'm busy getting my summer classes completed (and with professional work) so that when we leave for Disney next Sunday (the 28th) I'll be a free agent - and have nothing to focus on but my kids and husband!

VBS is going on this week and it's been a great time. We still have tomorrow and Friday; Amber is part of the staff this year (again with the growing up stuff) and this will be Nikki's last year to attend; both girls are having a blast.

Yesterday we were able to spend almost the entire day with family. It was my nephew Michael's 9th birthday and we headed to my hometown (about and hour and half away from my house) immediately after Bible School. We had a completely wonderful time and were able to hang out with my mom, my nephews, niece, great nephew and my granny for a whole day. Now that was good for the soul!

That's about it for an update. I'm off to do some more coursework! Hope everyone is well.

We've Been Busy

2009-06-15T00:01:00.003-04:00

The last 2 months have been really fun and REALLY busy for us. I decided to throw a sampling of pictures from some of our bigger event. Tomorrow (Monday) begins a whole new set of fun stuff - VBS, Disney, Birthday Parties in Lexington, and of course I'm in school this summer - but I'm getting a head of myself :-D.

Summer Classes & Photo Stories

2009-06-12T15:36:00.005-04:00

So, I'm taking summer classes this season because these particular classes are only offered in the summer. Anyway, one of them is a technology, presentations, etc. class and is conducted by a professor that I really like. She has us doing an assignment using a new (to me) program for telling photo stories. We all know that I looooovvvveee to put together photo stories; I think they are a very powerful way to get a message across. I am completely addicted to this program!

I did a short practice video so that I would be prepared when I needed to use it for class and guess where I'm going to upload it today?! Yep, right here. I used pictures of our family from the last 3+ weeks since we've had so much going on and included one of my current favorite songs "It's America". Hope you enjoy it and thanks for indulging my obsession :-D.

Livin' Loud

2009-06-11T18:52:00.004-04:00

Nikki danced her little heart these last few days – what a great performance! The theme this year was “Livin’ Loud” and it was awesome. I can’t get over how grown up all the girls in Nikki’s class looked on stage this year. Most of them have danced together since around the age of 6, so it’s been neat to watch them all grow.

Of course Nikki’s two best friends were dancing as well (Sam and Brooke). Brooke is in a different class this year, but they were all three still pretty much glued together back stage between performances. Nikki performed three numbers this year and just loves dancing. She would do it 24/7 if it were possible.

A lot of people came to see her dance this year; both grandmothers’, friends, cousins, neighbors – I say it a lot but I truly mean it – we are blessed.

Like every single year, Nikki’s blood sugars were off the chart – HIGH HIGH HIGH – it happens when she gets extremely excited or nervous – the two combined make for unreal numbers. I think I even saw the meter smoking once :-D. She was right back to normal – 128 – this morning. That was the last event we had and now REST; oh and DISNEY WORLD!!!! We are taking the girls to Disney at the end of this month – can’t wait.

The big downer for me was that I lost all the pictures I took from last night – I have a ton from the first day and evening but the last performance I thought I had my memory card in and didn’t; when I got home – NOTHING. Thankfully, my best friend had taken a couple of pictures of Nikki and family so I have something. Don’t think I’ll ever make that mistake again.

I have so many pictures that I want to share that I just put them in this little video file - just click on it to see my little dancer :-D.

All for now…..

Recital Week 2009

Vlogging....Yep, I said Vlogging

2009-06-08T22:25:00.008-04:00

I don't know how often I will do this, but I decided to do a video Vlog instead of typing out my blog tonight. Here goes:

Summer Rambling

2009-06-06T15:06:00.003-04:00

Happy Weekend! What beautiful weather we’ve been having! We are still in the middle of Nikki’s recital week – at this point she is preparing for her performance on Wednesday night. She’s had really great blood sugar numbers: of course, if I could figure out a way for her to live in a swimming pool she would have perfect numbers all the time; she is a fish and thankfully we have a pool – which is where you can find her when she’s not dancing. They girls have already had their first official summer sleepover - which happened THE DAY school got out.

I am taking summer classes this year in preparation for FINISHING school next May (YEEEE HAWWW). My concentration this summer (I’m a Child Studies Major with a Family Studies Minor) is Parenting Young Children with a Chronic Illness – wonder where I got that idea :-D. Seems like the classes are going to be demanding but very exciting and thankfully I won’t have the addition of teaching, and the girls’ many extracurricular activities on top of course work. The one weird thing is that I will finish up the early summer semester while we are in Disney World – thank goodness for technology huh?!

Monday will be a hard day for Amber because it will be the last day she gets to spend with Angie before the family has to return to South Africa; prayers for Amber and the Peens family would be greatly coveted. On a happy note, Amber’s LIFELONG BFF/Sister will be coming for a visit mid-June and that will be a great boost for her (and the rest of us Turner’s). Life is definitely a roller coaster – a crazy, wonderful, sad, hard, exciting roller coaster.

God is Good!

Whew....

2009-06-01T21:59:00.006-04:00

Wow, I didn't realize it has been so long since I've had a chance to blog. We have hit one, if not THE, busiest times of year for us and there just aren't enough hours in the day. Let's see, both Nikki and Amber have had their final chorus performances for the year; and for their schools - they are both moving on to middle and high school next year.

Amber has had us especially busy lately: her chorus group performed at King's Island Music in the Parks the weekend before last and placed FIRST with a rating of EXCELLENT! Way to go TMS! This past weekend Amber performed in the musical Beauty and the Beast - the cast and crew knocked it out of the park! What an awesome show - and they performed a total of 5 shows for their weekend run.

Yesterday was a very emotional day - it was the Farewell Party for Amber's best friend, Angie and her family; I just can't get my mind around the fact that they will be gone from our lives in less than a week - They will certainly takes pieces of our hearts with them.

Now hang on, that's not all: this past Friday afternoon was Nikki's 5th grade 'graduation' picnic: we had a blast. THEN tonight was Nikki's 5th grade graduation ceremony - just when I thought I was all cried out. Tomorrow in the afternoon is Amber's 8th grade graduation ceremony - followed on Wednesday by another party for Angie and Amber here at our house - a swimming party. At some point I may begin breathing (and stop crying). Next week begins recital week for Nikki.

Some totally cool news is that Bryan and I are taking our girls to Disney World for 8 days at the end of this month - can't wait to regroup and relax (oh, and hang out with Mickey of course).

Blood sugars through all of this have been AWESOME!! We are still actively raising money for the JDRF walk this summer and we also want to say thanks for the generous donations we have received already! If you want to contribute to our walk team, just click on the icon at the top left side of our blog page :-D! I'm also looking forward to catching up with my fellow bloggers by the end of the weekend - I've missed checking in with you - can't wait to see what you are up to!

God is Good

Mouse Has Many Friends

2009-05-19T20:16:00.002-04:00

I’m admitting -- right now -- that I’m totally addicted to my iPhone – I mean it has to be the coolest toy I’ve ever had! So tonight I’m sitting here on my computer, downloading APPS for my iPhone when about 3 LOUD LOUD LOUD girls come running through my front door--not a single one of them was mine – the weirdest thing is I really didn’t pay attention to that fact. Well, until one of them made a complete circle from Nikki’s bedroom to the kitchen and back to me in the dining room saying “Nikki needs her meter, where is it”. Now I know I’ve written many times about Nikki’s 3 best friends – but these young ladies are a completely different set of friends. One of the girls was standing by me, one still looking for the meter and one was in my refrigerator looking for ‘a 15 carb juice’. I was almost speechless and then I remembered I actually needed to get Nikki’s meter.

She was fine, they had all been playing (and let me tell you girls have nothing on boys when it comes to playing rough and hard outside) in the front yard and Nikki said she felt a little low – so all 3 friends came flying into the house and knew what to do. I am always touched by how much her 3 best friends know about T1; these girls are not in her ‘inner inner’ circle, but she’s been friends with them since kindergarten ; however, to suddenly realize just how many true friends my Nikki Mouse has (people that aren’t grown-ups) is more than a little touching. A definite “my cup runneth over” moment.

As of now, they have all had a ’15 carb juice’ and have resumed playing a very LOUD and ROUGH game of 4 square. God is Good!

Weepy Me

2009-05-16T00:53:00.005-04:00

What a crazy, busy week. First, I am done with finals and have about 3+ weeks before I start my summer session at WKU AND this time next year I’ll be done! I’m winding up this semester with three A’s and one B – not too bad. I’ve been teaching a lot lately, which is a good thing because I truly enjoy that part of my life. Nikki has had a great couple of weeks – and awesome health for more than a month – Thank You Father God!

Now for the weepy part … for many reasons, I pride myself on my strength and ability to handle most situations without falling apart. I think that strength sort of finds you when you suddenly have a child with any kind of a chronic illness; which is all I can speak to. Anyway, I also don’t like to cry in public, another ‘issue’ that has roots in many places. However, lately I seem to cry all the time. My children are growing up way too fast, and let me say that I have enjoyed every second, of every single day of being a mother and the fact that my girls are turning into young ladies at the speed of light is really getting to me. I am very proud of their independence and strength, but the selfish part of me wants them to go through a ‘clingy’ phase just one more time :-D. In about 2 weeks Amber will graduate from middle school and Nikki will graduate from elementary school. Ugh. THEN on June 9 we are losing some friends that are a very important part of our lives, but Amber will be especially hit by the loss.

Because of government flaws our friends will have to leave the United States, for good, and return to South Africa – that’s it, they most likely won’t live in our country again. We’ll keep up with them through facebook, myspace, email, phone calls, etc. etc. but that just can’t replace the fact that my daughter is losing one of her best friends – one that she’s been friends with since age 4 – and I can’t fix this for any of them. So there it is, the 3 things that have me crying on a daily basis: I suppose there are times in our lives that we just have to accept that part of ourselves, but I sure am tired of walking around with a Kleenex in my hand.

Freaky Friday

2009-05-08T20:59:00.005-04:00

Here is my list of things that need to get done between now and June 9: Nikki’s 5th grade recognition, Amber’s 8th grade bridging ceremony, Briana’s college graduation, Amber’s play—2 nights, Nikki’s dance recital—2 nights; chorus competition at Kings Island, 5th grade picnic, WKU Finals, trip to Lexington for Mother’s Day, family wedding, going away party and that’s just the extra stuff – so I’ve been feeling a tad overwhelmed and probably because a lot of those events are going to be rather emotional (and we all know how low key I am, I never let my feelings get the best of me ---see how I can make myself laugh).

Today was an interesting day -- Freaky Friday as it were. I was teaching 1st grade (now if I had just a touch of their energy I could do it ALL). CATS testing is going on this week and next week, so I was surprised when I looked up to see my daughter and the Assistant Principal standing in my classroom doorway. It seems Nikki started ‘beeping’ in the middle of testing and realized she had a low reservoir (T1 talk which means she was running out of insulin). I check the pump – she’s only got 11.1 units left. However, it was around 10:30 (I think) and I calculated that she had enough insulin left to last until I took my class to lunch – then I could run (call me Speedy) home, grab her insulin, reservoir and new site and get back almost in time to pick up my kids after lunch. So that was my plan; I asked another teacher to cover for me just in case I hadn’t completely gotten Nikki’s site changed (I had a whole 25 minutes to do all of this) – and that’s what I did – I was only 10 minutes late getting back to my class.

THEN – of course that’s not all – at the end of the day I was reading to the class just before the bell rang and Nikki shows up. She announces “MY SITE CAME OUT”. Here we go again. Oh well, at least this time it was the end of the day. I had her test her blood sugar while I walked my kids to the buses – she was 145 so it must have happened just before she noticed it was out. We got it changed again before I left for the day and now I’m sitting here on the couch telling you all everything :-D.

Don't forget we are still fundraising for the JDRF walk - you can go to our blog and click on the JDRF link at the top left of our site and it will take you right to our team donation page! Thank You!

So that’s my crazy, busy, annoying, exasperating, freaky, wonderful life at the moment. Can’t wait to see what will happen on Saturday (hee hee)

LARGE Ketones

2009-05-05T14:47:00.002-04:00

There are some days that I can say, in a very un-ladylike fashion, DIABETES SUCKS. Nikki has had a run of really great health, fairly good numbers and perfect school attendance. Today is the first official day of CATS testing, so of course, we hit a bump.

Sometime between my 2 a.m. blood check and ‘time to get up’ this morning at 7 a.m. she had a site or pump issue (it’s honestly a mystery at this point) all I know is that her pump ‘said’ “delivery stopped” and my heart along with it. I grabbed her meter, blood sugar was 476. I got her awake enough to go to the restroom to check ketones – LARGE. *@%#!!!!!

I changed her insulin cartridge, changed her site, changed the battery, called school, cancelled my sub job for today (sorry Jenny) and proceeded to hover over Nikki. We are finally down to TRACE ketones – it’s 2:45 p.m. -- and her blood sugar has been back down to about 120 or so since around 10:30 this morning. What a frustrating day; but things seem to be back to normal now, that’s pretty much how diabetes works. It tends to semi-hide for a while then swoop in, screw things up and go right back to its semi-hiding spot.

Now we focus on tomorrow, which WILL be a great day.

YEEEE HAWWWW and PRAISE THE LORD!

2009-05-01T14:03:00.005-04:00

Yeeee Hawwwww! Many of you know that Nikki has struggled with an incredibly low immune system for the last few years, which is complicated (not caused) by T1. This past February she had her tonsils and adenoids removed in hopes that their removal would help with the chronic sinus infections; in turn help her overall immune system.

I am very PROUD to report that for the first time since kindergarten -- the first time in 5 years -- Nikki just completed her first MONTH of PERFECT ATTENDANCE!!!!!!!!! She is so proud of herself. She's always known that her continuous illnesses were not caused by T1 but she is a kid and sometimes she just felt like she was always sick because of diabetes and then she would be worried she would always be sick because she was always going to have diabetes. Today, her T1 Giant shrank a bit in Nikki's mind and I couldn't be happier!

Seems like a small thing to many people, but for Nikki this was one ginourmous hurdle and she tackled it head on like she does everything else. Like I said YEEEEE HAWWWW that can also be translated to PRAISE THE LORD!!

Oh, The PASTA-bilities!

2009-04-27T19:15:00.006-04:00

I was told about the following company and its food by a friend of mine; she happens to be a Diabetes Nurse Educator and Author, so I have confidence in her recommendations but like always, consult with your own nurse educator for specific advice. The article is taken directly from the company’s website Dreamfields Foods and it’s definitely worth reading and exploring. Thanks Tammi!

Diabetes and Dreamfields? Discover the Pasta-bilities.

One of the most prevalent myths that comes with a diabetes diagnosis it that you will never be able to enjoy many of your favorite foods again, pasta being one of them. That’s simply not true! While you do need to control carbohydrate, calorie, and fat intake, and make sensible food choices, Dreamfields pasta can be part of your healthful eating plan.
It Really Is Possible For People With Diabetes To Eat Dreamfields Pasta...
Dreamfields has per serving (2 ounces dry, about 5 ounces cooked):

Twice the fiber of traditional pasta
Only 5 grams of digestible carbohydrate

65% lower glycemic index (GI) than traditional pastasDreamfields GI =13Traditional pasta GI = 38

All of these qualities translate into a lower blood glucose rise after eating Dreamfields as compared to eating the same amount of traditional white pasta. You can truly have your Dreamfields pasta and enjoy it too...without feeling guilty or compromising blood glucose control.

Carbohydrate: Back to the Basics.
People with pre-diabetes and diabetes pay a lot of attention to carbohydrate because it is the primary determinant of post-meal blood glucose levels. Carbohydrate is one of the three building blocks that make up all the foods you eat. The other two are protein and fat. Whether or not you have diabetes or pre-diabetes, carbohydrate is an important part of a healthy eating plan because carbohydrate-rich foods provide energy, fiber and important vitamins and minerals. Everybody (even people with pre-diabetes or diabetes) needs to eat some carbohydrate each day. In fact, the average minimum daily amount of carbohydrate recommended, or the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance), is 130 grams/day.With only 5 grams of digestible carbohydrate per serving (2 ounces dry, about 5 ounces cooked), Dreamfields pasta can easily fit into most meal-time carbohydrate goals.*

*Whether enjoying Dreamfields pasta or other foods, consumers with diabetes must carefully monitor blood glucose and have frequent contact with their physician to maintain good health.To create a healthful eating plan for your individual needs, consult with a qualified educated dietician.

We Survived Ludicrous Lock-In 2009

2009-04-25T21:35:00.006-04:00

We have had a busy, crazy, fun weekend so far. Last night was our youth group’s 2009 Ludicrous Lock-In and it was the first time all 4 of us went. Bryan and I chaperoned and the girls were experts at being girls. I’m happy to report that we all made it nicely through the night without falling asleep once. It was a great time and about 129 kids came.

Nikki’s blood sugars held for the majority of the night, which always makes things a lot more fun for her. This morning we arrived home around 8:00 a.m. and though the girls decided they weren’t sleepy, Bryan and I had no trouble falling asleep ourselves. Amber, Nikki and Amber’s friend Angie did finally fall asleep and slept until 5:00 this evening. It may take all week to get back to a normal schedule, but it was well worth the family time and the fun. Tomorrow we will spend the day between my parent’s house and my grandmother’s & aunt’s house; which we are very excited about. All in all, a very active and happy family weekend.

Our fundraising for the 2009 Walk for a Cure is coming along nicely and we've been so very touched by some of the people that work with my husband, friends from church, friends from high school and more; but that's a blog for another time. Blood sugars hanging out in the 100's the last couple of days whooo hooo!

All for now..

IPod Challenge

2009-04-22T22:54:00.005-04:00

Okay, Jill over at Diabetes Sweeties answered this challenge, so I'm answering hers - and now you have to answer mine. If you put your IPod on random, what is the first 25 songs that will play? After looking at mine I'm more convinced of my own extreme randomness than ever before :-D. Here is what's on my 25 :

1. Chicken Fried - Zac Brown Band

2. Redeemer - Nicole C. Mullen

3. Roll On - Kid Rock

4. Arise My Love - Newsong

5. My Wish - Rascal Flatts

6. Shine - Martina McBride

7. All Summer Long - Kid Rock

8. Country Strong - Blake Shelton

9. She's Country - Jason Aldean

10. The King is Coming - The Gaithers

11. Friends with Tractors - Rodney Atkins

12. It's America - Rodney Atkins

13. Muddy Water - Trace Adkins

14. Stand - Rascal Flatts

15. Moments - Emerson Drive

16. Why - Nicole Nordeman

17. It's A Wonderful World - Willie Nelson

18. Angry American - Toby Keith

19. Old Blue Chair - Kenny Chesney

20. Have You Ever Love a Woman - Chris Daughtry

21. Anything but Mine - Kenny Chesney

22. Don't Blink - Kenny Chesney

23. A Different World - Bucky Covington

24. Good Directions - Billy Currington

25. When the Sun Goes Down - Kenny Chesney

Best Friends

2009-04-21T21:40:00.007-04:00

I have three best friends - friends that are more like my sisters than friends. Nikki has 3 best friends and 2 of them are like her sisters – Amber has a best friend who is like her sister. We are definitely blessed in the area of wonderful BFFs. Now, are you ready for the “wow” part of this? You have to follow me – I’ll try not to make this confusing.

My best friends are: Pamela, Melissa and Heather; Pamela’s daughter is Khadija;Heather’s daughter is Samantha and Melissa’s daughter is Brooke.
Nikki’s best friends are Samantha and Brooke;
Amber’s best friend is Khadija.

Yep – we are all tangled up! How cool is it that I get to share that special BFF bond with my girls – God constantly amazes and blesses me.

WHY am I blogging about this? Aside from the fact that I want them to know how blessed we are to have them in our lives (I know you are all reading this) – we just got back from watching Brooke in a play directed by Melissa. They did a beautiful job and a very cool part of the evening was how excited Nikki, Amber and I were to just be there to show them our love and support. Melissa has walked through the whole diabetes thing with me and took it upon herself to learn how to take care of Nikki so that Nik could continue going anywhere and everywhere with them.

Amber’s lifelong best friend, Khadija, lives in Texas now; yet whenever we have our yearly reunion she immediately picks up her questioning and learning about diabetes – just because she loves us.

The day we celebrated Nikki’s 6th Liveabetes anniversary, I noticed just how much her best friends know about diabetes. The kids decided they wanted a snack and I guess Nikki forgot to run it by me (for a carb count); Brooke and Sam came into the kitchen asking me where the cheezits were because they needed to figure out the carbs for Nikki. Now that is a ‘my cup runneth over’ moment if there ever was one. These little ladies have all voluntarily asked Nikki to check to their blood sugar at different times, just so they would know how it feels to her. I thank my precious Lord for the amazing blessings he has sent our family in the form of friends.

God is Good!

Brooke, Nikki & Sam

Amber & Khadija

Pamela & Sheri

Sheri, Melissa & Brooke

Heather & Sam

Fundraising Season - Part 1

2009-04-19T12:54:00.005-04:00

We are starting to think about the JDRF Walk for a Cure; late summer. This year I’m trying a few new fundraising ideas – including asking for corporate and/or business sponsors. I always hate asking people for money, especially with the economy being what it is; but I also know that the only way the money will be there to continue research and trials – which will eventually be the cure for my daughter, niece and nephew – is through donations. So I’m trudging on and getting started early this year. We are hoping to raise at least $2,000, Nikki thinks we should set our goal higher. We’ll be selling the orange Max Life JDRF bracelets for $1, which makes it easy for Nikki’s friends to donate.

If you know of any business owner that would be willing to sponsor No Sugar Needed, please let me know. Any business/corporate donation over $100 will allow us to advertise their business name on the back of our walk t-shirts.

Nikki’s class raised $333 when they did the School Walk through ADA; and No Sugar is walking with ADA in their Step Out campaign in May. However, we had to pick one fundraiser to focus on (regarding raising money) and Nikki picked JDRF’s Walk for a Cure – and she’s the T1 Boss. If you are interested in walking with us in May (ADA - Keeneland in Lexington) or in September (JDRF - Peace Bell in Newport) we are always thrilled to have new team members.

I’m listing our fundraising sites for both Walks here – you can go there to make donations or to join our walk team. You can also send donations by check to my address (made payable to JDRF or ADA – whichever you prefer). PLEASE don’t hesitate to shout at me through my blog or my e-mail address sheribby@insightbb.com

Together we can make a difference!

http://walk.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=extranet.personalpage&confirmid=87310416

http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/StepOut/StepOut184258010?pg=team&fr_id=5850&team_id=353388

My Hamster Nips

2009-04-16T13:31:00.004-04:00

I'm Dr. Seussing it again. Last weekend, I was telling my mother the story of Nikki's hamster nipping her. It left a perfect little blood drop, so of course I grabbed her meter and tested her blood - no sense in wasting perfectly good blood. However, now Nikki's wears her favorite pair of pink gloves when she gets Miss Mouse out of her hamster house - no more hamster nips for Nikki. I couldn't resist the urge to turn the whole incident into a Dr. Seuss type poem.

When my hamster nips, Mom gets a strip
She tells me not to trip, if I do I’ll drop the drip
Then I test and that’s not a jest
But now I’m on a quest
I’m searching here, I’m searching there
I’m searching everywhere
At last! My gloves are lost no more
Now my fingers won’t get sore
When my hamster nips, don't get a strip
No test, no jest and I think you know the rest

My Daddy Always Said

2009-04-15T16:34:00.003-04:00

I believe it’s a universal parent thing to be continually shocked by how fast our children grow up. I’m in the midst of one of those cycles. School will be out here in around 30 days and though I love summer for a multitude of reasons (extra time with my kids being number 1) this summer is not quite as exciting. The reason is because my Amber will be entering HIGH SCHOOL next school year and my Nikki will be entering MIDDLE SCHOOL! I’d like to know who put the clock on fast forward!

However, like all transitions, sweet moments are everywhere. Middle school parent orientation was last week and I had the privilege of watching Amber show Nikki and some of her friends around the school. That is definitely going into my “That Is So Cool/Proud Mommy Moments” column. I’m admittedly stressed about the girls moving into new areas of their lives. With Nikki it is strictly because of diabetes – she already has the social and I know my way around the school thing down pat. I’m worried about things that will only make sense to T1 parents, so I won’t attempt to list them all here (yet, I may blog that later LOL).

Now for one of my random ‘asides’; my daddy always said I’m a worrier. His favorite thing to tell me was that if I wasn’t worried then I’d be worried I’d forgotten something. Isn’t it annoying how well our parents know us? Anyway, I’m currently in the middle of worrying I’ve forgotten something. The reason is because there doesn’t really appear to be as much to worry about in the middle school transition as I had anticipated.

Some of you may remember that Nikki has a very close T1 friend here in our county, same age/grade, but she has attended a different elementary school. Nikki and Mikayla see each other when the can and they go to diabetes camp every summer together. Next year the girls will be attending the same school for the first time and we already know of at least one class they have together. That’s not all, the nurse at Twenhofel (yes that’s the actual name of the actual school –for Paul when he reads this post) is a T1 and she wears a mini-med pump; she’s excited to have Nikki and Mikayla coming to her school next year. So that knocks out a lot of what I was worrying about – now what? Just kidding. Finally, along with Mikayla being in the class I was speaking of, one of Nikki’s three BFFs (Emily) is in that class as well. God is Good.

Daddy was right….if I’m not worrying I worry I forgot something. I wonder what I forgot….

Easter Blessings

2009-04-14T00:22:00.003-04:00

This last few days has been just crazy busy. Between my own school work, several Easter events, a friend’s family emergency and more I’ve met myself coming and going a couple of times – and I must say that as I passed myself I noticed that the bags under my eyes are becoming a rather permanent part of my face; not a good look.

We had a wonderful and blessed Easter. Good numbers, great health, good friends and family all around and, most importantly, the celebration of our Risen Lord. Oh, and PERFECT Easter Sunday weather. My niece Brittany was among our family sharing Easter with us; Nikki and her sat down to check their blood together before dinner - a minor detail for us, but they do draw strength from having each other, even for small moments like that. It's bittersweet to watch them; Brittany is all grown up now (with a baby of her own) and yet you can see the silent communication between her and Nikki when they are in the middle of any kind of 'diabetes moment'. By-the-way, they had almost identical blood sugar readings - which made them smile. And, in case you were worried, I did remember to grab my camera and shoot a quick picture of the checking their blood; Kodak type moment you know.

Today was back to school, work, all the normal stuff. I was teaching 3rd grade down the hall from Nikki’s classroom. If you follow my blog you may remember a couple postings ago I mentioned that Nikki forgot to take out her old site after changing to a new site, so she was walking around with multiple sites – well, it happened again and this time it was a very ‘happy accident’. I changed her site last night and today it decided it would just fall right out (which is a rare occurrence). Nik went down and got Nurse Paula and they came up to my classroom with a new Cleo – Since I couldn’t leave my classroom I was going to pop in the new site just outside the classroom (which Nikki was not happy about because I didn’t have emla cream with me and she is very attached to her emla cream). BUT when she lifted her shirt just enough for me to see a tiny bit of her tummy we realized she had forgotten to take out the old site again – INSTANT SOLUTION! I just hooked her back up to her old site and sent her back to class! We changed her to a new site (after her emla application had time to numb the new site) after school and all is well with the world! Her blood sugar was 103 when she fell asleep.

God is Good!

Diabetes in the Sky

2009-04-13T23:26:00.003-04:00

My husband, Bryan, travels for work each week. Most of the time he drives, but every now and then he is going far enough that he has to fly. Last week was a flying week and it was a long one. He boarded the plane to come home today in an exhausted frame of mind and was focused on getting home. On his way down the plane’s isle he noticed a middle aged lady struggling with a blood glucose meter; she was seated in his row. He didn’t want to be rude by staring at her, but being the dad of a T1 he could tell something was ‘off’. He finally scooted over toward the lady and said “do you need help”. She was very unfocused and in an obvious “low” state; she said “I think I’m 49”. He took her meter and looked at it, it actually read “40”. He got the flight attendant’s attention and told her to bring some orange juice. The lady had a little bit of orange juice in a cup in front of her but was unfocused enough that she wasn’t remembering to drink it. Bryan coaxed her to drink the remaining juice then told her she would need long lasting carbs to go with the o.j.

Now this is where I will say my hubby is a true hero. He actually dared to go into the unknown depths of a woman’s (a stranger’s) purse -- with her permission and direction -- to search for peanut butter crackers; which he found. He sat with her until her blood sugar returned to normal and he was sure she was okay. After they arrived home and had departed the plane, she stopped him and told him she didn’t know what would have happened to her if he hadn’t been there. Now that is a total God moment.

As it turned out the lady was only diagnosed 2 years ago; her diagnosis came in the middle of tragedy. She was driving her car and passed out at the wheel; the result was a 5 car pileup on an interstate. Bryan didn’t feel comfortable enough to ask if anyone was seriously injured, but her story definitely highlights the dangers that T1s have to face every day – just doing the things that most people take for granted.

When I reflect on his trip home it just amazes me. Think about it, on this plane full of people there was only 1 person on it that had the ability to recognize the signs of an extreme low just by looking at the woman. Things could have turned out much differently for her; but God placed them both at the same spot, in the same pocket of time. Amazing, just amazing.

Mouse Definition

2009-04-08T20:32:00.003-04:00

So, Nikki and I are here dog sitting for a very dear friend while the youth are meeting in my house tonight. It was a good mother/daughter time and the dogs (and the skink) enjoyed the company. Anyway, Nikki decided she was bored so we started one of our very random conversations, which lead to this posting. Nikki has developed a new meaning for the word DIABETES. In case the picture above is a little hard to read, here is her analysis:

D = DANG! My finger won't bleed!

I = IF my pump falls, I fall!

A = ANOTHER finger poke?!

B = BEEPING isn't always me!

E = EXTRA tubing gets tangled easy.

T = TIME to feed my meter!

E = EXTRA exercise equals LOW!

S = SILENCE! I'm calculating carbs.

Mouse Humor

2009-04-07T09:22:00.003-04:00

As I’m sure EVERYONE knows by now, yesterday was Nikki’s 6th Liveabetes Anniversary. Keeping in line with the silliness of Nikki was something that might only really be appreciated by a T1 and his/her family. We are getting ready to go to the movies to finish up our Liveabetes celebration (Monsters vs. Aliens, completely hysterical!) when Nikki randomly busts out laughing. Yes, I know that this is not all that unusual, but she was laughing so hard it did catch my attention.

Before I tell you why she was laughing, I must point out that the day before was ‘site change’ time. In case that doesn’t make sense: site change is when we take out the old site that is in her skin, as well as the current insulin cartridge in her pump and replace them with new ones. I insert a new site, usually in her tummy because that’s her current favorite site position, about every 3 days. Once the new one is in, she takes out the old one and throws it away.

This time, she forgot to take out the old site; which means, that she walked around for a little over 24 hours with multiple sites in her tummy and didn’t know it. She bumped into something (another Nikki thing – bumping into things) and thought she felt something weird, she lifted up her sweatshirt and busted out laughing; then showed everyone in the house. Now that may not sound too funny to many of you, but we all thought it was hysterical. We find humor in the strangest things, but it was a really good laugh!

April 6, 2009 - Nikki's 6th Liveabetes Day

2009-04-05T20:29:00.006-04:00

We made the decision, last year, to make every April 6 a day of celebration. Now you might think we are crazy for 'celebrating' they day our daughter was diagnosed with type 1; that's not what we are celebrating. We are celebrating HOW she lives her life in spite of T1 - it has not and will not defeat her; she simply won't allow it. In keeping with that frame of mind, we have decided to call this her LIVEABETES Day; a day to celebrate blessings, friends, experiences and the fact that Nikki is one of the bravest kids around.

We began our celebration a day early because dad has to leave to travel for work tomorrow, which is actually the 6th. So we had lunch and I gave each of my 2 girls a small gift - Amber may not have diabetes but she does have to live with it. I also made a special video for Nikki; it begins with the day she was released from the hospital after her diagnosis and moves through a few wonderful moments during the last 6 years. We invite you to view it and share some of those memories.

Here's hoping that one day we won't be celebrating Liveabetes, because there WILL BE a cure

Being a Kid

2009-04-03T08:00:00.001-04:00

I was walking out front this evening to check on the kids – my kids, neighbor kids, my kids friends, you get the idea – there were a lot of kids. Instead of shouting my standard “everyone okay? Nikki do you need to test?!”, I stopped to watch them. They had invented some elaborate game and were having a marvelous time – I wondered how long it had been since I felt that kind of freedom and joy in just being….well, right where I was. Diabetes, college, work, scheduled activities, raising kids, marriage, LIFE all has a way of depleting some of the awareness out of actually living. Now, I know that people have made up all sorts of “kid lists” before, but I wanted to ask these kids (kids who are part of my life) a question “what is so great about being a kid?” The group ranged in age from 4 years to 11 years so the answers were varied, but came at me like little bullets; they had no trouble telling me why being a kid is great. I was typing the list up for a project I’m working on, as well as this blog, and that's when it hit me – not one single answer had to do with material possessions, not one. Here is what they said:

Spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning
The Zoo
Tag
Rocks
Jump rope
Throwing Stuff
Pretending to sleep so you get carried into the house
The Last Day of School
Playing outside barefoot
The First Day of School
Chasing the ice cream man
Recess
Singing
Birthday Parties
Playing
Riding Bikes
Bubbles
Making Mommy Laugh
Hide-n-Seek
Candy
Friends
Christmas
Learning to Whistle
Cartwheels
Rain
Dad/Daddy
Cookies
Jumping
Running, no reason, just running
Sidewalk Chalk
Sleepovers
Staying up late when there’s no school
Summer
Christmas
Learning to Whistle
Mom/Mommy
Not being a grown up

Humm, I think Peter Pan knew what he was talking about.

No Brace, No Cast, No Problem

2009-04-02T15:43:00.008-04:00

Nikki had her wrist re-xrayed and Troy gave her a ‘thumbs up’. No fracture or break ---- whoooo hoooooo! Now we just have to hope that Nikki stays healthy and free of injury; I’m considering bubble wrap. Imagine my need to stop Nikki from going outside to help Daddy and Max get rid of branches from this winter’s ice storm damage to our beautiful (and beloved) weeping willow tree – the kids call it the ‘whomping willow’. I go outside and Nikki is underneath looking up at her daddy who is in the TOP of the tree (which of course sent me scrambling for my camera). As of this writing, no one was injured in the tree repair project :-D.

Blood sugars in the 100’s with 2 lows today; but overall pretty good! She did have one 'Nikki Moment' this morning when she came to tell on her dad. Bryan did the middle of the night blood check last night and he had to try and find Nikki in a sea of little girls (which is a normal thing at our house when school is on break). Anyway, he found Nikki's foot so he tested her big toe. She was a little put out with the fact that he didn't ASK her if he could test her foot; the fact that she was sound asleep and the only part of her that he could find was her foot was just not a good excuse. My thought was, how could he tell in the dark, that he had the right foot. Since no one jumped up screaming their little heads off I figure he got it right.

The sun is shining, everyone is healthy – we are blessed!

My Max

2009-03-31T20:04:00.009-04:00

Me and My Max Age 10

I am a relatively new teacher – not in age, just experience LOL – anyway, about 4 years ago I began as an assistant teacher at the elementary school where my daughters’ were attending. Let me say that I love working with kids, I was involved in many community service programs working with children long before I began my work in the school. However, it was at that time that I decided to return to college to obtain a double major in Child Studies/Family Home Certification with a minor in Family Studies. There were 3 reasons for this decision; (1) my own kids, (2) my boss Sara and (3) Max. This blog entry is about sharing my Max story; he does not have T1 but has dealt with a lifetime of hurt in his very young life. His story is inspiring and can uplift anyone dealing with things like diabetes, which can seem overwhelming at times. Max’s story is really mine, rather told from my perspective and deals with my experiences with him. Meet my Max….

Max Age 4 - Home to America

My first day as a Para-educator is etched in my mind permanently and the reason is because of a little blonde hair boy named Max. My job was to assist in the classroom with the kids who are enrolled in the Exceptional Child Program. These kids have a wide ranging variety of battles from the physical to things like ADHD. Max has ADHD, but that was not his biggest battle. Let me take you back to Russia and a 2 year old boy that no one wanted. A 2 year old blue eyed, blonde baby boy abandoned to a Russian Orphanage. I will leave the rest of that part of his story for his mother to share on her new blog From Russia, with Love and ADHD. I will, instead, move forward to when Max was 4-1/2, when he found his true parents who brought him home to America. Max did not speak English and you can just imagine the psychological trauma that he faced before and during his life in the orphanage. So to say that Max was prone to ‘outbursts’ is putting it mildly.

When I first met him, he probably didn’t weigh much more than 40 pounds, but WHEW he could muster the strength of a full grown man. Anyway, when I walked into the room he was focused on tying his shoes – he was in 1st grade. He was in the middle of the floor and the lead teacher wanted him to stop, immediately. Max ignored her. Max ignored me. I have a certification in non-violent restraint so I bent down to help Max up; my plan was to take him aside and quietly talk with him. First day idiocy on my part – at that point Max viewed any physical contact, that was meant to make him do something he didn’t want to do, a direct threat; who could blame him. He only wanted to tie his shoes after all. I wound up picking him up and walking out of the room with him, he was screaming at me, but I honestly couldn’t figure out what he was saying. However, by the time I got across the hall with him, he was calm and ready to go back to class. I was a little stunned at how fast the ‘incident’ was over, then I realized that while I was carrying him he had managed to tie his shoes; I immediately became his biggest fan.

About a week later, also during carpet time, Max decided he wanted to play with items inside his desk instead of joining the class on the carpet. Let me take a minute to say that there were many of us adults not handling this situation in a way that met his needs at that point; that didn’t last long. I bent down in front of him, eye to eye, and told him he had to go to the carpet or we had to leave. He told me NO, to both. He then wrapped those little legs around the legs of his chair and refused to move. So I just picked up the entire chair and carried him out of the room; which brought an unbelievably shocked look to the faces of every single 1st grader and their teacher. Max loved it; he became a fan of Mrs. Turner in that moment. He was laughing so hard he forgot he was mad and the whole incident was forgotten.

Max’s outbursts could be violent and scary at times, the person they scared the most was Max. Toward the end of that school year, almost the last day, he had a particularly bad one. He stayed with me in the resource room for the remainder of the day. Toward the end of that school day I took him outside for some calming sensory time on the preschool playground. We bounced a ball for a while, and then he decided he wanted me to hold his hand while he walked on the edging around the mulched area; finally, he went to the climbing equipment where he wanted to jump so Mrs. Turner could catch him. So this is what we did for quite a while.

At some point I looked at him and said “you’re a pretty cool kid Max”. To which Max replied “you love me?” I said, “Of course I do Max” and he said “cause’ I’m good now, I’m not being mad”. I stopped him, picked him up, put him on the concrete and kneeled down in front of him, again eye to eye. I said “Max I love you all the time, even when you’re really, really mad; I always love you”. He looked at me and said “always”. That was the last outburst Max ever had, to a violent degree, at school. Now I’m not saying it was just because of our talk, but I do believe that was part of it. He knew that he had a grown-up, at school, who was on his side no matter what.

That was 4 years ago and today Max is a daily part of my home life. He is like a cousin to my daughters and a nephew to my husband and I. Max overcame a language barrier, abandonment, fear, anger, insecurity and a whole host of other things that would cripple most adults. He just received an amazing report card and is getting ready to test for the highest degree blue belt. He has spent Easters with us, kept my father company when we installed our pool and has brought genuine joy into the lives of everyone he meets.

His own story is something only his amazing mother can tell. I can only speak from the impact he has had on my life. Max has a little brother now, adopted from the same orphanage in Russia. He still struggles with ADHD, but to the eyes of those who have seen him come so far, he is the epitome of a walking miracle. He is also my inspiration on the days when I feel that diabetes is a giant too big for us to handle.

My Max……he has taught me more than I could have ever taught him.

Polar Express Day - Mrs. Turner and her 'boys', Max on my left

Max and Amber in our pool

Max and his adorable little brother Brayden in Disney World

Blue Tongued Skink

2009-03-30T18:42:00.003-04:00

My girls are animal lovers to be sure – but today Nikki confirmed just how much love they have for all creatures. Let me first say that Amber wasn’t in on this because she is sick and was asleep downstairs. Max, who is like my adopted nephew, brought over his new and fantastic pet to show us; she is a Blue Tongued Skink. She is a very interesting little (sort of little) creature that has a bright blue tongue. I wasn’t sure how Nikki would react to her; would there be screaming like when she sees a moth or a snake; or delight like when she sees a hamster, dog, cat, horse, pig, bird, etc. It was like when she sees the latter. She loved the little lady and Max was very proud to be showing her off. Really I have no purpose for blogging this except that my kids never cease to do the opposite of what I think they will do and that is worth mentioning -- in my humble opinion.

Nikki goes to get her wrist x-rayed tomorrow morning and we are hoping to be brace free and NOT need a cast. I’m sending Amber along with Nikki so I can sneak in a second examination on her – I’m thinking bronchitis which is a bummer because it’s Spring Break for them this week.

Blood sugars in the 100’s lately – whooo hooo!

Three

2009-03-28T14:36:00.005-04:00

I just redid my original diabetes video because I was having trouble with the old one. I took the opportunity to update the pictures. Please let us know what you think!

Diabetes Language

2009-03-27T01:34:00.003-04:00

Living with diabetes means, among many other things, using words that can seem unusual to some people. For instance, the word Emla is the name of the cream we put on Nikki to numb her pump site before inserting the new one. Some of the words are not that unusual, however they do tend to take on a new meaning when you are living with a chronic disease.

Deltec Cozmo No Longer Sold

2009-03-26T20:48:00.005-04:00

I was alerted to this issue through SUM and I've decided that, inspite of the company's reassurances, I will worry. We JUST got our Cozmo for goodness sake!

Decision Represents First Step in Orderly Exit from the Diabetes Business Over Time

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Smiths Medical announced today its intent to stop selling the Deltec Cozmo® insulin pump, and manage an orderly, carefully controlled exit from the diabetes business over time.

“The continued health of the thousands of people who use the Deltec Cozmo® insulin pump is our primary concern, and they should be reassured that their pump remains an excellent choice to help them manage their diabetes,” said Srini Seshadri, president of Smiths Medical. “Our customers also should be reassured that Smiths Medical will meet all of its warranty obligations; provide customer and clinical support for the lifetime of the warranty of all pumps; ensure that Deltec Cozmo® insulin pump cartridges and Cleo® and Comfort® infusion sets are available; and make any necessary transitions as simple as possible.”

For people with a Deltec Cozmo® insulin pump, today’s announcement means two important things:

When the pump approaches the end of its warranty period, customers should consult with their healthcare provider to choose a pump from another manufacturer.

Smiths Medical will work with pump users to transfer purchases of cartridges and infusion sets to one of the many national and/or regional distributors that stock these items. (Anyone who already is familiar with a distributor should feel free to contact that company immediately and start ordering supplies directly.)

NOTE: Pump users outside of the United States may continue to purchase disposable cartridges and infusion sets from their local Smiths Medical distributor, a list of which can be found at http://www.delteccozmoupdate.com/.

For more information, including distributor contact details, U.S. and International pump users and healthcare professionals should visit http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.DeltecCozmoUpdate.com&esheet=5925054&lan=en_US&anchor=www.DeltecCozmoUpdate.com&index=2. In the United States, people may also contact the Smiths Medical customer support team at 1-800-826-9703.

Why Smiths Medical Made This Decision Smiths Medical considered many possible options to create a long-term, sustainable diabetes business. However, after reviewing these options, it was decided that the best course of action is to exit the diabetes market.

In addition, as its only direct-to-consumer enterprise, the Diabetes business has little synergy with the rest of Smiths Medical’s businesses. For this reason, Diabetes requires its own extensive sales, marketing, reimbursement, insurance and clinical support infrastructure in the United States, which has resulted in it becoming uneconomical as sales and profits for the business have decreased. Without a strong, profitable Diabetes business in the United States, the world's largest medical market, it would also be impossible to sustain the business internationally.

Finally, dramatic changes have taken place in the diabetes market during the past three years, including:

The market has evolved from a familiar hardware-plus-disposables model to an integrated diabetes management model that would require significant ongoing investments in continuous glucose monitoring.

Smiths Medical’s shrinking market share has been exacerbated by the aggressive pursuit of market share growth by two large and well-resourced players – Medtronic, which has the largest share of the U.S. insulin-pump therapy market, and J&J.

A considerable amount of intellectual property has been established in the diabetes segment, which makes the development of next-generation products very costly, and risky in terms of the potential for future patent disputes.

“Throughout our involvement in the diabetes market, we have chosen always to put care for our customer first, providing excellent clinical support, maintaining the integrity of our warranty and being proactive about fixing issues as they arose,” said Seshadri. “For our efforts, we have been rewarded with a core group of very loyal customers. We thank them and reiterate our commitment to making this transition as easy as possible for them.”

What This Decision Means for Diabetes Employees: The decision to stop selling pumps means that 51 people working in the Diabetes business will be affected immediately, primarily in field sales, marketing and, to a lesser extent, clinical services, customer support and manufacturing. Smiths Medical will retain enough staff to ensure that it meets its commitment to customers for the remaining warranty period on pumps already sold. The company will continue to offer a pump recertification service for existing pumps that may need to be replaced during their warranty period.

About Smiths Medical Smiths Medical is a leading supplier of high-quality medical devices and products for global markets. It designs and manufactures specialist medical devices in three key areas: Safety Devices, Vital Care and Medication Delivery.

Smiths Medical's customers include hospitals, alternate care such as home care, and other healthcare providers worldwide. Smiths Medical is part of the global technology business Smiths Group, a world leader in the practical application of advanced technologies. Smiths is a global technology company listed on the London Stock Exchange. For further information, visit http://www.smiths-medical.com/.

Link to this article: http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090325005242&newsLang=en

I'm A COOL-CAT Mom

2009-03-25T21:12:00.006-04:00

I found this great website for parents called Juice Box Jungle (gotta love the name). It has a lot of great videos touching on different parenting quandaries and it has a section called "Truth or Dare" which is where I took this "What Kind Of Mom Are You" quiz. You can also take the quiz trying to guess the kind of mom your friends are. I haven't done that one yet, but you know I will. Anyway, this is what my test results are and at the top of the results on their website is a note saying "I want to take the test again, only this time I'll lie" hummmm - I don't agree with the last sentence on my Cool-Cat description, so maybe I'll take the test again. ALSO, the above avatar is the one that goes with the Cool-Cat mom and I don't know about you, but I just don't think she looks like me at all - what do you think that means? LOL.

You are a complex Mama! You are organized, never run out of milk, and you book birthday parties 3 months ahead. But, you're able to let go: you're not an anal foodie, and you're not a strict disciplinarian. You do your best to get the kids a healthy meal but if pizza pops up three nights in a row, so be it. And if the Lion is the King of the Jungle, then you - Cool Cat that you are - must be Queen. As queens tend to be, you are more suited to expert supervision than down and dirty tussling with the cubs. You know how to involve them in important activities of course, but Mama's got to have her space! But watch out! With your laissez-faire discipline and hands-off play style your kids may think you are less interested in being a part of their play than you actually are. Or not. :)

School Walk for Diabetes

2009-03-24T17:51:00.004-04:00

Nikki was amazing again today! Today is Diabetes Alert Day and, as I’ve mentioned before, the wonderful (and much loved) Nurse Paula took it upon herself to get Nikki’s class and 3 other classes involved in an ADA School Walk for Diabetes to bring awareness to this disease. Nikki and Paula did a presentation about diabetes this morning; then two 5th grade classes used their gym time to ‘walk for a cure’ – they even raised money for the event. Nikki spoke to the group as a whole before they started walking and then, at the end of the day, her wonderful teacher (who is also much loved) Kim Laughlin allowed the kids to keep asking Nikki questions; they ran out of time this morning. We are truly blessed to have so many wonderful friends and caregivers in our lives.

Let me just take a minute to talk about - and to - Nurse Paula. In my experiences over the last 6 years, I know that many, many families struggle when they send their child to school because of lack of support. I am blessed to be able to say that I don’t have that problem; I (we) have Paula. She goes over and above for Nikki (well, all her students). So thank you Paula for all your efforts in caring for my child, being willing to learn whatever new pump we are using and all the other ‘stuff’ that goes into the daily care of diabetes. You are a treasure and, as Nikki leaves Kenton this year, you will always remain one of the most important parts of her elementary years. Thank you. Are you SURE I can’t take you with us?

Today was a good day.

Nikki's To Do and Not To Do Lists

2009-03-22T20:50:00.001-04:00

Weekend Stuff

2009-03-21T22:36:00.004-04:00

Blood sugar numbers have been between 80 and 137 – yeeee haw!!! Today was a special day for our family. My granddaughter turned 1 today, which I can’t believe. We had a wonderful time with all 4 of our girls and our birthday princess. Stacy and Briana are my husband’s daughters from a previous marriage, but since they have been a part of my life since they were 2 and 7 (about 20 years now) I like to claim them as mine as well. Anyway, we had a great time admiring the adorable Princess Emilee. Nikki’s blood sugars were spot on today – which always makes it a promising day and no one fell or incurred any injuries – an all around success.

This coming Tuesday is the American Diabetes, Diabetes Alert Day. Nikki’s class and another couple of classes are sponsoring a School Walk for Diabetes to raise money toward a cure. The kids at school have really gotten behind this cause and are almost as excited as Nikki and her little T1 1st grade buddy; which goes a long way toward raising awareness in the youngest generation.

Late last night Nik came in to tell me a funny story (her words) about when she was checking her blood in class yesterday. She said she was feeling Low so she decided she needed to check. The boy sitting next to her decided that was the perfect time to ask her question after question after question about diabetes. She said he was asking things like “does that hurt”, “do you have to do that every day”. She said “mom, I never mind answering questions; but my blood was low and I couldn’t concentrate on getting my strip in the meter, my finger poked AND answer all his questions and I was getting…..you know {waving her hands around her head}”. So I asked her what she did. She said when he asked “do you LIKE checking your blood, I told him ‘yeah, it’s great let me do yours’; and he left me alone after that”. She was amused at how fast he wanted to get away once he thought she would actually poke his finger; “but,” she said “he quit asking me questions so I could concentrate on my blood”.

I believe that’s all I’ll say about that….well….Go Nikki!

DIABETES FACES: I'm still collecting pictures of people with T1 - I want to do a blog entry that consists entirely of the people this disease affects - a blog in pictures. If you're willing to send me a picture, please e-mail it to sheribby@insightbb.com

Mouse is Gimpy

2009-03-18T18:36:00.004-04:00

Okay, so this is the way our lives go – Nikki is wonderfully healthy lately; so how does she celebrate? She falls in gym class yesterday and is now in a wrist brace for 2 weeks! No I’m soooo not kidding! She was walking across the gym floor and according to Nikki “my feet just went the other way”; she landed on her wrist.

She didn’t immediately tell anyone that this had happened and by the time we were all aware of it, her wrist had begun to swell. I was teaching in the class next to Nikki’s yesterday, which was both good and bad. Good because I could look at it right away and bad because I couldn’t just take off and run her up to the doctor (Troy you are awesome, but don’t let that give you big head). So it was Dad to the rescue. They x-rayed her arm/wrist and it was too swollen to see if there is a fracture; so Troy put her in a fairly impressive brace for 2 weeks. After the 2 weeks are up, he will re-x-ray and if a fracture shows she will be in a cast for 8 weeks.

She’s in a rather silly mood about the whole thing. She tells everyone she falls a lot because she takes after her Aunt Linda and now, because her thumb is frozen in the ‘up’ position, she walks around giving everyone a ‘thumbs up!’ When I look at her I can’t help the crazy thought “mouse is gimpy” and I think that is only supposed to apply if one is referring to a limp, but still, Mouse is Gimpy. That’s how we roll……

Lydia

2009-03-16T12:25:00.003-04:00

I was trying to remember when I first heard about diabetes – before it attacked our family that is. I can actually go all the way back to elementary school in Kentucky (the Stone Age), about 3rd grade I think. I had a friend, who must have been very important at the time – but for some reason I can only remember her first name now – Lydia. Lydia had to eat sugar free snacks, which tasted terrible! I can remember thinking her mom was strange because she would stand and watch us play with this sad little smile on her face. I think Lydia must have moved away because I have no memory of her in 4th grade or beyond.

Isn’t the human brain an enigma? I mean, why can I remember the terrible taste of the sugarless cookies and sugar-free Jello; and the way her mother seemed so sad and strange to me, and yet I can’t remember her last name or when she moved away. I remember that Lydia had shiny black hair and very pale skin; and I remember that she was very thin, very pretty and very nice.

Looking back, the thing that sticks with me above all else is the fact that I now completely understand that look on her mom’s face. She was happy and sad all at the same time as she watched her daughter play; only the parent of a child with a chronic illness can understand that feeling.

I think about Lydia a lot now. I wonder what became of her. I would love to be able to sit down with her today, in our 40+ year old bodies, and share our journeys. I would also like to tell her that I now love red sugar-free jello, but I’m still not a fan of sugarless cookies.

I'm the Anti-Sleeping Beauty

2009-03-15T15:59:00.004-04:00

I’ve come to the conclusion that sleep is something I did when I was younger; I seem to have given it up all together. I thought, last month, that my increasingly bad sleep habits were because Nikki had been sick for so long and we couldn’t seem to get her healthy at all this winter; then I thought it was that issue combined with worrying about her surgery; Then I decided it was both of those combined with the frustration and helplessness of watching her have to be in pain during those recovery weeks. Now she is healthy, blood sugars doing great and I’M STILL NOT SLEEPING, sorry for shouting. So my next diagnosis is to blame it on heredity – I must get it from my mother and grandmother. That being the case, I’ll have to stick with ‘sleep is something I did when I was younger’ and embrace the rather ginourmous bags under my eyes. I'm thinking this makes me the anti-Sleeping Beauty {never falls asleep and the beauty thing is OUT} :-D.

We are starting to get ready for walk season – that is Step Out and Walk for a Cure; looking forward to both of them! I received some sample No Sugar shirts yesterday and they look great! Nikki wants to use the new No Sugar blog logo on the t-shirt which means that we’ll have to have a his and hers set because I just don’t think I can talk my husband into a t-shirt with purple flowers and bows; no matter how much he adores his mouse (hee hee).

Nik’s last blood sugar reading, about 20 minutes ago, was 118 – whooooo hoooo – Love those 100 numbers!

Getting Mad or Being Seuss

2009-03-12T20:37:00.006-04:00

We've had quite the night; however, instead of allowing my head to explode and shatter into a thousand pieces I decided to pretend to be Dr. Seuss - I'm thinking most of you will figure out what happend.

New Purple Meter

One Meter, two meter, three meter, four
Where are the test strips? There are no more!
I have a meter in pink, I have one in blue
Wait! in blue I have way more than two
Of course there’s the black one, the white one and green
But alone they’re no good; you should’ve heard my mom scream!
She ran here and there all over the house
She scared all the dogs and my little pet mouse
She jumped on the phone; then she jumped in the truck
I was riding beside her, quite sure I was stuck
My mom dropped me off, sped away and sped back
A new purple meter! If I smile, she’ll attack!

S Turner

Mrs. Belk's 3rd Grade Class

2009-03-11T16:33:00.004-04:00

As parents, we all have those moments when we simply want to shout, as loud as we can, that’s my kid! Today was like that for me. Nikki gave her first ‘diabetes talk’ to her own audience. She was invited to be the guest speaker for Mrs. Belk’s 3rd grade class (yes I had the wrong teacher AND the wrong grade initially). Let me take this moment to tell Mrs. Belk’s class that they were a great audience; very attentive, respectful and asked a ton of great questions – THANK YOU!
Nikki was so excited to be giving her first ‘talk’. This is something that I had nothing to do with; her, Mrs. Laughlin (Nikki’s teacher) and Mrs. Belk set it up and planned it – I only showed up to take pictures (because we all know how I feel about pictures). Last night, Nikki typed out her speech, gathered the things she wanted to show and talk to the class about and made sure one of her No Sugar Needed t-shirts was clean for today.

It is so great to see your baby girl grow into a self-assured, happy young lady. Nikki took questions for about 15 or 20 minutes and had the answer to 99% of them – I only spoke if she indicated she wanted me to answer; when I say indicated she would say “ask my mom” so I figured it was okay if talked at that point. She’s giving another ‘talk’ on March 24, Diabetes Alert Day, at her school. Her and the wonderful Nurse Paula are heading up a School Walk for Diabetes on that day, Nikki is acting as the school ambassador; the kids are raising money to donate and everyone seems really excited about it. Again, I had nothing to do with that one either – and that makes me so very proud of Nikki and thankful for a school nurse as caring and as involved as Paula.

I also want to thank Wendy Belk for inviting Nikki and giving her the opportunity to tell her story and educate her peers on this disease; it was such a great moment of ownership for her. The teachers and staff have been such an amazing support system since Nikki began there in Kindergarten; I simply don’t have the words to describe the positive impact you have all had on our family.

I have to end with a special nod to our friends Kacey and Jill. I thought you would want to know that Nikki talked about Kacey today when she telling the kids about our blog – and she wore the bracelet you sent her.

God is Good!

Site Changes and Cameras and Speeches, oh my

2009-03-10T18:36:00.009-04:00

Don't you just love the title of this entry? (hee hee) I’m loving this weather! It’s been so pretty the last couple of days, wonder how long it will last. We are just home from various dances classes, musical rehearsals and dog walking adventures; now I’m waiting on the Emla to take affect so I can put Nikki’s new site in. We’ve been changing Cozmo every three days since her surgery 2+ weeks ago and that's been working really well. Her numbers have been pretty fabu (knock on wood).

I snuck into Nikki’s semi-private dance class this afternoon to snap some pictures. I have this fabulous new camera and my continuous picture taking is worse than ever! The girls don’t even notice when I’m taking pictures anymore, which actually makes for really good pictures a lot of the time.

Tomorrow afternoon Nikki is talking to one of the other 5th grade classes about living with diabetes. I’m hoping to sneak in and ….. TAKE PICTURES ….. or maybe even get a little video; however, I don’t want to make Nikki aware of my presence and mess up her speech. I asked if it would bother her if I come (as long as I sit toward the back) and took some pics/video for No Sugar; she was all for it – as long as I asked Mrs. Collins if it’s okay, we must ALWAYS follow the rules. (Lori, I think this is my request) :-D.

Well Cozmo is beeping rather insistently at me because I started the loading process but stopped to blog – so I’m off to do a site change. It's a good thing Cozmo has a better brain than me most of the time.

No Sugar's Facelift

2009-03-09T16:28:00.004-04:00

I was looking at Nikki this morning, just before she left for school, and my first thought was “man you look so healthy today”. That is such a good feeling! She’s had great blood sugars lately, pretty much in the 100’s consistently which is also a good feeling (especially for Nikki!).

I mentioned in an entry this past weekend that our blog is getting a face lift – here it is! Doesn’t it look beautiful! Thanks to The Cutest Blog on the Block for their design and hard work – we even have our official ‘mouse mascot’ now! I just love it.

That’s about it for now – thankfully, it’s been an uneventful day!

God is Good <3

Spring - I Can Feel It!

2009-03-07T19:54:00.004-05:00

It’s been a great weekend so far. Nikki is pretty much feeling back to her old self and that is such a relief. My oldest daughter, Amber, had her 8th grade formal last night, she looked beautiful and yes I’m biased. With the weather changing to Spring (let’s hope it stays that way) I’m feeling a definite need to do some Spring cleaning and organizing, but just haven’t developed the DRIVE to get up and actually do it.

I’m also excited because our blog is going to be getting a face lift, which includes our own custom design. Can’t wait to see the finished product.

Another wonderful happening is that Nikki’s school nurse is organizing a School Walk for Diabetes and has asked Nikki to be the School Ambassador. Paula (nurse) has done this all on her own and I have no real word to express my gratitude for her care and concern for Nikki Mouse. I'm still trying to talk her into graduating to middle school with Nikki next year. There is one other student at school that has diabetes and he is in first grade – I know this will be a great chance for them to really help in their own fight for a cure.

Lastly, one of the 5th grade teachers is doing a unit (and I’m not exactly sure what the precise unit is about – Nikki gave very vague information – she was just so excited) that has to do with the Jonas Brothers, Nick Jonas and diabetes. She asked Nikki if she would be willing to come to her class and talk about diabetes and answer questions. She is thrilled!

In May we are walking with ADA Step Out for A Cure. My writer friend, who is also a diabetes educator in Kentucky, invited us to walk with the event in her town and we are very happy to be participating! Don’t forget to check out her book CookingUp Fun for Kids With Diabetes – it’s an awesome book to have in your diabetes stash.

DON'T FORGET: If you are a T1, are related to a T1 or if you're friends with a T1 and have permission to e-mail their picture, I am wanting to do a blog dedicated to the Faces of Type 1 - my e-mail is sheribby@insightbb.com

Our Mouse Tale

2009-03-02T14:14:00.007-05:00

Let me be the first to say that I have no clue as to what is considered normal behavior in a hamster. Now you might be asking yourself “what does that have to do with diabetes”, well…nothing…but it does have something to do with Nikki Mouse. I blogged recently that she has a new ‘baby’ – a Siberian Dwarf Hamster that she named Miss Mouse.

Let me take one of my standard ‘asides’ and tell you where the name Nikki Mouse came from. When I was pregnant with Nikki, Bryan and I took Amber to Disney World for a week. Somewhere during that week I found myself humming “N-I-K-K-I-M-O-U-SE, NIKKI MOUSE – AMBER LEE! NIKKI MOUSE – AMBER LEE; MOMMY’S SWEET LITTLE BABY GIRLS” (to the tune of the Mickey Mouse song). Okay so I’m weird, but that is something I’ve never denied. Anyway, the name stuck and eventually we adopted a little mouse mascot for No Sugar Needed; which is why – when Nikki saw this adorable little hamster she immediately named her Miss Mouse.

That is the end of my ‘aside’ –I’ll now revert back to my original topic of not really knowing much about hamster behavior; but I do know a lot about my children’s behavior and they are total animal lovers. Nikki fell completely in love with Miss Mouse, who came to us just before Nikki’s surgery; which resulted in Nikki being with the little cutie around the clock for the last couple of weeks.{ Another brief ‘aside’: Miss Mouse runs in her mouse wheel for HOURS – MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT HOURS!} This morning I went into Nikki’s room and peeked in Miss Mouse’s house and the crazy little hamster RAN to where I was looking in and peered back up at me; and I swear she was looking for Nikki! This tiny critter is attached to Nikki – Nikki regularly gets her out of her house and she runs around Nik’s bedroom, she climbs on Nikki and I’m not entirely sure that is considered normal hamster behavior; but in Miss Mouse’s defense she is a Turner now and that exempts any requirements regarding acting ‘normal’.

So that’s my Mouse Tale for today.

Nikki and Emilee

2009-02-28T20:44:00.007-05:00

This was an especially nice day, for several reasons. First, let’s hear it for GREAT BLOOD SUGARS – 95 through 140 all day! WHOOOOO HOOOO!!! Second, Nikki was able to swallow some real food today. She still has a terrible sore throat and gets tired easy, but man is it great to see her smile again! Third, my step-daughter Stacy came for a visit today along with my son-in-law Tom and my amazingly beautiful granddaughter Emilee! My mother-in-law Joyce also came by for a while. This is the first family that we’ve seen since before Nikki’s surgery and it made all of us very happy.

Of course, since I’m me and ME has been in a very sappy mood lately I have to add that it was just plain moving for me to watch Nikki and Emilee today as Nikki checked her blood sugar. At 10 months old Emilee has no idea what any of that is, but just watching Nikki share that part of herself with her niece – who she completely adores – was very touching. AND THEN because we are US we gave Emilee her own test strip bottle to play with and keep! It was her favorite toy the whole time she was here. Only in a T1 family!!!

God is Good :-D

Nikki Mouse Update

2009-02-26T17:29:00.002-05:00

I’m writing this entry as Nikki is taking a test upstairs with one of her teachers from Kenton. Nikki was so excited that Ms. King was coming over she was literally standing in the door waiting for her when she arrived; which is also a good indication of how ready she is to get back to normal. Today has been the best day we’ve had in a couple of weeks. Her throat is still mega killing her, but all in all she feels much better. She’s even surviving on plain Tylenol now, as opposed to pain killers.

Nikki is missing her friends terribly and we’ve really appreciated all the visitors who have stopped by and the windfall of get well cards (Nikki is saving every single one of them). She got one in the mail today from a family friend (who was also her science teacher in 3rd grade – Mrs. Carmony she is still your biggest fan) and her favorite part of it was there was a little mouse on the front. The day before yesterday one of her friends came by and brought a Get Well card signed by her whole class and she must have read the note from her growing list of favorite teachers (that’s you Mrs. Laughlin) about a hundred times that night. She’ll be totally pumped when she gets the okay to go back to school.

Anyway, this is getting a little mushy but we just feel so blessed to have so many precious friends in our lives; our lives would not be as wonderful without you all – you have become our family and for that we thank you!

The Turner's Secret Identities

2009-02-22T01:19:00.009-05:00

Yep - that's my secret identity. The Slicing Monarch - able to cut out type 1 in a single slice! Don't I wish. Okay, I got this idea from Jill over at Diabetes Sweeties, who got the idea from Kerri over at Six Until Me.

What I've decided is that this whole process, while silly and fun, was also a little therapeutic! I mean don't all us T1 moms want to put on our secret super hero identity and make diabetes get the heck off our planet? Go check out The Hero Factory and see what superhero you decide to be - it's a blast! Don't be surprised if I begin referring to myself as The Slicing Monarch from time to time; if you know me that probably doesn't surprise you at all.

Invisible Giant

2009-02-21T20:41:00.016-05:00

Unless you know Nikki or her family you won’t see the invisible giant that follows her around every single second of every single day. Her invisible giant is type 1 diabetes and it’s invisible because you can’t see it in her face, you can’t feel it in her touch and you can’t hear it in her laugh – but I can. It never leaves her and it never will. It makes her future uncertain and for that alone, I hate her giant.

I wonder how many T1’s feel the need to indulge in justifying how big this disease really is. They don’t look sick, so how bad can it be right? I wonder how many people, people who may have met a T1 or may have read about T1 or watched those dandy T1 commercials, feel that they know exactly what diabetes is and don’t understand what all the fuss is about. They don’t understand the fogginess that descends out of nowhere to take over the brain, they don’t understand that there is no such thing as a “virtually painless blood sugar meter”, they don’t understand that insulin keeps a T1 alive but is in no way a cure, they don’t understand what it’s like to live with an uninvited giant that only you can see and so many people don’t take seriously. They don't understand what it's like to have your brain so confused that when you speak only noises come out. They just don’t understand.

I wonder how many people hear about a T1 and say “well at least it’s not cancer or something worse”. Since when did chronic, debilitating diseases become a competition? I wonder how many T1’s or their parents have heard “I have friend who has diabetes and she doesn’t worry about that”. I wonder how many T1’s and their families have heard “I know someone who has diabetes, but only a little”. There is no such thing as only a little diabetes; that’s like being only a little pregnant. I could wonder about these things for hours, but I don’t let myself. I take my cue from Nikki and all the other T1’s I’m privileged to know, they do not feel sorry for themselves and they do not let it defeat them.

Diabetes is not a part time disease. It never takes a break. It never ceases its attack on internal organs, eyes and limbs. It never tires and it will never quit, until we find a cure. I live with it along side Nikki; I do the middle of the night blood checks, and I listen for her breathing and hold my own breath each morning as I go in to wake her up. I cry with her and worry over her. Her dad and I deal with the astronomical expense of this giant. Yet there will come a day when we will no longer be responsible for all of that. Nikki always will be. She will never, ever get to take a day off or get a break from it for a couple of hours. She will always struggle with the highs and lows, with the fact that a simple cold can turn into a major ordeal; she’ll always have to be aware that her blood sugar levels can affect the grade she makes on a test and she will always deal with the expense of the disease. Even though we will walk with her forever and help her deal with all of this – we can only walk beside her, we cannot take this walk for her and for that, I hate her giant.

Diabetes landed in our life on April 6, 2003 and I look forward to the day we can kick it out of every life it has interrupted. Until then, my hope is that people will seek to educate themselves on the disease and help fight to find cure. Get involved, get educated and be supportive. Diabetes may be an invisible disease, but its victims are not. The faces, every single one of them, that you see in this blog entry all have type 1 diabetes, they would love to have your help finding a cure.

If you have type 1 diabetes and are willing to share a photo, please email it to me at sheribby@insightbb.com. I’d like to do a blog entry that is just the faces of the people who live with this giant. Diabetes may be Goliath, but T1’s are definitely David – and in the end David, with the Lord's help, destroyed Goliath.

Saturday Update

2009-02-21T18:38:00.002-05:00

Time for a Nikki Mouse update. I’d say that (other than the fact that I’m her mommy and I hate for her to be hurting) she is healing like normal. We actually had a blood sugar reading of 105 yesterday and the highest number we’ve had since then has been around 250. Though that is high, it’s to be expected because it’s so hard to regulate carbs vs. what she actually winds up eating.

We have THE BEST friends on earth. I’d like to say a special thank you to the Niemis’, Grubbs’ and Murdocks’ for the wonderful and amazingly awesome dinners that they brought to us. It helped so much! You guys rock! My only problem is that Bryan might be expecting to eat that well all the time – hee hee.

Yesterday and today have been the most painful for Nikki, but we knew that would be the case. She’s sleeping really well and I’m hoping that when we go back this week for a recheck on the UTI that Troy will tell us that is gone as well. Thank you to all our friends and family who have sent up prayers for us – Nikki – God is great and has truly blessed us with an amazing support system.

Happy Dance

2009-02-19T15:23:00.004-05:00

I’m just doing a short Nikki update today. She had a very good nights sleep and actually slept through the entire morning and half the afternoon. The girls and I are getting ready to watch High School Musical 3 and veg out in front of the television. However, the best part of this update is Nikki’s lastest blood sugar reading of 191!!!!! In honor of that number we are doing the happy blood sugar dance.

Tonsillectomy Tuesday, part 2

2009-02-18T11:38:00.007-05:00

As I start this blog it’s actually about 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Nikki’s blood sugars have taken a huge spike and are off the meter high – thankfully, no ketones and her last reading about 10 minutes ago had her at 468 – way too high but headed in the right direction. I’m trying to stay awake because her next round of pain killers is due in about 20 minutes and I want to retest at that time. Let me just add, in language that is just plain not nice, diabetes sucks.

Rambling in a more positive direction I wanted to take a minute and acknowledge the staff at Children’s Hospital and the superb care Nikki receives there. Everyone from the Child Life Specialist to the receptionist in the parent’s waiting room are so nice that the employees at Disney World could learn a thing or two (and that’s the happiest place on earth with the some of the nicest staff I’ve ever encountered). However, for this visit one particular person went over and above for Nikki, Bryan and myself. Her name is Sigma and she was Nikki’s PACU (recovery unit) nurse for the duration of our stay. She praised a very scared and traumatized Nikki as she had the tube removed from her throat and she continued that praise for every little thing Nikki did – not in a patronizing way, but in a very genuine way. This nurse even offered to go get Bryan and I lunch for goodness sake. One of the nicest things she did was to ask if Nikki could be moved to a private trauma room while she was in the PACU – she felt that since Nikki had to be there longer than most kids, she (and her parents) would be more comfortable in quieter, more private surroudings. She was definitely a direct contributor to Nikki’s willingnes to drink and move toward coming home instead of having to stay over.

One other thing I’d like to mention about the staff in the Day Surgery unit was the fact that they let Bryan and I go all the way into the operating room with Nikki and remain with her until she fell asleep. We were with Nikki when she drifted off and we were there when she opened her eyes; because of the staff’s care and concern about how scary any kind of surgery is for an 11 year old, Nikki never knew that Bryan and I were not with her the entire time. It really reduced the stress for her.

The last moment I’d like to share from Tuesday is how much Nikki wanted her big sister. Amber had spent the day or so before Nik’s surgery telling her how she (Amber) had her tonsils out and that Nikki would be okay. Amber stayed with a friend of ours on Monday night so she could get to school Tuesday morning. The great part of story is that not only was Nikki wanting Amber close-by, but Amber was wanting to be with Nikki just as much. I gave Amber the choice of riding back home with her friend after school, so she could get her stuff and then we would pick her up a little while after that. Amber texted me from school and asked if she could just get her stuff later and come straight home to be with Nikki instead. Yes, I’m biased about my girls, but I sure do like the people that they are. Oh, and when Amber did get home from school, she leaned down by where Nikki was sleeping and told her she was home. Nikki opened her eyes, focused for a second then those two silly, dramatic girls hugged each other for about 5 minutes.

As I finish this blog, it’s about 11:00 a.m. Wednesday. Nikki didn’t have such a great night as far as blood sugars go, but she slept okay. Right now her blood sugar is 316 and believe it or not that’s as low as we’ve gotten it since it started spiking yesterday. She’s still drinking well for me and that is definitely a positive note to end on.

Tonsillectomy Tuesday, part 1

2009-02-17T19:46:00.007-05:00

Today has been a very long and emotional day, but I can’t say that it hasn’t also been a blessing. We woke Nikki up at 5:00 a.m. this morning because we had to have her at Children’s by 6:00 a.m., her surgery was scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. We have had nothing but great experiences at Children’s and today was no exception. They got Nikki right in and treated her like a little princess. The longer she sat in her room waiting for surgery to start to the more nervous she became. Nikki’s body reacts with high blood sugars when she is emotional for any reason (good or bad), so I was a little worried that she would skyrocket before they could start surgery. They gave her something to help settle her down and her blood sugar was 255 going in for the procedure. Not good, but not terrible either considering the situation. Nikki came out of surgery in a very teary state, she was crying and saying “I hate this” none of which she remembers. Bryan and I immediately went to her, one on each side. I’m leaning over saying, in my best mommy soothing voice “it’s okay baby, it’s all done, Mommy’s here”. She looked up at me with very foggy, tearfilled eyes and said “I want Amber”. WELL, humph. You gotta laugh. It does do my heart good that both of my girls were completely focused on each other today. I have much more to blog regarding the events of today but I’ll save that for tomorrow. Nikki was doing well enough all around that they let her come home this afternoon. As of this evening, she’s drinking wonderfully and sitting up. She’s in quite a bit of pain and her blood sugars are bouncing around a little; but so far, so good.

At this point in my blogging I need to mention few things that are really important to our family. First, and this one is solely for Nikki, we gave Nikki an official “Dr. Nikki Mouse – No Sugar Needed” mouse before the medicine kicked in this morning; which brought a smile to her extremely stressed little self. Check out the picture of Nikki and her Mouse. Second, “The Bills”. No I’m not talking about money or something we need to pay. We have a wonderful church family who are very near and dear to our hearts; there are too many people at Hickory Grove that are important to us for me to mention them all; however, I would like to specifically thank 2 people (and their wonderful wives). Brother Bill Clark and Brother Bill Risher – ‘The Bills’. I’m not entirely sure that these 2 friends/pastors of ours realize how important they are to our family. Each man has baptized one of my children and they have been involved in almost every single monumental event that has occurred in our family since my kids were babies. For instance, tonight I was reflecting on them being there with us this morning while we waited for Nikki’s surgery to begin, and then it dawned on me that almost exactly 6 years ago Brother Bill Risher and his wife Sherry were at that same hospital with me, Amber, Nikki and Bryan – the day Nikki was diagnosed with T1. I wanted to say a specific thank you both of these amazing men and their families, you are more important than you know.

Third, to all our family and friends who come from very different parts of our lives – thank you for the prayers, texts, e-mails and phone calls. You lifted us up and we can’t thank you enough. We realize that a tonsillectomy is a fairly routine process, but when you combine it with T1, a UTI and a chronic sinus infection, it gets a little scary. When Nikki came out of surgery her blood sugar level was an almost perfect number – 155 – that was definitely an answer to many prayers.

Lastly, thank you to Melissa and Brooke for all your love and constant understanding. Brooke and Melis came by this evening and brought Nikki flowers and a balloon. You are truly family and I’m hoping you already know what you mean to us.

To be continued tomorrow…

February 16, 2009

2009-02-16T18:28:00.002-05:00

Well today at 1:19 p.m. my Nikki officially turned 11. We’ve had a pretty good day –I’ve got her in quarantine until her surgery tomorrow, don’t want any sneaky bugs to get in and cause another virus while she’s healing from her tonsilectomy. She’s beginning to be a little nervous about tommorow, and I don’t blame her.

Right now, her and Amber are holed up in Amber’s room playing their new DS games (that I got them today). I’m worried about the surgery but my anxiety comes more from knowing that she’s going to feel rotten over the next couple of weeks, fear that she’ll get another virus while she’s trying to recover from all the stuff she’s already got plus the surgery, and – well -- you get the general idea.

But for the moment it’s a pretty quiet, sweet day. Amber has try outs for the musical Beauty and the Beast tomorrow night, so I’m trying to stay focused on working out the logistics of getting everyone where they need to be tomorrow – and I’m thinking that if I sleep more than 2 hours tonight, that might be a good thing too.
Until later……….

What A Sweet Day!

2009-02-15T02:59:00.003-05:00

What a wonderful day. Nikki woke up with a blood sugar number of 97 (whooo hooo) and actually felt like eating a little something. We celebrated her 11th birthday today (her actual birthday is Monday the 16th). Since she was getting a rather expensive gift this year we were having a low key celebration with only a few of her closest friends.

We took the girls to paint some pottery pieces and then came back here for cake, dinner (in that order) and a sleepover. Nikki’s numbers held between 80 and 174 all day – thank you My Lord! I’m sure part of her feeling better was the emotional boost she got from being with her closest friends in the world. These girls are little miracles and have been through a lot with Nikki, in different ways, over the years. Her lifelong best friends, who are really more like her sisters are Brooke and Samantha. They have been friends and inseperable since they were toddlers. Emily is another of her best friends and is a more recent addition to Nikki’s inner circle. She moved to our neighborhood about 3 years ago, met Nikki who immediately introduced her to Sam and Brooke and they became The Four Girls. Another best friend – Mikayla - brings her own special bond to her relationship with Nikki. Brooke introduced them about 3 years ago, just after Mikayla was diagnosed with T1. Nikki and Mikayla call each other when they have ‘T1 burnout’ moments, they go to diabetes camp together and they also enjoy being regular girls together.

I guess I felt the need to write about these little ladies because they are such an important support system for Nikki. One that doesn’t have much to do with me, her dad or her big sister – these 5 girls ‘belong’ to Nikki. They all know more about type 1 diabetes than most grown ups, which goes without saying for Nikki and Mikayla; but Brooke, Sam and Emily can talk up a storm about T1 and all 3 of them know what to do if Nik or Mikayla go low, need their meters or any number of other things that go along with diabetes. They are Nikki’s strength when she needs understanding that only a best friend can give. Nikki once described their friendships like this “It’s like you know Mom, me and Mikayla have diabetes, Emily doesn’t have a dad, Sam has asthma, Brooke broke her arm and doesn’t get to see her dad much; we all have problems and we’re okay”. Out of the mouths of babes, I couldn’t define their friendship any better than that.

Most of us are lucky if we have 1 or 2 people we consider best friends throughout our entire lifetime -- God blessed my child with 4.

As birthdays go, this one will always be a favorite.

Another Nikki Mouse Update

2009-02-13T14:50:00.007-05:00

Children’s called this morning to let us know that Nikki has to check in on Tuesday morning at 6:00 a.m. and surgery is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. It’s early, but since she can’t eat or drink after midnight, it’s really good that she will be the first operation that morning – if she were to go low and needed to eat it would cause surgery to be postponed and then I think Nikki would have a nervous breakdown.

She’s feeling better, weak but better. She’s still not eating much but overall I see improvement. Tomorrow is her birthday celebration with her closest friends and she is really looking forward to that. So for the weekend, we will focus on the fact that my baby is turning ELEVEN! How did that happen?