Vacation update

Friday was our travel day to Oceanside, CA. The kids actually did GREAT on the drive, and there is always a ton of laughs when cousin Myah is involved! That girl is too funny. She's a drama queen, and at just 5 years old, Myah has lots of questions. I've forgotten how funny little kids are! Driving up a winding mountain road, Myah was sure we were gonna die. The girls all giggled in the back of van as each had something to say about the crazy winding road. Such silly girls!

Maddison woke up that day in great range, but spiked to 190 with all the excitement. Then Maddie had a 391 two hours after breakfast, ACK. Muffins and sitting for a 5 hour drive just didnt fare well for Maddison. I knew I should have set a temp basal increase! As we made our way to the beach Maddison's numbers improved. Off to dinner after spending some time on the beach....we went to Joe's Crab Shack! What a fun and yummy place! Maddison earned $20 thanks to Auntie Sam who bet her she wouldn't dance with the staff as they sang to YMCA. That was too funny. You should have seen the build your own ice cream sandwich sundae the kids had for dessert! Numbers ran through my head as I tried to calculate the 3 ice cream sandwich halves, sprinkles and hot fudge....oh yeah.....AND M&M's!!! Diabetes....you better behave!! This is a VACATION right?

Maddison ended up at 230 several hours later, which is darn good considering I bolused her for 120c for JUST the ice cream. I'm SO relieved to say that into the following day Maddison stayed between 72-148 even with 5 hours on the beach being disconnected from her pump! Lots of reconnects to bolus missed basals, but, I got it all right and Maddison felt GREAT...HAPPY...ENERGIZED.... ALL DAY!! YAY Diabetes vacation!! I have lots of pictures to come! The kids had the most fun gathering sand crabs and out running the waves. What an awesome relaxing day!

I wish I had only great things to report for today, vacation day 3. Despite the great day of numbers behaving at the beach....somehow Diabetes struck back when I was least expecting. I fell asleep around 10pm last night while laying in bed watching TV with the kids. I must have been THAT comfortable, relaxed and
de-stressed. How dare I. Maddison was never checked before bed. (!!!!!!!!) An hour later I leapt from bed, grabbed the meter......Maddison was 410!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!! I was SURE she had gone low and rebounded!! GUILT!! Talk about guilt! Thank goodness Mr liver gives back when needed most right? Well, two hours later Maddison was still 380. Yes I thought, totally a rebound high thats more difficult to bring down. That would make sense right? By next check Maddison was still 280. Lets check ketones. If I cant get blood sugars down by morning I know somethings VERY wrong.

How could I be so stupid!!?? I never checked Maddison's ketones sooner!!! I just assumed she rebounded! Then I realized she had a site change before dinner. AAHHHHHHHH!!!! Its a bad site!!!There it is, purple as can be. High ketones!!!!

Maddison wanted to go with her sister and cousin for the morning walk on the beach, despite feeling pretty crummy. Maddison somehow managed to drink some water and roll out of bed after a site change. Do I replace the last bolus I just gave through the bad site? Did she get ANY of that insulin? How could I have made this mistake yet again!!?? I re-bolused just part of what I gave previously, LARGE KETONES afterall. 30 minutes later everyone returned from the beach walk with Maddison feeling even worse by now. She's 118. JUICE. Too much active, she's crashing after a new site. Can I just kick myself now? This cant happen today! Its Legoland day!! Heart broken. I was totally heart broken at this point. The guilt and sadness I was feeling was enough to make me want to crawl in bed and hide the rest of the day. We were supposed to wake up and be on our way to Legoland!! How dare Diabetes always interfere and make everything so damn difficult!!?? How could I have made this mistake TODAY??!!

Maddison crawled back in bed, listless. Pale, crying with stomach pain. Not just stomach pain. Its the ketone stomach pain. Miserable. I climbed in bed beside Maddison and just stared up at the ceiling as she drifted off to sleep. I was so angry. Angry at myself, as always, the blame goes to ME. **I** am responsible for this. ME. No one else.

Maddison slept for about an hour as I just lay there listening to the ocean waves outside our window, remembering when life was simple. No finger pokes. No bad sites. No common cold causing serious highs and trips to the emergency room. I could hear everyone having breakfast in the kitchen without us. I couldnt get up. I was too worried. I felt horribly guilty. What if I just ruined our whole Legoland day? What if Maddison isnt going to feel better soon? What if its something else, not the site? Where is the nearest hospital?

The good news, after that hour Maddison bounced back. Blood sugar good at 152, no more ketones. Still nauseated, cant eat breakfast. A little more rest and some very silly Sponge Bob on the TV and Maddison was laughing again. Legoland.....here we come! I cant wait to show all our great pictures! We still battled some roller coaster numbers through out the day, but that doesnt matter so much today after what we just went through with Ketones. We had a ton of fun at Legoland today and Maddison felt good!! We stopped by MiMi's Cafe for dinner on the way home, then headed to the Pier to check out the evening sunset and fisherman. A day complete. It was beautiful to watch the sunset and walk the beach until darkness set in. Very relaxing. Today really put life back into perspective, especially after the morning of ketones.

Now its 10pm and Hannah is lying beside me in bed with a 101 fever. Too much sun? I dont know....I just want to make it through this vacation without any further drama. Tomorrow is day 4 of our vacation, I think I'm done already. Ive loved being here this weekend, but home is where my heart is.