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I got a little emotional yesterday as I saw Maddison step off the bus arriving from camp. I didn't expect it at all, It was a sudden rush of happiness and relief all at the same time. I had the same lump in my throat when she left for camp, only this time I cried a happy little tear or two! My heart finally felt whole again. I felt a sense of contentment and peacefulness just knowing she was home with me. Its a great feeling!

Maddison has always been a chatterbox when she is with Me or her Dad. She tends to quiet up around others sometimes.....but MAN OH MAN!!! She didn't stop talking for HOURS after picking her up yesterday, and she was nothing but a PermaSmiling, energetic, bouncy girl who giggled about all the fun she had! She joyfully told stories of camp with so much enthusiasm that you couldn't help but smile and be excited too! I knew Maddi would have a blast, but I never expected her to be able to squeeze 7days of camp fun into just a few hours of stories when she got home! It has just been too cute! Looks like Camp AZDA will be a part of every summer in the future! Maybe next year I wont be such a mess the first few days :)

As far as the Diabetes part goes, I'm quite disappointed to see Maddison only ate about 8-40carbs per meal, which means her picky eating continued at camp. They didn't accommodate her pickiness as WE (sadly) do, so she just didn't eat meals. She did however, have most snacks that were given between meals (no bolus) Part of my excitement for camp was that Maddison would eat like all the other kids, but apparently not. Most mornings all she ate was eggs and bacon, and only had a bolus for 10 carbs of toast!! Needless to say, when Maddi arrived home we fed her about 150c of French Toast, apples, bacon, eggs, SF chocolate milk and ice cream for dessert. That was her evening meal of choice. I guess the food at camp was "gross." -Sigh-

Surprisingly, Maddison's highest number at camp was 289 one night before bed, to which she got a FULL correction and wasn't checked again until breakfast the next morning!!! She was 65 that morning, which was also her lowest number logged the entire 7 days. (Thank you snacks, and YAY for the reductions I made before she left!) Do you know how many times a day Maddison checked her sugar while away at camp? 4. FOUR TIMES A DAY!!!! Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and before bed. That was it!! I think the minimal testing is awesome in some ways, though I dont see how that is really do-able in every day life, I mean, I'd LOVE to just check sugars 4 times a day, but we all know how crazy things get when you fall back into real life. I do wonder if our A1c would increase much if we tried to take the minimal checking route? Isnt that what our Endo's always say we should do? Minimize? But 4 times a day? I often worry that "micromanaging" is just too much sometimes and leads to burnout....but I know for a fact I'd still be checking overnight, at least once! Maybe we will try to check sugars less.....once numbers settle down in the next week or so.

I'm a bit irritated that no one checked these kids at Midnight like I was told they do. And, not rechecking that correction Maddi had before bed really pisses me off. #1 a full correction after a 14hr day of hiking, swimming and running around needed to be rechecked at some point during the night. PERIOD if you ask me. And #2 they dont know if my programmed pump settings are even close to being right! They shouldn't have assumed anything. If it were me I would have reduced the bedtime correction and checked again in 2.5 hours......but this is camp. I guess they think kids will wake up when they go low, or Mr Liver will always help them out when sugar levels get dangerously low. I personally think that is a dangerous line to walk. But, It is what it is, and somehow Maddison didnt have any dangerous blood sugars, even going from 9pm to 7am without being checked!

o, Maddi is HOME and we are complete again. According to her she didnt learn anything at camp, no carb counting, no "healthy eating" education, nothing. Hmmmmmm.....all I know is she had fun, made friends, felt a sense of "normalcy" being around so many other kids with Diabetes, and thats all that really matters. :)