$9000 closer to a cure

The Promise Ball and Auction was a fabulous time on Saturday! Our first little girl puppy that we donated brought in $4500 in the Auction for JDRF. Our second male puppy went for the same $4500!! I was so excited that our family could help to raise $9000 and be that much closer to finding a cure for our children!

We were so rushed on Saturday getting ready for the Promise Ball that we didn't even have a chance to take good pictures! I am so bummed! I spent WAY too much money on the girls hair (prom up-do's) and nails to miss the pictures! That makes me so sad! I hope the ones we got will turn out better when printed. It was interesting to see all the wealthy high status people at the ball. Most were pretty friendly. Most of them were drunk I am sure, thanks to the beautiful open bar. The resort was gorgous, and so were all the evening gowns. I can't imagine having $50,000 (or way more!)to drop on charity and auction items. We hung out mostly in the volunteer area and helped anway we could.

When it was time to go up on stage in front of the 1,000 guests Maddison had a bit of stage fright! She nearly cried, but I just whisked her on stage. She did great. You really can't see the crowd when you have those lights shining in your face! The host asked me to tell my story.....I had to just speak from the heart. I was surprisingly comfortable. Hannah smiled and answered some questions too. Then Maddison decided she LOVED being on stage and after we were done she wanted to go back ON stage! LOL. The girls got to feel like fancy princessess for the day, and so did I!! I never wear a dress! We all could have done without the fancy shoes that left our feet screaming in pain though. We stayed late and enjoyed some cocktails in the end while the girls ran around trying to find some way to offer their help as volunteers. I am grateful we were able to experience this event with JDRF. It was truely a night I will always remember.

That night, was even perfect for numbers! Maddison went to bed at 83 and becuase I was noticing her going high at night lately I decided to leave it and check in 2 hours. Then she was 83 again! That never happens! Then she was 86 at 4am and 88 for the morning breakfast. WOW! How could that happen? Of course it didnt the following night and the highs returned. But I am glad our family had one perfect night at the Ball, and perfect numbers that night to top it off. It has been a l-o-n-g year, and we so deserved this night!

Whirlwind of excitement

I haven't had the chance to post about our exciting news! Our family is donating one of our puppies to the JDRF Promise Ball Charity Auction. Our gift was accepted last week, a spur of the moment idea... and we have been preparing for the ball ever since. This is a black tie "Ball" with every detail imagineable. We were asked to attend the event this Saturday, so me being a very casual, shy person.....I am a bit anxious. I am not really nervous because this is for Diabetes, something true to my heart. But we are so excited!

We will be called on stage as a family as the first Live Auction promotion. We will be asked some simple things about our lives with Diabetes and how long we have been "keeping the promise" to help find a cure. They are impressed with our family because they don't often have Type 1 families donate to this "Elite" auction. So we are very honored to be considered a special family being Maddison and I both have Diabetes. Our timing just happened to be right with the puppies being born, so we are truely lucky to be able to make this donation! The puppies are still only 2 weeks old so the winning bidder will recieve a promise certificate and photo for 1st pick of a female from our litter of 8 puppies. JDRF sent out a photographer on Tuesday to have video and photos taken for playing while we are on stage promoting our puppy and speaking our story. We have been out all week buying our formal attire, Josh was fitted for his Tux, and I get to pamper myself tomorrow! I have an appointment for hair, nails and a pedicure.......I have NEVER had my nails done, or a pedicure! I always do those myself becuase I am too cheap! Not to mention I want to rip the nails off in a day or two :) So, we will be excited to post pictures here soon! I made an appointment for both the girls to get their hair and nails done before the event Saturday. It is at a special little girls salon......we so deserve this night as a family! It has been hard the past few years! So watch for pictures of us all in our formal attire, a sight never seen before!

Diligence x's 2!!!

I'm so happy to say my A1c was 6.0% WOW! I will take that any day!! Then I asked my Endo about the home test A1c and the reliability. She said they are "Horrible" and she really stressed that word. So, considering Maddison's 6.6 A1c came from a "home A1c" in the office instead of the lab, it makes me wonder. My endo said they can vary as much as 1% YIKES!! I prefer to think Maddison's was accurate!

Hannah has been showing alot of Diabetes symptoms lately. I know every parent with a "D" child wonders about the other children being diagnosed. Being our genetic link in our family, I am concerned-again. I always thought Hannah had symptoms even before Maddison was diagnosed. I suspected Hannah, not Maddison. So off and on Hannah will be irratable after eating, especially sweets. (but she is 11) She has been more thirsty lately. Stomache aches, peeing more than usual and then there is this morning. Hannah had an accident. She hasn't in over 2 years though it was common before. So when she came to me and said she had an accident at 5am, I lay there stiff as a board. I thought OH SHIT! I had to break my promise, and get out the meter. She was 103. That is a bit concerning. <100 is normal, 110 or more fasting is a diagnosis.

So, what do you do? I feel that post prandial is the first to go in our family. Do I do a random check? Do I ignore it? Do I try one of the Home A1c's with the bad reputations? Do I just wait and see? Do I limit carbs and sweets to rest her pancreas? At this point there is nothing I can do. She was 103 not 403. So I guess I sit and wonder day in and day out. Everytime I get past the worry with Hannah something like this happens to start the concern all over again. I hate Diabetes. Even with a 6.0 and a 6.6 this month, I hate Diabetes because it is so silent. At least if Hannah was 403 I wouldn't drive myself crazy with wonder. Of course, I never want to see Hannah being diagnosed. Never, ever in this lifetime. But the worry and wonder is almost the same stress as being diagnosed. I hope these concerns for Hannah leave my brain QUICKLY so as not to ruin my happy high of good A1c's!!!

Diligence has paid off!

Maddison had her 1yr follow up today, a month late. It is hard to get an appointment with a practice that is so overwhelmed with patients. I was astonished to hear Maddison's A1c is 6.6%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted to cry. I couldn't stop smiling, my heart was pounding with excitement, relief, and wonder......I wonder if her A1c is so good because of too many lows? Why did that thought have to ruin my happiness? Is it ever good enough? I actually don't think Maddison has had too many lows. A lot of times she ends up in the low 90's to 80's before her next meal, and that is ideal, though her range acceptable is 120-150. She has a few lows a week, not serious, (KNOCK ON WOOD) though she has had at least a handful of bad lows under 50 since her last A1c of 7.5% in September. But, that 7.5% was reflecting numbers from when we started the pump and ran high for 2 months because I was too cautious in making changes. The fact that me questioning such a good A1c was irritating and it invaded my happy moment! I have worked so hard for this 6.6%!!! Diligence has paid off, proof is in the numbers, and no, the Endo and I don't believe it is due to too many lows...so take that Diabetes! Nice try! Now, I just have to see what my A1c is tomorrow for my own appointment! YIKES!

So today I am ecstatic. The Endo said we are doing "phenomenal" and I am on cloud 9. I couldn't be happier!! Problem though, is that now I will expect nothing higher than this in the future, and that really isn't realistic with Diabetes. I keep telling myself that so as not to beat myself up in the future when A1c's are higher, maybe ALOT higher. But for now, sleep deprivation has paid off, and I have kept her in good range over night, which really is 10 hours of her day, half of her A1c result really. I am so proud that diligence has paid off in the numbers!

Weird

Maddison went to bed at a 180 last night, I corrected that giving .3 which always does the trick lately. Not last night! At midnight she was 324, what the heck? See, now THAT is why I ALWAYS check 2-3 hours after the correction is made! That was very weird. I made sure there were no bubbles, no food from earlier affecting her, site looks good, insulin was new, right pattern is set. Just weird.

Endo's will tell you not to check over night....it makes me so mad! I would NOT want that 324 hoovering all night and starting our day! I will take the sleep deprivation thank you very much. Do they think Diabetes sleeps? I mean really? If their kid had "D" would they not check at night? Would they want them to sit there all night at 324? Hello? They tell us (and we know) that pump failure can cause Ketones in a matter of an hour or so. Then why wouldn't you check at night when your kid sleeps for 10 hours!!?? So, now I am wondering if tonight will bring the same thing......just when I had the basal set right for a whole month! Talk about frustrating. No wonder I never get more than 3 hours sleep in a stretch! I am always, always having to increase or decrease something!

Evil foods

Cereal is evil for Maddison. I don't even buy any sugary cereal such as Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks or Cookie Crisp. Cheerios, Bran Flakes or any non-sugar added we choose to buy. I know, no fun. Kids LOVE those sugary cereals! And, who doesn't? I wish Maddison could have them, I really do...but the spikes from cereal are crazy!! At last check a few months back Maddison had Cheerios. I balanced with some protein and fat from eggs with cheese. (the girl doesn't touch fruit, a whole 'nother story!) She started at 98 with a 15 min pre bolus and a ratio of 1:10 vs 1:13 her norm. An hour later she was 338!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is pretty much what always happens with cereal for us and sometimes I have seen her DROP way low by hour 3. Still don't have it right, so I gave up and I am happy she hasn't noticed I avoid cereal. She usually has Pancakes or Waffles with Peanut Butter and Sugar free syrup with SF chocolate milk. I need to try harder to sneak in some fruit! How can you not like fruit?

Pretzels are evil. That is a given though with an 81 on the GI index.

Pizza for us, gets us immediately, unlike some people with "D" and of course, the highs get us later too!

Corn Bread, which Maddison LOVES, is horrid for 8 hours!! How does that happen?

Some people complain about french fries for their kids with "D", but those aren't so bad for Maddison. We beat those down every time!

I wish that the CDE would educate you on these types of foods. Our CDE never mentioned any food effecting you differently. Who would have known that digestion of food is a HUGE mountain to overcome in learning about insulin dosing???!!!

Our puppies

The wee hours of Tuesday morning our Golden Retriever Roxxie had 8 perfect puppies. From midnight until 8am (talk about tired!) I helped her deliver the little cuties. I woke the kids up right after number one came out, and they saw numbers 2-4 be born before I sent them back to bed at 4 am. I kept them home from school as promised. We are in puppy heaven at our house. Mommy dog is awesome, she was a pro from the first push to the last puppy. Maddison sits with them every morning before school and they crawl around in her lap. She told me "They are drawn to me like a "magnament" because they know I love them. Ohhhh how I dread the day we say good bye to them! Grandma gets pick of the litter, so I guess that will help save our broken hearts when the time comes!

We are working to donate a puppy to one of the Diabetes Seizure Alert Canine programs, but of course they require Hip, Eyes and all those top line certifications. So we will see how it all pans out. I really hope it works out, I would feel so great knowing one of our puppies could make the difference to a child and family with Diabetes!