Things That Make Me Smile

Today is No D-Day...


What does this mean??? Well, it means that all around the D.O.C. we will not blog, tweet, facebook or talk about diabetes. So in honor of this special day I have come up with a small list of things I would like to share with you. Just a glimpse into some things that make me happy and can turn my frown upside down.


Things That Make Me Smile...

• A steaming cup of coffee with hazelnut cream and cinnamon...mmmmm

• Waking up to a cool, crisp autumn morning

• The laughter of my daughters

• Warm, cozy pajamas on a cold night

• A good book

I'm sure that from my list you may be able to tell that fall has officially begun for us, I love fall...the turning of the leaves, warm sweaters, the anticipation and excitement as the holiday season draws near. As I am writing this list, my daughters are enjoying a day of playing with playdoh and coloring...Miss E has asked me to read to her what I'm writing, apparently she isn't satisfied with the list as I have written it and she has requested that I add something to it. So here it is...

• I love my daughters...more then anything in the world!!!

I think that goes without saying, but she has informed me that my list is much better now that I have added that very important addition. Of course the love that I have for my kids will always make me smile, they bring such joy to my life.

It's funny how little things can bring such joy and happiness, what things make you smile??? I think this post has just inspired me to try to do a list of Things That Make Me Smile once a week here on Hope and Beginnings...it's a good reminder to try to enjoy the little moments in life, something that we easily forget to do sometimes. I know I am guilty of it...it's so easy to get caught up in the negative, so today I will have a cup of coffee, put on a warm sweater after the sun goes down, make my girls laugh out loud and maybe finish the day off with a good book!!!

The Biggest Loser

Confession time...I am a reality show junkie. Ok, maybe not a junkie, but borderline obsessed with a few shows.



One of those shows that I love and never miss an episode of is The Biggest Loser, I love it. I cry during every episode, their stories are inspiring, they motivate me to try to take better care of my own health and, I'll be honest here...I do love the drama.



Last night I sat down in front of my tv after putting my girls to bed, anticipating another great episode and then...WTH?!? Did Dr. H just say what I think he said?!? I was one mad mama pancreas last night.



Dr. H. brought in each contestant one by one to give them the low down on how bad their health had become due to their obesity...here's where the mad mama pancreas part comes in. While talking to one of the men on the show he begins to talk to him about his diabetes. He asks doctor H. if this is reversible and do you want to know what Dr. H. said???



"Diabetes is curable, but you can't cure diabetes when you've got this amount of fat".



That's it....not type 2, just diabetes.



Now some people may ask, why are you so bent out of shape about that comment? Well, for me I feel that it's just one more tv doctor spreading miss-information. Ok, so type 2 diabetes can be "cured" with diet and exercise, as Dr. H. explains while he points to a big tv screen with a picture of this mans stomach. I feel that when a broad statement such as "Diabetes is curable" is announced on a tv show that millions of people are watching it only hurts those of us who are trying to raise not only awareness about type 1 diabetes but also trying to raise money to help fund research to find a cure for type 1 diabetes!



True story here...



My first year of raising money towards JDRF's Walk to Cure Diabetes, I had a friend collecting donations for our team. One of the people she was talking to about our efforts asked, "Why should I donate to that? They should just eat better". WTH?!? EAT BETTER!!! I wish that were all we needed to do to cure type 1 diabetes! This is where I feel that many people are miss-informed or simply know nothing about the disease and when we start having celebrity doctors only adding to the confusion it makes me wanna scream at the tv!


I know that the intentions of this show are to help people...and they are, they are helping so many people reclaim their health and really look at their diets and how active they are. This IS a good thing, I will still watch the show...I just wish they would be more specific when referring to diabetes.



I only wish that these celebrity doctors, talk show hosts, reporters, would state the facts...the real facts, not just broad sweeping statements that add to the confusion about type 1 diabetes. This is just one more example of a tv show causing disappointment and sadness...it really does hurt me, it breaks my heart to think that now there are even more people who may judge my kids because of this disease, that they may think that it's our fault or that we aren't doing enough to keep them healthy. That now there will be more people who will never give to JDRF or any other organization trying to bring us closer to a cure because of some tv doctor that didn't think about how powerful his words are.


Dr. H...I HOPE you will realize how much influence you have on the world, yes...it was just one sentence and, yes, some people may have known you were talking about type 2 diabetes and only type 2 diabetes, but...we owe it to our kids to get it right, let's stop spreading the confusion!

Doing The Happy Dance!

School is officially in session! I spent quite a few weeks this summer preparing myself mentally and emotionally to send Miss E off to kindergarten...I was freaking out just a little bit!


You see, this would be the first time I would EVER be apart from her for longer then maybe an hour! In her five years, I never left her with a babysitter, she didn't go to preschool, we were together all the time. So you can imagine that my anxiety level was borderline OFF THE CHARTS! Just before she was diagnosed I began to look into preschool for her, but after her diagnosis of type 1 diabetes I just couldn't do it.


Don't worry...she wasn't sent of to kindergarten without some book smarts :) I spent a lot of time working with her, hanging out at the library, teaching her all that I could so she would be prepared for the big moment...the first day of school.


I had an opportunity to meet with her new teacher and the teachers educational assistant before school started. It gave us time to really discuss Miss E's care and how we would manage her diabetes in the classroom. So, here is the BIG, BIG surprise...


Her teacher has type 1 diabetes!!!!!!!!! YEP, you heard me right! She has type 1 diabetes!!!! Can you believe it????!!!! I swear to you, I was soooooooo excited it was borderline inappropriate! I don't ever want to be excited that someone has diabetes, but to know that my daughters first teacher ever, has type 1 diabetes....I just don't think I could have dreamed up a better scenario. I am not kidding you, when I found that out I was like a kid who just walked through the gates of Disneyland for the first time...elated, in awe, dumbfounded, borderline tears of joy stinging my eyes! I later apologized to her for my excitement, I felt that I went a little too close to doing a happy dance and I didn't want her to think I was nuts. Of course, she completely understood and she "got it"...she knows and understands my fears and my worries, she "gets it".


So, almost immediately my anxiety levels plummeted...it was like I could breathe again for the first time in weeks. Here's another beautiful piece of the puzzle, the educational assistant...well, she is also a nurse! Yes, I think that settles it...I just won the diabetes jackpot (if there were such a prize).


Miss E loves school, she doesn't even want to take days off for the weekend! It's been great, she wakes up every morning excited and ready for another day at school. I love it! So far, so good.


The school has a wonderful nurse and a health assistant who have been fantastic, they are really stepping up to the plate and going above and beyond what I was expecting. It's been a true blessing and I am just so thankful for this amazing start in this new journey we are on...a brand new beginning for us, a new day and a new adventure has begun!

SHOUT OUT TO MY D-PEEPS

So this is a much overdue post, I guess you could say I took a long vacation from blogging...I needed to recharge my batteries and start gearing up for the school year. I spent a lot of time with my kids, hanging out, playing, coloring and just soaking up their joy and love! Miss E has started kindergarten and I felt like I was counting down the days until she left me...I was a wreck!!!


We also had lots of family visiting us and we even took a road trip, there were JDRF functions and many play dates and sleepovers!


Summer was fun and full of action...


But something was missing...what was missing you may ask??? Well YOU of course!!! I have spent the last couple of hours catching up on some of my fellow D-peeps blogs and I just realized how much I have missed you all!!! So this is my quick shout out to all my fellow D-bloggers out there, reading your posts has reminded me of how lucky I am to have such an amazing group of friends out there who are living this life with D right along with me and can understand the struggles that we face...you inspire, amaze, and delight me...you make me laugh, you make me cry and you remind me that I am not alone in this.


Thank you for sharing your stories and inspiring me...I want to share with you this quote...

You have within you

the STRENGTH,

the PATIENCE,

and the PASSION

to reach for the stars

and change the WORLD!

-Harriet Tubman

I believe that every time we share a story, a moment, a fear or a triumph...we can change someones life and have an impact. Even if you don't think you are making a difference, you are...

Swim Lessons

Miss E has finally started swim lessons, this was something that she has been looking forward to for a long time and something that I have been anticipating with much hope and a little bit of anxiety...you see, I have heard crazy stories about how swimming impacts blood sugar levels.


Now, Miss E is not swimming laps around the pool...she's only five. Yep, she turned five this summer...my little girl is growing up sooooooo fast and kindergarten is just around the corner. So Miss E has taken to swimming and is loving her class, she has been doing so good. I love watching her, there are only five girls in her class so I am able to watch each little personality as they spend 35 minutes in the water splashing and jumping their little hearts out. It's just too cute!


One of the girls is a die hard doggie paddler...this kid just paddles her heart out doing little circles in the pool, and she rarely listens to her swim instructor! In fact the other girls will be doing an activity and this one is off heading in the other direction, it's as if she is in her own little world. Then there's the little girl who is always fearless, she will jump off any ledge, dunk her head over and over or fly down a water slide head first!!! So many personalities...my Miss E, well she is the cautious one. She is always within a few feet of her instructor listening intently and hanging on to every word. She follows his direction well, but if it's something that scares her she immediately goes into negotiation mode...he wanted the girls to jump into a hula hoop looking thing off the side of the pool, all the girls did it but Miss E made him hold her hands while she jumped and she was very careful not to let her head go under the water.


Then there was the day when the girls were supposed to dip their heads under the water, well Miss E would only put her face down while holding her nose and she wouldn't let her ears go under water...like I said, she's very cautious. It was funny, on the first day of swim class her instructor told the girls "If something is too scary for you, you don't have to do it." So later that day I was asking her why she wouldn't dunk her head in the water, you know what she said? Word for word..."My teacher said if something is too scary for me then I don't have to do it mommy" She's a smart one!


I love that she is cautious...it makes me feel good that she won't try anything too dangerous, she is my timid one and she takes her time with everything, always asking lots of questions. Every child has their very own unique personality, I try to help hers blossom and not force anything on her...although after her first class was over she did say she didn't want to swim anymore. All that I asked was that she finish her week out and give it some time and guess what...after day two she was IN LOVE WITH SWIMMING!!!


So far her numbers have been great, I don't think she is in the water long enough or excerpting too much energy for it to have a big impact on her blood sugar...thank goodness! We have been very careful before each class, I check her blood sugar right before class starts and I make sure we have plenty of snacks on hand...but so far it has gone great without any problems, no lows and no major high bg's. She only has one more week of lessons and she is already asking when she will be taking more classes...UH OH, what have I just started here :) I may have a future swimmer on my hands!

Kindergarten

I'm still here...really, I am!


Life has been very, VERY busy! I don't see it slowing down anytime soon...in fact, I feel like life is going to be pretty hectic for me in the near future. Miss E will be starting kindergarten in about a month...my heart is racing as I sit here and write the words. I know that this is a wonderful thing, one that I do look forward to...but I am also dreading it. Is that even possible?! Looking forward to something and in the same sentence dreading it?!


I have never been apart from Miss E for more then an hour since she was diagnosed with T1...I am thrilled at the thought of her entering school and taking that journey, but I am scared too. It's hard to imagine someone other then myself caring for my baby...someone caring for her health, watching over her, protecting her. I know that parents leave their children in the care of others all the time, but this is the first time I will be letting someone else do it for me. I need to prepare myself emotionally for this, I know she will be fine but my ever-worrying mind just won't rest.


I went to a birthday party today with my girls and met a few parents who have kids that will be going to the same school as Miss E...of course I was trying to get all the inside scoop on the school and so far have heard nothing but wonderful things. I will hold on to those positive words and prepare myself and Miss E for this big moment. I am anticipating great things, a little fear and a lot of tears...from ME of course!

A Quick Rant

I just need to rant a little...just a little!

Last night was TERRIBLE! Miss E had a really rough night with her blood sugar numbers, no matter what I did it was really difficult to keep her under the 200 mark. Almost impossible! When she went to bed she was at a beautiful 154, not bad if I do say so. Around 11:00 pm I decided to check both my girls blood sugars and guess what I saw on Miss E's meter...390!!!

Yeah, I was pretty floored by that number. A quick trip to my kitchen for some insulin and I was back upstairs giving my poor girl a shot which woke her up and she was NOT happy about that. I continued to check her blood sugar and correct every few hours and we had a 318, something in the 200's and by the time she woke up...another number in the 200's!

Sigh...I just hate nights like that. Every time I would get up my husband would wake up, I felt a bit bad about that because he gets up so early for work. I used to have my husband check the girls blood sugars with me at the 3:00 am checks but because of his work schedule I decided it better if I do them on my own...he used to hold the flashlight while I poked their fingers...I have since mastered the art of holding a light and all my d-supplies all by myself in these late night checks!

So I would check on Lil Miss C and her numbers were great last night and they had the exact same things to eat that day and the same level of activity. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense.

So there's my quick rant...I wish we didn't have to deal with nights like this...thank goodness these nights are not a regular thing in our home!!! I always think of what those high numbers are doing to my little girls body. Just makes me wanna cry sometimes!