Pump it up!

Gwyneth is loving pump life. I am too. We have met some people that are not sure about getting a pump and Gwyneth wanted us to post a video of how to insert the pump. It was hard at first and the noise of the needle clicking scared us both for a bit.

The reward came the first time that she dosed herself for a snack in the back seat of our car while I was driving her home from Childrens Hospital LA. We both kind of freaked out. With shots, in order for Gwyneth to eat something while we were in the car, we'd have to pull over, find some light, get out the insulin, get out the syringe, grab a calculator and give her the shot. It is a pain.

With the pump, she enters in the amount of carbs that she is going to eat into her pump and presses a few buttons. No syringe to deal with, no needles to fuss around with in public. With the Animas One Touch Ping she doesn't even need to touch the pump...it is remote dosed from her meter! Way cool.

The pump we use is here: ANIMAS

We still have to prick her finger and test her blood sugar every two hours. We still have to think about diabetes 24/7. But now we have help. And less shots.

Here's how to insert the pump cannula into her skin. The last few seconds of video are pointless as we were trying to find where we left her testing supplies...not an uncommon event in our home. I hope this video will encourage our type 1 shot friends that the pump isn't scary once you get the hang of it and the freedom you enjoy with it is immeasurable. Gwyneth will show you how it's done. She's a rock star.

Gwyneth is going to post on the joys of pumping, CHLA, and Bearskin Meadows camp soon.

Thanks for caring enough to follow her journey.

Going Solo

I'm so proud. Gwyneth is fighting for her independence. As we made the video of her first solo shot I was joyful. That night I was devastated. It's hard not to weep for her loss of freedom, the pain, hassle and difficulties of Type 1.

She came home from school today and announced she was going to do it all. From testing her blood to counting her carbs to dosing the insulin and giving the shot. And she did.

She then set her timer and proceeded to make the snack she just gave herself a shot for. It's a lot of work for a peanut butter graham cracker sandwich.

So the silver lining for today was camp. My amazing parents are paying tuition for our entire family to visit Bear Skin Meadows Diabetes Family Camp next weekend. After her painful Lantus shot and our prayer for a cure, we laughed away her tears by talking about campfires, arts, crafts, sports and tons and tons of Type 1 kids hanging out and having fun.

So here's to Gwyneth's victory. She wrestled Type 1 to the ground today. And she'll do it again tomorrow.

The Evolution of Type 1

We've come a long way.

For the first week or two, every time I tested Gwyneth's blood, Boone, her 5 year old brother, ran out of the room. He would race into his own room shut the door behind him and call out "are you done yet?" the entire time I struggled to extract blood from her tiny, sweet finger. He was so afraid.

Days passed and he would stand in the kitchen and wait patiently for me to be done testing his sister.

Today, Boone asked Gwyneth to teach him how to test her. 

That's the perfect illustration of our process of allowing Type 1 Diabetes into our lives.  At first, stressed and crying over the horror of causing Gwyneth to bleed hourly. Then, the realization that we have to take charge and literally be her pancreas. Then, the desire to make Type 1 palatable and even a cause for joy.

A few days ago Gwyneth said, "The best thing about Diabetes is that you find out just how much people love you and I feel so loved." 

It's true. Friends, Chrissy and Rebecca, came over to play and without being asked they decided not to eat until Gwyneth's insulin shot kicked in so that she wouldn't be eating alone. Mrs. Ybarra, the Administrative Assistant at Gwyneth's school drove 5 hours to Childrens' Hospital LA with us to learn how to give Gwyneth shots 3 times a day every single day. Gwyneth's teacher, Mrs. Dean, spent hours in the hospital with Gwyneth. People pray for Gwyneth all hours of the day and especially at 8pm when she has her painful Lantus shot. The list goes on and on.

So we're thankful. We're still frustrated but we know life is hard for everyone. Everyone has struggles. Ours are just a little more obvious. We're thankful for our countless blessings.

Here's our first attempt at a video. Gwyneth decided that she'd like to take a video of how we test her blood, but she felt that it would be best for everyone to watch the blood test on Rufus the Diabetes Bear first! She's easing you in just as we had to ease ourselves into becoming a Type 1 family. So enjoy Gwyneth's first video! We are learning that we'll have to do videos during the day for lighting but this is a good start. The fact that I was able to upload it gives me cause for celebration! Boone loved testing Rufus the Diabetes Bear so much that he asked me to add "Test my Sister's Blood" to his daily chore list. Again- we're thankful.

Glass half full

I always see the positive in everything. It inspires my co-workers. It annoys my husband. It rubbed off on my kids. All three of them are incredibly light in spirit. They embrace goodness and have incredible faith in God and the life they've been given. 

But it's hard to put a positive spin on Type 1 Diabetes. I've been trying since diagnosis day on November 1, 2010. Usually when my kids are sick or struggling I can let them know it's almost over. It will be OK. I can't tell my 9 year old daughter that her Diabetes is almost over. I can't tell her that it will be easy.  The first day she was diagnosed, when I was crying, she said that she thought maybe she got Diabetes so that she could share her faith in Jesus with kids with Diabetes. Amazing. But the nights are hard. The sun goes down and she faces another night of shots and another day of non-normal. 

So we're going to create the positive. We're going to forge ahead. We're going to create a community of the positive. Yes it is terrible. Yes we are praying for the cure. In the mean time we're going to get through this and make some friends along the way. Join us!