Transitioning

In our quest to get things back to normal around here, we sent Noah back to school. I talked to his teacher yesterday to make sure it was ok with her, since the school nurse was not there today and she was fine with that. I reassured her that I would pop in throughout the day and check his sugars if need be and administer his shots at lunchtime.



I also talked with her about speaking to the class about the changes they'll be seeing. Don't want the other children to be scared if they see me or the nurse coming in and giving him shots. She agreed, so Noah and I had a quick talk with the kids about diabetes.

They then let the kids ask questions, which was the part that cracked me up the most. Almost half the class raised their hands to talk about people in their families that have diabetes or high blood pressure or any other sickness out there. They were so cute. They really wanted to share their stories to and find a way to relate to Noah. (These pictures are courtesy of my beautiful little Livie)

After that little talk, I left and told the teacher I'd be back in an hour or so to check on him. While I was home for that hour, I got Noah's lunchbox ready. I didn't give myself enough time to do that this morning with all the breakfast planning and shots, considering I still had to shower and get myself ready to go to school with them. So, this is what his new lunches will look like. You'll see the card on the left. Every morning I need to plan a balanced lunch and write down how much of each thing I pack and how many carbs they each have, so the nurse will know how much insulin to give him. A little complicated now, but hopefully we'll get used to doing this soon and it won't take so much time looking it all up.

Pete came and picked Livie up and took her to school, so I could head over to Noah's school and join him for lunch. I talked to all his friends and told them they really have to encourage him to eat his food and that they aren't allowed to take any of his food now or share any of theirs with him. They all reassured me that they would make great "babysitters" for him. ;-) Also talked to the lunch aides and let them know that some encouragement from them would be helpful as well. After he finished eating and was ready for recess, I quickly took him to the side and gave him his shot and he was on his way. His first day with his new routine was well on its way!

With a couple hours at home between visits to the school, Livie and I did her hair. :-) With our new morning jobs, there is no time for morning showers. So, showers are happening at bedtime now. We never have done this before, because I've got girls with curly hair and if you go to bed with wet, curly hair, you end up with a disaster in the morning. So, I straightened both Madie's hair last night and Livie's. I restraighted it this morning again and she just loved it!

She looks so grown-up, doesn't she!? Just a fun morning with my sweet girl, which was much needed after these past few days where all these changes happened. She was really feeling out of sorts and needed our normal mornings together to get things feeling better for her. We've both been trying to help Livie through this transition. It's been hard for her and she's been scared both for Noah and for herself. She's afraid now SHE'S going to get it and so, not only are we working with Noah, but trying to work with our girls as well as they deal with the changes.

Time to Get to Work!

I don't like being out of my routine. I don't like chaos or things not being in their place, so I decided after 2 days of things being out of order, it was time to get to work!



Pete took Livie to dance and we all got showers, which might not seem like much, but considering we haven't had a chance to do anything "normal" like that for 2 days, it felt good to just do something regular like that. We also packed Noah's emergency kit. This is the kit he will carry around with him anytime he goes anywhere. He calls it his "Indiana Jones bag". It has his insulin pen, his glucometer, his calculator, alcohol wipes, emergency pen, etc.... Everything he needs to take care of himself. It even has straps on the back to carry his bear. He got that bear at the hospital and it's his new buddy. Granted, it's still his fourth favorite after sock monkey, Paul Frank monkey, and mod monkey (are you keeping up here?), but he's really enjoying him. He gets shots the same places Noah does, so they have a lot in common right now. :-) Anyway, we headed out shortly after dance class to Cracker Barrell for lunch with Nana and Papa before they had to leave. Noah took his bag and we were off for our first trip out to somewhere other than a diabetic center or hospital.

After we ate, we headed out to the store to get to work organizing the diabetic supplies we had and we have a lot! Here Madie is looking for glucose tablets.

After everything Noah went through on Thursday, I promised to buy him something special. He wanted a new DS game, so we headed over there after we had stocked up on the supplies and got him a new Mario game. I actually promised him everything but a new house by the time we left the hospital on Thurs evening, but he only held me to the promise of the DS, thankfully. ;-)

When we got home, THIS is what I had to deal with and that's only part of it! I have another bag of stuff that I haven't gone through yet. Yeah, a mess like that isn't condusive to making this transition any easier.

So, we got organized! The cabinet up top has a section with some important diabetic stuff, but the stuff we will be using daily is in these bins. Pete wanted to get some small tupperware-type drawer thing. I don't want to look at some sterile tupperware thing. If we're going to fight this diabetes, I want it to at least look cute while I am!! So, we now have 4 containers with needles tips, alcohol wipes, insulin pens, and test strips in them. Then the (unattractive) used needle container. That really has to be disposed properly, so I couldn't go with the cute container for that. I hope to go back and see if they have any more come in. They only had the 4 and I really want one to hold the lancets too. The box in front is Noah's new school kit with all his stuff inside. It's packed very simliarly to his Indy bag. The baseball on the front just makes it, once again, cuter and has his name, address, and info on it. I mean, if you have to deal with something as ugly as diabetes, might as well make it as fun and cute as possible, right?! So, that big mess on the countertop is gone and in its place is the above. Much better if you ask me! Like I said in the title, no more moping and being overwhelmed by what's to come. Time to get to work and make sure that Noah stays as healthy and normal as he possibly can. I can't function any other way.

Shortly after we got organized, it was time for Nana and Papa (our rescuers!) to go home. Wanted to stay in front of the snow. We were sooooooo glad they came and helped us through those first couple of days when we were struggling to figure it all out.

By the way, a really amazing thing happened today. Something, that to me, PROVED that God is working! We decided to go out to eat today for lunch. This meant that I needed to give Noah his blood sugar test and insulin shot at Cracker Barrell. Blood sugars are easy-peezy now. But, the shots, eh, are still a little rough. We're only 3 days in afterall! I couldn't take him into a stall to deliver the shot, so we stood by the changing table in the back and I tried to give it to him in his tummy. He kept pulling away and trying to put his hand on it to keep me from giving it. As we're doing this I hear a voice behind me say, "Oh, are you giving him his insulin?" I told her I was and she introduced herself as a pediatric diabetes specialist. Yeah. That's right. She talked to us and talked to Noah and wished us well. As she started to walk away, I started to try the shot again and she must've seen Noah struggling some more, because she came back, offered to hold Noah's hand and help him through it and within a few seconds, the insulin was administered and he didn't cry, freak out, or push me away! She said goodbye to us and walked out of the bathroom. This woman walked into the bathroom, helped us, and walked away. I mean, what are the chances that at that exact moment, in the corner of the Cracker Barrell bathroom, a specialist of the very disease my son has would walk in, not even use a stall and come help us?! God is so good and, to me, that was a message that reminded me that HE is my shepherd. I will not walk through the valley alone.

Just a Quick Break

http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=423065&query=write team
Let's take a little break from the drama and read my latest article from Thursday. I read it now and laugh, because the fail of potty training doesn't seem so bad in the light of our last 2 days!!! ;-)

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Last Sunday I posted a blog entry about Noah losing his tooth. I look at that picture and think how lucky I was that the biggest news in our lives was about a tooth! So much has happened in the past few days and we've been inundated with phone calls, texts, and facebook messages. And with all of that came a LOT of love!! I'll start at the beginning to what is sure to be a LONG post about what the past 2 days have been like for us, just so you have a clear picture of what we've gone through. For the past 2-3 weeks we had noticed Noah peeing a lot. WAY more than usual and, of course, with that came drinking a lot. I had enough experience through my time with gestational diabetes to be alerted to the possibility that it could be diabetes-related. Of course, as much as you think that's a possibility, you don't ever really take it too seriously. I mean, maybe it was just elevated or something or he was just drinking a lot, because he was thirsty with no underlying problem. I tried to test him shortly after I noticed this trend, but sticking him in the finger to test his blood was not something that he wanted at all! But, after coming home on Wed afternoon, he told me he peed 9 times that day. This is a boy who barely went once a day, so 9 was crazy! Even the teacher called and left me a message about it, because we was concerned. I decided we had to do the test after dinner, so we could see what the number was. When I took it, about 7:30 that night, it came up as 571. I nearly, no, DID freak out! Good numbers, for those who don't know, are between 80-120. So, almost 600 was outrageous and I knew at that moment, he had type 1 Diabetes. I rushed into the living room and told Pete, in tears, what the number was. I then rushed to get on the phone with my sister who tried to calm me down. I texted a friend who called me back a few minutes later to tell me to take him to the ER immediately. At this point it's 9pm, so I take Noah out of bed, throw on his coat and boots, grab Sock Monkey and head out the door. When we got there, it was just a half hour later that he was getting IVs and blood draws and fluids. Insulin came shortly after all that. Sounds easy, but you weren't there to see the screaming of my child, watching him being held down by 4 nurses, so he could be inserted with all of these. It was heartbreaking and devastating. What was a normal day of relaxing with our family quickly became a life-altering situation. He had Type 1 Diabetes and thus the journey began.



After he got his IV and xrays, we laid down and watched TV for a while as we waited to get transferred to another floor for the night. We came in pjs with nothing on our backs but our coats - and sock monkey, of course. But, we were spending the night, so we waited for that transfer. During this short waiting period, I made tons of phone calls to my parents, to Pete. He, in turn, contacted his family and I posted on FB for prayers and emailed our bible study. The word got out quickly and prayers from everywhere started pouring in. And, I know God was with us. How do I know? Well, there was a test that he was going to probably have to have. A very painful test. They were waiting to see the results from his blood work to know if it was necessary. And, guess what, IT WASN'T! The nurse said it's almost unheard of that a newly diagnosed patient, especially a juvenile, wouldn't have the levels that precipitated this test. She said we brought him in at the exact right time. God knew. God knew and lead us to move and take the test that day instead of earlier when the sugars might not have been high enough for us to be concerned. He knew even then and carried us through that. The Lord is our shepherd.

Now, to make it a little sillier for Noah, we moved Sock Monkey to the IV stand, so he could go with us to the xray and bathroom. He took many trips to the bathroom, because with his sugars so high, he was dehydrated. The fluids also added to that need.

Even after all those sticks, he still managed a smile. We were 3 hours in.

At 1am we got transferred upstairs. He got to have a nurse all to himself that night. She pulled up a chair and a rolling table and sat right outside his room the entire night. She had to take his blood sugar every hour, because the insulin drip was bringing his levels down quickly and they didn't want it to bring him down too low. At 4am his level was at 76, so they stopped the insulin. That was the last time it was under 100. She and another nurse worked patiently with him through the shots, which he hated and was scared of. They made it as easy on him as possible and despite the fear and frustration and exhaustion for him, he braved through it. He screamed, he cried, but once it was done, he calmed down and went back to sleep or turned on the tv to relax. I cried every time they did it. There is literally nothing like seeing your child go through something so difficult.

He slept about 5 hours, getting woken up every hour, but the last two of that evening, so he was very tired, but he stayed up from 6am until 8pm that next night. The morning nurse was also assigned just to use, which was great, because she too handled him well, having a child that is 6, she understood what this pain and change must be like for him. She was there often. Sometimes just hanging out in the room to be with us. She even brought him a Playstation, which was a HUGE hit! Pete and Livie came shortly after they dropped off Madie for school and brought us some clothes and stuff, because we were told we might be staying another night. We ended up going home at suppertime, so we were glad for that, because we were both anxious to be home again. Because of the busyness and anxiety of that night we had just gone through, I literally slept all of 30 min. So, as every diabetic coach, nutritionist, nurse, and doctor came in, I tried very hard to listen to the wealth of information they were giving me, but by 3pm I was spent. I was spent physically, emotionally, and mentally. I called Pete and had a breakdown. Sobbing as I tried to relay all that I had learned, because he had left with Livie at lunchtime and I was there to take it all in for the both of us. I had been crying off and on the whole day and night, obviously, thinking about everything that was happening and what my new job in life was going to be, but to, in my exhaustion, finally take a minute to sit on the bed for a moment when no one else was there, but a Spongebob-watching Noah, I let it all out. And, let it out for most of the rest of the night.

When we finally got released, I had our orders for the night. Knew what we were supposed to do to manage it until we went to Peoria in the morning (which was today). We had to be there at 8am and it's a 2 hour drive, so Pete made the phone calls and lined up our dear friends, the Mullinixes, to babysit the girls and take Madie to school until Pete's folks arrived to take over. Noah wasn't smiling so much at this point, because he too was overwhelmed and tired and, I'm sure, a myriad of emotions at this point. We went home, I continued to cry the entire rest of the night as I thought about everything I had done wrong and was doing wrong. I went into Noah's room 2 or 3 times in addition to the 2am wake-up call we had when we had to take his blood sugar and give him insulin. I kept sitting on his bed and watch him sleep. With a flu or a cold, you're able to recognize what's wrong. You feel the fever, you see the running noise, or hear the cough. I just looked at him and wondered what was going on inside. I can't stick him with needles every time I want to know if he's ok. I have to just hope that it is. I have to trust that God is there and he's working on Noah's body to make it all ok. He'll never have an easy time of it again. He'll never be hungry and just able to grab any 'ole snack. He'll forever have to be conscience of what's going on with his body and know what to do when something isn't right. I know it's going to get easier. I've had several people reach out to me to tell me their stories. All of which have been overwhelmingly comforting. But, when you're in the beginning of it. When your life has changed totally from where it was 2 days ago, it's hard to wrap your mind around the "future". I am just living in the moment of when his next meal is going to be. When his next blood sugar needs to be taken. How I'm going to talk him into not being fearful as he gets another shot. It's a lot to handle. I will say I feel better today. I ate for the first time since dinner on Wed night. Had some lunch and that is something. Even anticipate sleeping more tonight. Maybe only sitting by him once tonight, instead of 2-3 times. And, the information we got from the specialists today really put us on the path to being educated and confident of our abilities. We're a far cry from being totally prepared, but at least we have a battle plan and are ready to give it our all. As the doctor said, "This is your new job" and I plan to work my butt off to see that it's successful!

Toothless in Illinois

Once again we have a toothless child! He was pretty darn excited about it too. It's been hanging there for 2 weeks! I think he's more excited over the fact that the tooth fairy will be visiting tonight and he's going to get some money out of the deal. He's saving up for our trip to the Sock Monkey Madness Festival in March, so he can buy himself some fun stuff. He's already begun to vigorously wiggle his other 2 loose teeth in an effort to get more cash without all the work that comes from doing chores. ;-) We'll see how quickly he's successful in yanking out the other two!

Pom Camp

Today we had another fun time at Pom Camp. We have done this every year since Madie was in 1st grade, I believe. Maybe kindergarten. Livie just started last year and didn't really enjoy it. But, she did a GREAT job today! Pom Camp is put on by the high school Pom Squad in a neighboring town. They spend 3 hours on a Sat practicing a routine that they will perform during halftime at a JV/Varsity Basketball game. This year, they'll be performing during a Varsity Girls game, then a Varsity Boys game. Very cool!!



Like I said, Madie's done this for several years now and absolutely LOVES it! She looks forward to it every year. I can totally see her joining the squad when she's a freshman. :-) The lighting in the gym is awful. Can't use a flash, because if you do, you end up with it being dark like in the picture above. If you don't use a flash, it's bright enough, but everything is blurry, because they're moving. Gotta catch them when they're standing still, which is hard to do when they're dancing! This is Madie in the middle of her performance practice. All the groups showed us their routine when we came to pick them up.

Here she is standing around, waiting to begin again. You can kind of see how little she is next to all the other girls. She's so cute!

Livie was really into it this year. Probably didn't hurt that I bribed her with candy. ;-) Told her if she did a good job and didn't cry (like last year), we'd get her some M&Ms. Totally worked!

Livie really got into the moves too. She was geared up and ready to go!

After she was done, she ran over to Madie and gave her a BIG hug!! It's so blurry, because they were moving around so much! Guess being away from her sister for 3 whole hours was just too much and she had to show her how much she missed her. :-) So, we're gearing up for next Saturday's performance. Should be a good one! Poor Noah gets shuffled to more dances than he wants to, but he handles it like a trooper. He and Pete took advantage of those 4 hours while we girls were away and had a fun daddy/son day. Went out to lunch, did some shopping, and played some Wii. He loved every minute of it!

New Glasses

Been a very busy week here! So, I'm just now getting around to posting about something. This has been the final week for cookie dough sales at Opportunity School and since I'm the head of the fund-raising group, I'm in charge of collecting, entering, and ordering the orders. But, thankfully, today was the final day of the sale, so maybe things will start to get a bit slower around here - at least for a day or two. ;-)



Today we were able to pick up all our new glasses! Yay! Madie got this really cute frames. They are hot pink with flowers on the side. Really modern and fun!

Noah got almost the exact same pair as last time, only these are blue with teal sides to them. He needed new glasses so badly, because he couldn't see the blackboard anymore and the finish was coming off the old ones. Think that happened when he fell on his face last year.

Pete and I also got ours, so Livie's feeling a bit left out, but I gave her my new green glasses case, so she can start using it with her sunglasses. That seemed to make it better. :-)

Family Movie Night

We decided today to do something special and have a Family Movie Night.




Since we got this great popcorn popper, we made a HUGE batch of popcorn, rented "How to Train Your Dragon" and sat down for a great time together.

Please excuse the mountains of toys on the floor and notice the 3 happy, popcorn-faced children in the foreground. :-) Pete positioned himself on the couch, so that he could turn around at any given moment in the movie and see the football game in action on our bedroom tv. ;-) Cracked me up! So, movie + popcorn for 5 in a theater would've run us easily $50-60. Tonight's event? Just under $5. And, we have the luxury of sitting in reclining seats, pausing the movie, and making loud comments if we want. With the big screen and surround sound, there really are no negatives to opting for a movie at home instead. :-)

I Hate Broccoli

http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=422050&query=write



Finally!! A chance to explain to the masses what I've been preaching for years!

A Call to Action

Every summer my family would drive out and spend 3 weeks in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, visiting our grandparents. And, the first day we'd get to either state, we'd head to the local supermarket and get 4-5 boxes of these delicious treats called Tastykakes. The reason they were so coveted is because you could only buy them out east. They didn't sell them in Indiana. So, this once-a-year treat became something we looked forward to almost as much as going to the shore or a Phillies game. It was brought to my attention this morning by my dear Aunt Judi that Tastykakes might be in danger of going out of business! She implored me to step away from my ever-going anti-broccoli agenda and focus on saving this Philadelphia institution. From the butterscotch krumpets to my personal fav, the kandy kakes, this company cannot fail. If not for its delicious goodies, than for its historical and timely value. This banner of Philly has been around for almost 100 yrs. Filling our bellies and making us smile since 1914 (though it's just been making me smile since the late '70s - I'm not THAT old yet!). So, click on the link below and make your voice heard. We will not let Tastykakes go quietly into that good night. No! We will fight to the bitter end to see that those extremely fattening, yet highly delicious treats will not cease to be, but live on for generations to come. One day I want my grandchildren to go to the nearest market and find a shelf covered in those signature blue and yellow boxes and know that we fought to make sure they didn't lose out on having those timeless treats.

http://www.causes.com/causes/561588

Field Trip

Today was Livie's first field trip of the year and we also got to celebrate her birthday at school!



She wore her "5" shirt today and showed the class that she was now a whole year older. :-)

I asked what kind of snack she wanted to bring today and she said, "popsicles and donuts". Quite a combo! So, popsicles and donut holes it was. Yum! Just enough sugar to make the field trip that much more fun!

The kids all got to sit on one of the engines, while one of the firemen talked about the ambulance in front of them.

Livie got to be one of the demonstrators. Because she was wearing her birthday crown, she got lots of birthday wishes from all the firemen. :-)

She got to show the kids what it would be like to have them take care of a broken arm. She let the kids feel the bag thingy they put on it.

She even got to sit inside a real firetruck!

And, they got to see how the knobs worked as well. We spent time looking at the fireman's quarters and saw a fireman go down the fire pole too. It was really cool! Attached to the firehouse is the police station. I didn't take pictures inside of there, because I didn't know if there were certain rules about that. They got to see the 9-1-1 call center and they had cool electronic mapping systems. They got to see the jail and got their picture taken. Boy, do I hope that is the only time Livie has THAT experience!

Then they all got to go in the back of the police car. Again, hoping that she doesn't have that experience ever again either! I rode in the back of a police car once, but it was after someone crashed into me and I didn't have another way home. It's not comfortable back there, let me tell you! But, for a 5 yr old? Totally cool!

Being Thankful

When I was a kid, my mom would make us gather around the table, shortly after Christmas was over, and begin (what seemed like) an endless pile of thank you notes to everyone who gave us presents. The actual number of thank you notes was probably in the single digits, but no kid wants to sit down and do that when there are other things to do like play games and fight with your siblings.


Well, I now realize how important it was for us to write those thank you notes back then, though I still struggle to always send one myself when the time calls for it, but I want to try and instill those same values in my kids that were instilled in me all those years ago. And, when they grumble and complain - as they always do - I remind them that if they don't want to write thank you notes, then they don't need to get the presents to be thankful for and that seems to quicking get them on the right track, though the grumbling never quite ceases. ;-)

Noah is currently learning cursive, so he wanted to practice that with his thank you notes this year. We're getting a late start after all the sicknesses, so today was our first day. I only make them write 2 a day, so it's quite a process, but at least we finally started it!

Here is a video of a bit of what goes on when they write. Made me laugh when Madie called me "The General" and that I was forcing them to work like little elves. ;-) Just a moment before, Livie had turned to me and said, "If Madie doesn't stop singing, I'm going to get super-mad, because she's going to mess up my drawing!" You'll see in the video that she explains how hard it is to draw a mouse. It takes lots of concentration and she is not to be disturbed during the artistic process. So, to all you who give presents to my kids, please know what a process it is to get those thank you out to you. You have to know that a lot of work and effort goes into making them, so they're just that much more special.

Look What WE Got!

Because of the sicknesses that have been going on around here (which included a quick ER trip for an ear infection late last night), it's taken me a while to get around to posting about this, but the kids got a very special package in the mail the other day! They got these booklets from their Great-Aunt Phyl and they were SO excited!! It's a booklet all about Haiti and Aunt Phyl and Uncle David's life there. It has pictures inside of their house and their dog. Pictures of Haiti - the Jehu Boys, their food, their creatures! Plus, lots of information and interesting facts about what it's like down there. The kids were fascinated and sat quietly reading the books for quite a long time. There is even a quiz in the back! And, by sitting quietly and reading, it was like I got a gift too. A gift of peace and quiet during my Sudafed-induced coma. :-) Thank you Aunt Phyl for your wonderful gift!!!

Not Quite What I Expected..

This is a picture of what my counter has looked like for the past nearly 2 weeks. Every conconction of medicine for me and the kids is sitting out, waiting for use. The paper by the candy cane pen? Why that's a schedule of who has had what medicine when. This has been our story since we got back from IN on the 23rd. Like I put in the title of this blog, not quite what I expected to be ringing in the new year with! Just glad we were all in pretty good shape for Tuesday, or we might have missed that opportunity for Livie's birthday. Granted, I had to take meds in my purse that day as well, but only used it a couple times for Livie. For the past 2 days, it's sounded like a chorus of coughing. As some were at the tail end of it and others just in the midst. I've been sick for the past 3 days now. Meaning, I haven't gotten nearly what I hoped to get done during this time. Vacations are for having fun, getting out together as a family, and getting some things accomplished in our house. Our biggest accomplishments (excluding our trip to Chicago)? Getting out of our pjs each day! :-) No trips. Only family bonding over medicine doses. Not quite what I had envisioned for our Christmas break. Anyway, I'll stop my rambling and complaining now. Just 2 short days until vacation is over. Sigh. Hoping that section of my countertop will soon by clear again and everyone back to good health. At least in time for life to start back up again. Happy New Year, everyone! Let's hope that these past 2 weeks will be left behind in 2010 and that 2011 will bring nothing but good times for all! :-)