First... knowing that not all parents of T1 kids do this (in fact, I'm finding that only a few seem to do this!), I think it is pretty awesome that my in-laws have been trained on how to care for Lenny's diabetes while he is with them. It took a long while for me to get comfortable with him being there by himself after he was diagnosed, only because of my own, internal fears, but, after 2 1/2 years of him living with diabetes, and their persistant care of him, I can now rest at ease when he is there, knowing he is in good hands. I think that is awesome!
Second...I have faced two of my fears this year!
The first fear was allowing Lenny to have REAL cupcakes! Now, I have always known that Type 1 kids can eat anything a normal, healthy child can, it just takes a little extra work on our part. BUT, I have always stuck with the "reduced sugar" or "sugar free" type things (more because of the carb differences, as well as the simple carbs and knowing how they can sometimes act in his body!) But, for my daughter's 4th birthday in October, my husband and I decided to just say "forget it, let's try it!", and so we did! And, ya know what? It worked out perfectly! No hard crash later due to high simple carb intake, and no super high bg later due to inaccurate carb counting or whatever the case may have been! Perfect... absolutely PERFECT! I think that is truely awesome!!
The other fear, and the third, thing I consider the most awesome thing I have done in spite of Lenny having Diabetes is.... We signed him up for wrestling this year. Hard activity always concerns me. It fluxuates his blood sugars severely sometimes. But, again, we decided to say "forget it, lets do it!" and let him go for it! While, he doesn't seem all that interested in wrestling now, he was excited at first when we asked him if he wanted to. He went to a few practices, and we played around with temp basals, proteins and fats in his dinners, and even gave him 3 times as much protein and fat as he is "supposed" to have plus disconnected him from the pump... and he still crashed... hard... after every. single. practice. I wish he was interested enough in wrestling still to continue to go, if for no other reason, so I can continue to play around with things to see what will work for him, but, I'm not going to pressure him! There's always next year, when more and more sport activities will become open to him for his age level!
So those are a few things that I have done that I think are "the most awesome things I've done in spite of diabetes".
This post is my February entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2011/introducing-the-dsma-blog-carnival/
11 comments:
Great list Dawn!
Thanks for your comment on my blog and your tips for helping my daughter. She was dx'd when she was only 12 months old, so she's been living with diabetes for 2 1/2 years now and is pretty involved with her care. I think she's just a very emotional being (and maybe this is where boys differ from girls), and she wears her heart on her sleeve. It's not difficult to tell exactly how she's feeling.
I appreciate the advice and look forward to reading more about you and your family!
Anytime Joanne! I think just by letting her express her feelings, that, in and of itself is a huge help for her! Honestly, if you think about it, often times, therapists/psychologists do just the same thing... let you express your feelings about something bothering you, to help you get it out in the open and off your chest, and give advice on how to cope with the situation. I think you are doing an amazing job! Keep up the great work mama!
Hi Dawn! I just found your blog through Lexi at Justice's Misbehaving Pancreas. My 7 year old daughter was dx on 2/10/09.
I enjoyed your list today. Looking forward to reading more about you and your family here.
Welcome Misty!! I also found your blog and started following! I am looking forward to getting to know you and your family as well! Love your blog layout by the way!!
Thank you for participating in the DSMA blog carnival. I just started enjoying food again-thanks to the DOC. I am learning a lot from Parents of CWD.
Cherise
DSMA
Thank you DSMA for allowing me to participate in the blog carnival!! I can't wait to see what next months topic will be about!
so glad you have parental support, mine live too far away to help.
I'm so sorry to hear that Toucan Scraps! My mother lives too far away to help as much as she would like (she lives in TN, I live in PA), but my husband's parents have been super amazing about helping us with everything! I remember when Lenny was first diagnosed, although I think they were both a little nervous, they still couldn't wait till we felt comfortable enough with our knowledge and understanding about everything to be able to let him go to their house for a while! We gave it about a month or so, more for us to get accustomed to the "new norm" lifestyle than anything. But, now, we all know how to handle various situations, in our own ways, and I can sleep peacefully (most nights. lol, that stinking internal clock still gets me though lol!) knowing that he is safe, happy, healthy, and, just being a fun-loving kid!
Great post!!! Your in-laws sound fabulous and it's so great that you can let Lenny go over for some fun without having to be a nervous wreck while he's away. And good for you for smacking down those two big fears. Cupcakes and wrestling . . . take that!! :)
LOL thanks Karen! Yes, my inlaws are truely amazing, wonderful people! Without them, I think I would be a severely-sleep-deprived, committable nut case LOL!
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