The latest A1c came back at 7.7. But that was right before Daniel got the pump, and his numbers were lousy. He was running high every evening without fail, and when we tried to mess with his lantus or dinner ratios, he'd go low either in the middle of the night or the morning.
Today Daniel remarked how his numbers had really been in range lately. We got the CareLink device that uploads his pump info to the medtronic website, so we can generate reports and check out his trends. Pretty cool. It's good to see his blood sugar moving back into range. Still some highs, but not as many. We seem to have gotten that evening high under control.
Knock wood.
Thanksgiving is around the corner and I haven't even looked at my recipes yet. Delaying the inevitable. Also, my dad has been in poor health lately, and I'm praying that he will be will enough to join us on Thursday. I believe all will be well. I believe it strongly, because he is more negative, and I have to offset his thoughts.
I really enjoy Thanksgiving. The food is wonderful, and I love getting together with family and friends. I just wish I had an extra day off this week to prepare for the "Pie-a-palooza!"
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Cold & Poetry
Autumn is granting us some chilly days; the forecasters scramble around trying to predict the season of snow. A change of weather always makes me think of my favorite poet, Mary Oliver. The purple part is my favorite, a mantra, a truth.
Chunky and noisy,
they are acrobats
then closes again;
how they do it
this wheel of many parts, that can rise and spin
Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us,
I feel my boots
to think again of dangerous and noble things.
Starlings in Winter
Chunky and noisy,
but with stars in their black feathers,
they spring from the telephone wire
and instantly
they are acrobats
in the freezing wind.
And now, in the theater of air,
they swing over buildings,
dipping and rising;
they float like one stippled star
that opens,
becomes for a moment fragmented,
then closes again;
and you watch
and you try
but you simply can’t imagine
how they do it
with no articulated instruction, no pause,
only the silent confirmation
that they are this notable thing,
this wheel of many parts, that can rise and spin
over and over again,
full of gorgeous life.
Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us,
even in the leafless winter,
even in the ashy city.
I am thinking now
of grief, and of getting past it;
I feel my boots
trying to leave the ground,
I feel my heart
pumping hard. I want
to think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.
~ Mary Oliver ~
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
I Was On My Way Out the Door...
I called to Daniel, "time to change your site!" He's pretty much at the point where he is changing it on his own, and I think he likes me there for moral support. I had to leave for yoga class, so if he wanted me there for support, it had to be NOW! So down the stairs he came and said, "don't worry, I don't need you to be here. You can go to class." I said fine, and was going to head out, but turned around to take the insulin out of the refrigerator for him as he's pulling out the other supplies. I had picked up the insulin prescription yesterday at CVS.
As I'm walking over to Daniel with the box, I glance down and see a strange name where Daniel's name should be. I stopped, went back to the fridge and got all three boxes. They don't have Daniel's name on them. I said, "Daniel, there's something wrong. This isn't your insulin."
Daniel said, "I just pulled out the site." He comes to look at the box. "Well, anyway, it's novolog."
I looked at the box, and I looked at Daniel's box from his finished bottle. "It's not the same insulin. The box that didn't belong to us said Novolog 70/30. Not right. Not good.
I grabbed the boxes and the receipts from yesterday and shot over to CVS -- probably a little too fast -- going over in my head what had happened the day before. Picture it -- a long line, later in the evening. Two or three pharmacists busy in the back, two people working the registers. I'm finally at the front of the line, and the girl behind the register finishes ringing up her customer, then folds her arms down on the counter and says, "God, I just want to go home!" I smile, thinking, yeah, it's been a long day, I want to go home, too.
I give her Daniel's name and she goes to look for the prescriptions (keytone strips and novolog). She gets the strips and then looks in the refrigerator for the novolog. She looks and looks and I say to her, "look in the door of the refrigerator," but she doesn't hear me and can't find it. She walks back over to the pharmacist with the paperwork in hand, and the pharmacist says, "It's in the fridge! Look in the door!" So register girl goes back to the fridge and looks in the bottom, and in the back, but NOT IN THE DOOR.
I call out a little louder, "LOOK IN THE DOOR." She finally does. Picks up three boxes rubber-banded together, turns them around, looks them over, and says, "okay," and puts them in the CVS pharmacy bag. I took them home.
So I flew back there tonight and thank goodness there was no line. Register girl is behind the counter again, and I restrain myself from leaping over the counter and into her face. I explain that I received the wrong prescription, the wrong medication, and that my son needs his insulin NOW. She goes back into the fridge, pulls out three more rubber-banded boxes, and says, "Daniel, right?" YES.
I get the boxes and triple check them. They are Daniel's. She smiles at me. "Okay! All set!"
I dropped the boxes off at home and hit the road to try to make it to yoga. On the way I called CVS and spoke to the pharmacist and explained what happened. I said that it was lucky I happened to grab the boxes and look at the name. Daniel wouldn't have looked, he would have just injected. I found out later that 70/30 novolog is a combination of fast and slow acting insulin. Daniel only uses fast acting insulin. I don't like to think of what could have happened. The pharmacist said he would remedy the situation.
I hope so. Register girl needs to know that she could have caused an awful problem. Tired as she may be, if she's dispensing medication, she has to focus on what she's doing.
Never walk out of a pharmacy without opening the bag and looking at what they gave you. Check the name, check the medication. You might save your life.
As I'm walking over to Daniel with the box, I glance down and see a strange name where Daniel's name should be. I stopped, went back to the fridge and got all three boxes. They don't have Daniel's name on them. I said, "Daniel, there's something wrong. This isn't your insulin."
Daniel said, "I just pulled out the site." He comes to look at the box. "Well, anyway, it's novolog."
I looked at the box, and I looked at Daniel's box from his finished bottle. "It's not the same insulin. The box that didn't belong to us said Novolog 70/30. Not right. Not good.
I grabbed the boxes and the receipts from yesterday and shot over to CVS -- probably a little too fast -- going over in my head what had happened the day before. Picture it -- a long line, later in the evening. Two or three pharmacists busy in the back, two people working the registers. I'm finally at the front of the line, and the girl behind the register finishes ringing up her customer, then folds her arms down on the counter and says, "God, I just want to go home!" I smile, thinking, yeah, it's been a long day, I want to go home, too.
I give her Daniel's name and she goes to look for the prescriptions (keytone strips and novolog). She gets the strips and then looks in the refrigerator for the novolog. She looks and looks and I say to her, "look in the door of the refrigerator," but she doesn't hear me and can't find it. She walks back over to the pharmacist with the paperwork in hand, and the pharmacist says, "It's in the fridge! Look in the door!" So register girl goes back to the fridge and looks in the bottom, and in the back, but NOT IN THE DOOR.
I call out a little louder, "LOOK IN THE DOOR." She finally does. Picks up three boxes rubber-banded together, turns them around, looks them over, and says, "okay," and puts them in the CVS pharmacy bag. I took them home.
So I flew back there tonight and thank goodness there was no line. Register girl is behind the counter again, and I restrain myself from leaping over the counter and into her face. I explain that I received the wrong prescription, the wrong medication, and that my son needs his insulin NOW. She goes back into the fridge, pulls out three more rubber-banded boxes, and says, "Daniel, right?" YES.
I get the boxes and triple check them. They are Daniel's. She smiles at me. "Okay! All set!"
I dropped the boxes off at home and hit the road to try to make it to yoga. On the way I called CVS and spoke to the pharmacist and explained what happened. I said that it was lucky I happened to grab the boxes and look at the name. Daniel wouldn't have looked, he would have just injected. I found out later that 70/30 novolog is a combination of fast and slow acting insulin. Daniel only uses fast acting insulin. I don't like to think of what could have happened. The pharmacist said he would remedy the situation.
I hope so. Register girl needs to know that she could have caused an awful problem. Tired as she may be, if she's dispensing medication, she has to focus on what she's doing.
Never walk out of a pharmacy without opening the bag and looking at what they gave you. Check the name, check the medication. You might save your life.
Follow Up
Daniel had his pump follow up visit today. We met with our pump nurse, and everything went well (except that his A1c number has gone missing, but the nurse is going to chase after it).
It's nice to hear that, according to the nurse, everything looks normal and that it appears that we've done everything right over the past month. Knots and air bubbles in the tubing aside, pumping has gone fairly smoothly. There were a couple of 3 a.m. moments when Daniel's number was high and we were trying to figure out why. I have to say, at 3 a.m. when Daniel has a high-blood sugar brain and I'm clunking along on no sleep, it's very difficult to think logically. When Daniel gets frustrated at the stupid pump doing stupid things (no human error, of course not) I have to remind him that for however long in his life he has to wear this pump, he has to expect that there will be issues. There will be finger flubbing and mechanical issues and forgetfulness, and plastic breaking and sites ripping out and other things that we haven't even thought of. It's the nature of the beast. But he's certainly happier with the pump than he was with shots, so we're making the most of it.
We also got other good news this week -- even with all those weeks of waking up at 3 a.m., Daniel came home with a great report card (as did his siblings!). Woo hoo!
Next we have to look into Driver's Ed school. I can't believe my baby's almost old enough to drive. I can't possibly be that old.
If anyone has any suggestions for diabetes camp within a few hours of Washington, DC, let me know. I think we're going to look into them for this summer.
It's nice to hear that, according to the nurse, everything looks normal and that it appears that we've done everything right over the past month. Knots and air bubbles in the tubing aside, pumping has gone fairly smoothly. There were a couple of 3 a.m. moments when Daniel's number was high and we were trying to figure out why. I have to say, at 3 a.m. when Daniel has a high-blood sugar brain and I'm clunking along on no sleep, it's very difficult to think logically. When Daniel gets frustrated at the stupid pump doing stupid things (no human error, of course not) I have to remind him that for however long in his life he has to wear this pump, he has to expect that there will be issues. There will be finger flubbing and mechanical issues and forgetfulness, and plastic breaking and sites ripping out and other things that we haven't even thought of. It's the nature of the beast. But he's certainly happier with the pump than he was with shots, so we're making the most of it.
We also got other good news this week -- even with all those weeks of waking up at 3 a.m., Daniel came home with a great report card (as did his siblings!). Woo hoo!
Next we have to look into Driver's Ed school. I can't believe my baby's almost old enough to drive. I can't possibly be that old.
If anyone has any suggestions for diabetes camp within a few hours of Washington, DC, let me know. I think we're going to look into them for this summer.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Wild and Tangled Grass
I don't have the time I need to tend the garden and make it winter-ready. The decorative grasses said it best today: "I'm a bed of curly tangles, don't mess with me!"
As much as we are in a groove with Daniel's diabetes now, pumping smoothly, getting used to changes, it's still a 24/7 business. It figures into everything. I wonder how many hours are spent taking care of either Daniel's diabetes or celiac. Then I look sadly at my messy garden. I know where the time goes, and I know it is well spent. There is just not enough of it on any given day. I'm just glad to have a moment to post on D-Blog day!
When life throws curves -- when the washing machine breaks or a kid gets strep or work takes one parent or the other away -- time becomes even more precious. I multitask. Bake the gluten free muffins for church early in the morning and slip in some pleasure reading for 15 minutes while they bake. Work on my grade book while waiting at the urgent care clinic to check out Nora's throat.
We all multitask, juggle, prioritize, and let things slide. Lists are written and rewritten, and eventually thrown away. My heart started to stutter at the thought of the approaching holidays, the additional tasks, the traditions my loved ones expect to occur. And yet, and yet... there may be changes. I have to gracefully accept being happy with just doing what I can.
As for the garden, I'll let mother nature deal with it. It was hers to begin with.
As much as we are in a groove with Daniel's diabetes now, pumping smoothly, getting used to changes, it's still a 24/7 business. It figures into everything. I wonder how many hours are spent taking care of either Daniel's diabetes or celiac. Then I look sadly at my messy garden. I know where the time goes, and I know it is well spent. There is just not enough of it on any given day. I'm just glad to have a moment to post on D-Blog day!
When life throws curves -- when the washing machine breaks or a kid gets strep or work takes one parent or the other away -- time becomes even more precious. I multitask. Bake the gluten free muffins for church early in the morning and slip in some pleasure reading for 15 minutes while they bake. Work on my grade book while waiting at the urgent care clinic to check out Nora's throat.
We all multitask, juggle, prioritize, and let things slide. Lists are written and rewritten, and eventually thrown away. My heart started to stutter at the thought of the approaching holidays, the additional tasks, the traditions my loved ones expect to occur. And yet, and yet... there may be changes. I have to gracefully accept being happy with just doing what I can.
As for the garden, I'll let mother nature deal with it. It was hers to begin with.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Smart Insulin?
There was an interesting article in my Google Alerts today about Type 1 diabetes. You can read it here. The JDRF is announcing the kick off of a project to develop Smartinsulin insulin, which will recognize when the body's blood sugar is rising and release insulin to cover for it. Then when the blood sugar settles down, it stops the release. It would require a once-a-day injection.
No word yet on saving fingers from lancet pokes.
No word yet on saving fingers from lancet pokes.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
I'm Wearing Blue Today
I'm dressed in blue and hoping for change this election day. After school I'll take my kids to the voting booth with me so that they feel like they are a part of the process (even if it means standing in long lines!). We're all praying for an Obama victory!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
I should be working, but...
Gotta try this meme.
Only Type One Word .. first word that comes to mind (Not as easy as you might think!).
1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your significant other? Matt
3. Your Hair? Brown
4. Your Skin? Peachy
5. Your mother? Older
6. Your favorite thing? Time
7. Your dream last night? Interrupted
8. Your favorite drink? Cosmojito
9. Your dream/goal? Author
10. The room you're in? Basement
11. Your ex? Cop
12. Your fear? Disease
13.Where do you want to be in 6 years? Hawaii
14.Where were you last night? Interrupted
15.What you're not? Famous
16.Muffins? Berrylicious!
17.One of your wish list items? Kindle
18.Where you grew up? Various
19.The last thing you did? Read
20.What are you wearing? T-shirt (it says Make Art Not War)
21.Your TV? Off
22.Your pets? Bumble
23. Your computer? Dell
24. Your life? progressing
25. Your mood? restless
26. Missing someone? Yes
27. Your car? Minivan
28. Something you're not wearing? mouthguard
29. Favorite Store? online
30. Your summer? Free!
31. Like someone? Yes
32. Your favorite color? Blue
33. When is the last time you laughed? Today
34. Last time you cried? Evening
35. Who will respond to this? Nu?
36. Who's Answers are you anxious to see? Yours.
Only Type One Word .. first word that comes to mind (Not as easy as you might think!).
1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your significant other? Matt
3. Your Hair? Brown
4. Your Skin? Peachy
5. Your mother? Older
6. Your favorite thing? Time
7. Your dream last night? Interrupted
8. Your favorite drink? Cosmojito
9. Your dream/goal? Author
10. The room you're in? Basement
11. Your ex? Cop
12. Your fear? Disease
13.Where do you want to be in 6 years? Hawaii
14.Where were you last night? Interrupted
15.What you're not? Famous
16.Muffins? Berrylicious!
17.One of your wish list items? Kindle
18.Where you grew up? Various
19.The last thing you did? Read
20.What are you wearing? T-shirt (it says Make Art Not War)
21.Your TV? Off
22.Your pets? Bumble
23. Your computer? Dell
24. Your life? progressing
25. Your mood? restless
26. Missing someone? Yes
27. Your car? Minivan
28. Something you're not wearing? mouthguard
29. Favorite Store? online
30. Your summer? Free!
31. Like someone? Yes
32. Your favorite color? Blue
33. When is the last time you laughed? Today
34. Last time you cried? Evening
35. Who will respond to this? Nu?
36. Who's Answers are you anxious to see? Yours.
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