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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

2 Green Eyed Girls: School Fundraiser for JDRF

9:34 PM

2 Green Eyed Girls: School Fundraiser for JDRF

Check out this post from 2 Green Eyed Girls!! They are working hard to raise money and awareness for the JDRF.

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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

An Interview with one HOT T1 Momma!

12:54 PM

I have been thinking a lot lately about Nate and his life with T1. There have been several stories in the news about T1 deaths and I have been overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions about these stories. I decided to focus on the positive and remember that I have several T1 people in my life that are living quite normal lives with no T1 complications. I would like to share their stories with you.

The 1st one is my friend, Kimberly D - - - -

Kimberly and I met about a year ago when we were gearing up for both of our oldest to start kindergarten. We kept running into each other at every kinder function so I finally gave her my email address and phone number in hopes that we could get out children together before school started in the fall. I never heard from her! I thought that was pretty rude but figured she was just too busy.

We ran into each other several more times when it came time to register the children and then again on the 1st day of school. She seemed nice enough but we still never got a chance to hang out.

Then it happened. The worst day of my life. My son, Nate was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and we spent a lot of time in the hospital trying to get it all figured out. While in the hospital I reached out to one of the kinder moms and she immediately got the ball rolling for me. Notifying people of the situation, arranging meals for our family and helping in any and every way that she could.

She also forwarded me an email from Kimberly. I read the email and my jaw dropped in disbelief. Kimberly was T1 and wanted to reach out to me and help in any way that she could. I honestly could not believe it. I had no idea. The rest is history. We have become pretty tight since that day and I lean on her a lot. I am thankful for the friendship that we have found and am pretty lucky to have her in my life.

So, I would like to share some information about my friend, Kimberly - - -

Here is my interview with this Super Hot T1 Momma:

At what age we you dx?

14 November 11, 1985

Do you mind telling me a little about your dx story? What were your symptoms? How did you (or your mom) figure out that you had T1? Were you hospitalized? What was your BS at dx?

I had started getting really tired after school. I'd nap a ton and was so thirsty. I was drinking a ton of coke which looking back was a horrid idea, but I was super thirsty! I was having a lot of trouble in school which was really unusual for me. Then, I started asking to leave to go to the bathroom all the time. I just thought I was drinking too much. Finally at a debate tournament, I barely made it to the restroom. I had to call my mother for new underwear. I was 14!! This was horrid and honestly I would've done ANYTHING not to tell my parents. I'm so glad I did tell them. We went that Monday to my pediatrician who spotted it immediately. I remember thinking diabetes was MS. I had no clue if I was going to die or what. She got us admitted to Dallas Presby and meeting with a pediatric endo (loved him - Dr. Chipman, he works for Eli Lilly now). He said to eat my last McDonald's meal before I came (ha! If he knew me now!). When we checked in, post big coke, I was 600ish. I spent 5 days in the hospital learning to take shots, having my parents learn to take shots, but a lot of learn myself time. I have some very specific memories of my time in the hospital.

How long have you had T1?

24 years

How does T1 affect your daily life?

Hmmm . . . is it wrong to say it effects my fashion most? :-) No, seriously I hate finding spots for my pump. And I've never been a big exerciser so it makes it hard to lose weight by running or anything. (sidenote - I totally think you should learn how to really really exercise with diabetes as soon as possible). I think it just makes life a little chaotic. I hate diabetes. Its like a bad ankle sprain. On a normal day, it isn't the end of the world, but damn it is there EVERY step. It affects my mothering - like the fact that I really shouldn't have gone to take my kids sledding alone, or my career, because I always have to plan meetings around what I'm eating. (remind me someday to tell you the story of my insulin pump playing an alarm song in my bra at a meeting) I hate it because I don't care to tell so many people the details of my life but I find myself having to explain the of in the middle of a business presentation. But I don't let it define me. I RARELY define myself as a diabetic person but instead as a person with diabetes. You are the first person I've ever reached out to with my diabetes. It's a bitch and it's always there, but I spend most days determined to be the one in control and myself!!

Has T1 prevented you from doing anything that you really wanted to do?

And no. I've never turned anything down due to my diabetes.

What treatment are you currently using for T1?

I have an Animas Ping pump which uses Humalog and a Dexcom CGM (which I'm still learning to love). I'm old enough though to have tried a whole lot. Hell, I've used pig insulin before they had human. Bleh! Try not to be sick at that thought.

What is your current A1c?

6.7

Do you or have you ever had any complications from T1?

No. Although a lot of doctors like to attribute my weak stomach to my diabetes, but I've always had a wimpy tolerance.

How long have you been using a pump?

8 1/2 years. I got it to get pregnant. Hated the thought of having something attached to me and thought I would go back after the pregnancies.

Did you have to take any special precautions during your pregnancies?

No, really I just paid a lot of attention to everything. Very similar to everything you do with your kids with the added bonus of pregnancies create this hormone that creates an intolerance to insulin. I was taking upwards of 100 units a day by the end of my pregnancies. The first pregnancy was pretty easy. I just paid a lot more attention to my diabetes. My second pregnancy was harder - there is a lot more stress while you are chasing a 2 year old despite what a WONDERFUL 2 year old Parker was. I firmly decided it wasn't fair to anyone to try to chase two kids and be a diabetic pregnant mom, so I tied my tubes during Jack's c-section. I will say I hated Jack being in the NICU. Most of the doctor's thought his early arrival had nothing to do with my diabetes, but there were a lot of nurses that liked to pass judgment. It was a huge guilt. Pregnancy and diabetes is really weird. I could write a whole book on that. The oddest was how I barely needed any insulin during delivery and until I stopped breastfeeding. Really odd!

Any problems during pregnancies?

Both my kids were early but we never saw any reason to attribute that to the diabetes. Parker was small and born at 37 weeks. Jack was huge (6lb 12oz) at 32 weeks. Some of that may be that my A1C was slightly higher (5.8 versus 5.5 with Parker). Otherwise no. You take lots and lots of sonos and then you realize they aren't doing that to let you see the baby but to look for any malfunction caused during development. Unlike gestational diabetes, you are really looking for major developmental errors. It is a little overwhelming.

Do you worry about your boys getting T1?

YES, but rationally their risk is minimally higher

Is there any advice that you would like to give parents of T1 Children?

YES! This is so hard to hear, but you have to work HARD to make this their disease not yours.Like anything else in life, if you don't let them own it and do it as SOON as possible, the harder for them to ever be independent and healthy. And that's the goal, right?

Anything you wish your parents would have done differently with you?

No. My parents are terrific (although a little overprotective, but terrific) about my diabetes. I have a laundry list of general things they should have done differently, but not about diabetes! ; - )

How much do you love me?? TONS!

Kimberly has a BS in Business Admin from Trinity University, went to Cambridge to Kings College in the UK for a semester. She also has a JD from Goergetown University and the beginnings of an MBA from DePaul.

She is currently the Midwest Region Tax Marketing Leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers which means she runs the Development Initiatives for the MW Tax Partner in Charge. Yea - I have no idea what that means either. She is also the fantastic mother of two handsome and sweet boys, Jack and Parker. Kimberly is a fantastic person to know. She never cuts you any slack but has the same expectations of herself. She never misses an oppurtunity to volunteer at the school or hang out and go sledding with the kids (even if snow makes you low).

Kimberly sledding with Sophie

Our kiddos - Emma and Parker

Yes, after this snow adventure in TX both Kimberly and Nate were LOW.

Lesson learned - Snow = LOW

All of this to say that Kimberly is living a fantastic life and although she does have T1 diabetes you would never know it. I sometimes even forget she has it until we go eat together and she checks her BS or when I try to complain that about being up all night with Nate suffering from lows and she rolls her eyes because sometimes that is just the norm for her too.

Love you, Kim!!

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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Everything you never wanted to know . . .

1:36 PM

I wrote this entire blog and then deleted it. Grrrr!
Here we go again.

My friend, Shamae posted some random things about herself on her blog so that we could get to know her better. In turn we have been asked to do the same about ourselves. So, here goes ---

* My name is Laura Leigh. Laura after my great-great grandmother and Leigh after Vivien Leigh as in Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind.

* I graduated high school in 3 years but dropped out of college. All of the freedom went to my head.

* I have a tattoo. I got it during the above mentioned college years. My girls are fascinated with it. I am hoping that it is one of the lessons where they do as I say not as I do.

* My best friend is gay. I am 100% ok with that. I love her, my husband loves her, my kids love her and my parents love her. We have been friends since the 8th grade and will be friends until the end of time.

* I am finding this post extremely hard to do.

* I have a very quick temper but seem to be mellowing with age.

* I have been in a fist fight and I think I won! So, don't mess with me.

* I live in a town where material things matter. Everyone is always trying to one up you. I try not to buy into it because my parents raised me right. Jim and I have what we have because we have worked our butts off to get it. Nothing was given to us and we will raise our children the same way.

* My 1st job was at Whataburger. Hello, Welcome to Whataburger. May I take your order, please?

* My parents divorced with I was 2 months old. My dad is/was an alcoholic & never around when I was a child but has been sober for 20 years. We now have a very nice relationship and he is a pretty good grandfather! I believe that blaming problems you now have on your parent’s inadequacies is a cop out. Get over it. Move on. Get counseling if necessary and then live your own life to the fullest.

* I am shy. My friends always laugh when I say that but then when they think back to when we 1st met they thought I was snobby. NOT SNOBBY just shy! Once I get to know you then watch out!

* I always greet my children with a smile. I want them to know that they are loved and they make me happier than I can say!

* I love to read and my 2nd favorite electronic gadget is my Kindle! #1 is my iPhone but I think everyone knows that already. I love, love, love to read. I never imagined that I would be reading 'Think Like a Pancreas' and 'Pumping Insulin' but I am so I may as well just enjoy it!!

* I don't eat a lot of sweets but I do love cookies and can eat about 100 of my mom's Italian Wedding Cookies in one sitting. I ate 37 on Monday. That is the God Honest Truth!

* I like nice things and nice clothes but am smart enough to know that my things do not define me. I am firm in my belief that my children are not the clothes that they wear but are the children that we are raising them to be; no matter what kind of designer jeans they do or do not wear.

* I am turning into my mother.

* Before I was a SAHM I was a corporate travel agent and group coordinator for 10 years. I then got my real estate license and started working in commercial real estate.

* I love flip-flops!

* I hate it when celebrities show off how quickly they lost their pregnancy weight. It always takes me at least a year and I am pretty sure I will never be the same size I was before I had Emma.

* Every part of my body is still what the good Lord gave me. I have had no plastic surgery although I am not opposed to it. I'm pretty sure He would be ok with me putting things back where they are supposed to be!! :-)~~~~

* Although I consider myself shy I can also be quite vocal. If you disrespect me, my family, my children or my friends then I will let you know all about it.

* I sang with Neil Diamond when I was 5 and have loved him since that day.

* I am insecure about a lot of things but I do not blame that on anyone or anything. It is just part of who I am.

* I like to cook and I love to bake but somehow with 3 little ones I find less and less time to get it done.

* My favorite new saying is "Good Hell!"

* I am a very happy person although you probably cannot tell by my blog. The last 5-months have been challenging but it has not changed the person that I am. I am happy, I love life, I love my husband, my children and my family and friends. Love, Love Love!!

I think I had more before I deleted my post but this will have to do - - -

If you made it this far down in this post, all I ask in return is that you do your own completely random list about yourself on your blog and leave me a comment so I can get to know you too.

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Pump It Up

8:17 PM

Yesterday my mom, Helen and I took Nate to Children's Hospital to attend an insulin pump training class called Pump It Up. Before Children's will let you order this mega expensive medical device they want to make sure that the young patient will actually tolerate and wear the device. So, before the class got started the CDE showed us how to do two site insertions on Nate. We had not at that time decided which insulin pump he would wear so she showed us how to do the insertions with our top two (the Ping and the OmniPod).

There really are no words for me to properly describe the heartbreak that goes along with this disease. I have said it over and over parenting a child with a chronic disease is like a roller coaster ride. We have our ups and our downs. Sometimes we want to scream with delight and other times we want to scream from fear. Yesterday was a little of both.

Click Here to see all of the photos.

After the trauma of the site insertions was over, my sweet friend, Helen took Nate home so that my mom and I could focus on the pump class. The class was very informative. The CDE spoke for about an hour, we did some problem solving and then the reps from each of the three major pump companies came in and spoke about their products. I had narrowed it down to 2 before the class started but was very impressed with all 3 pumps. I then had to rethink my entire decision. I actually had the OmniPod inserted into my arm and the MiniMed into my tummy and left the hospital with both. In the end I went with the one that I have been drawn to since the very beginning.

Today I filled out the paperwork to order Nate's insulin pump. We are going with the OmniPod. I think that all 3 pumps have great features and there are things that I love about all of them but in the end I went with the one that I believe is the best fit for Nate and for our family. We hope to be pumping by March 1st.

Your continued thoughts and prayers are appreciated as we face the rough days to come in this long journey. An insulin pump is not a cure for Nate's T1 diabetes but I hope it makes his journey easier and his life more exceptional. There is nothing that this little boy cannot accomplish and we will do everything in our power to make sure he has every opportunity to succeed.

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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Type 1 is not Type 2

9:34 PM

All around the world those affected by Type 1 diabetes cringed as Oprah and Dr. Oz attempted to educate people on diabetes. Unfortunately, they did NOT differentiate between Type 1 and Type 2 on the show. Why is this important you ask? Let me tell you a little about Type 1 . . .

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. While its causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved.

Affects Children and Adults
Type 1 diabetes usually strikes children, adolescents, and young adults, but it can be diagnosed in adults as well. It comes on suddenly, causes dependence on injected or pumped insulin for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications.

Needs Constant Attention
To stay alive, people with type 1 diabetes must take multiple insulin injections daily or continually infuse insulin through a pump. They must also test their blood sugar by pricking their fingers for blood six or more times a day. While trying to balance insulin doses with their food intake and daily activities, people with this form of diabetes still must always be prepared for serious hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemic (high blood sugar) reactions, both of which can be life-limiting and life threatening.

Not Cured By Insulin
While insulin injections or infusions allow a person with type 1 to stay alive, they do not cure diabetes, nor do they necessarily prevent the possibility of the disease's devastating effects, which may include: kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, amputations, heart attack, stroke, and pregnancy complications.

Difficult to Manage
Despite paying rigorous attention to maintaining a meal plan and exercise regimen and always injecting the proper amount of insulin, people with type 1 diabetes face many other factors that can adversely affect efforts to tightly control blood sugar levels. These factors include stress, hormonal changes, periods of growth, physical activity, medications, illness/infection, and fatigue.

Statistics

As many as three million Americans may have type 1 diabetes.
Each year, more than 15,000 children - 40 per day - are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the U.S.

What is it Like to Have Type 1 Diabetes?
Ask people who have type 1 diabetes, and they will tell you: It's difficult. It's upsetting. It's life-threatening. It never goes away.

"Both children and adults like me who live with type 1 diabetes need to be mathematicians, physicians, personal trainers, and dieticians all rolled into one. We need to be constantly factoring and adjusting, making frequent finger sticks to check blood sugars, and giving ourselves multiple daily insulin injections just to stay alive."
- JDRF International Chairman Mary Tyler Moore

"This disease controls our lives with all the pricking of the fingers, shots, high and low blood sugars; it's like being on a seesaw. Without a cure, we will be stuck on this seesaw 'til the day we die."
- Tre Kawkins, 12, Michigan

"I never realized how much of my day would be spent dealing with
this disease and all of its challenges."
- Patrick Lacher, 13, Connecticut

"A cure would give us freedom to carry on a normal life without
taking a break to check our blood or have a snack."
- Asa Kelly, 16, North Carolina

Type 1 Diabetes, 2004; KRC Research for JDRF, Jan. 2005
For more information, visit the JDRF Web site at http://www.jdrf.org/ or call 800-533-CURE.
.

Please know that Type 1 is a chronic (lifelong) disease. You cannot change your diet or exercise it away. I tell you all of this so that you might spread the word. Please let everyone you know be educated on the difference between Type 1 and Type 2.

I believe that the Oprah Winfrey show may have done great damage to all of the efforts we put forth in fund raising for the JDRF. When she and Dr. Oz spoke about diabetes on her show they mislead people when they said that diabetes was curable and could be prevented. THIS IS NOT TRUE FOR TYPE 1.

Please help me spread the word.

To see my letter to Oprah click here.
To see other amazing blog posts about the Oprah & Dr. Oz show click here.

And for help and more wonderful information on Type 1 diabetes please click here to visit the D-Mom Blog which is an amazing site brought to us by the wonderful T1 Mom, Leighann.

Thank you, Leighann for featuring my Oprah post on your site. It is quite an honor.

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Thursday, February 4, 2010

Oprah - Really? Easy & Painless - I think NOT!

9:16 PM

Today Oprah let me down once again . . .
I really do not watch her anymore. I have a real love/hate relationship with her show. I cannot stand how how full of herself she has become but then again she is OPRAH so she gets all of the good interviews!! Sometimes you just have to tune in. Well, the internet was all abuzz today about the diabetes episode and I promised myself I would not watch. Well, I peeked for a few minutes and that is all it took -- I had to change the channel before my head completely exploded. I'm pretty sure my head never did that before Nate's dx but it seems to be happening more and more frequently these days.

To set the record straight, my father, Bobby (not my other one, Jerry) has Type 2 diabetes and has for about 20 years. (He's an entire other post for another day.) I do think that Oprah did T2 patients and future patients a great service by discussing the warning signs and the preventative measures that can be taken by T2 patients. My dad was dx late - - - he could have died and is now completely insulin dependent. Again, another post for another day.

I just wish the world was aware that there is an enormous difference between Type 1 and Type 2. If anyone could spread the word on Type 1 it is Oprah. I posted the following on her site:

Posted: Thu 2/4/2010 8:00 PM

houstonwehaveaproblem : I started crying just watching your show today. My son, Nate was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in September of 2009 at the age of 14-months. The diagnosis was devastating to say the least. We have no family history of Type 1 so it was a complete shock. I wish that you would have told America today that there is an enormous difference between Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 is an autoimmune disease. My sweet baby boy did not develop Type 1 diabetes by consuming too many sweets or because he did not exercise enough. He is just a baby. We test his blood glucose level 10 - 12 times per day on his teeny tiny little fingers & for you to tell America today that this is a simple, painless test was completely heartbreaking for me to hear. It does hurt! It hurts quite a bit actually on my finger so I can only imagine that it hurts even worse on my son's tiny fingertips. Please, please do a show on Type 1 diabetes. As a parent of a child with type 1 the only comfort I find is from other mothers going through the same thing that I go through everyday. We have to weigh, measure, and count every carb before Nate can eat and then calculate how much insulin he will need to cover the amount he is about to eat. As a growing baby he suffers from some terrible highs and lows all in one day. He cannot exercise this disease away. Oprah, please help us teach America about Type 1. If anyone can do it -- you can. Type 1 moms, dads and kids all over the US are begging you!

Ok, so then I ran out of space because they only give you so many characters. I did read through some of the other comments and there seem to be quite a few from other T1 moms, dads and patients so maybe she and Dr. Oz will get the message.

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Monday, February 1, 2010

2 Posts in 1

9:22 PM

It's a bargain . . . 2 posts for the price of 1

POST 1:

Yea for us!! We had our 1st good day of numbers since Nate's dx. We are almost 5 months into this and it has taken us that long to get 1 solid day of of 100's. Nate started out the day at 245 (not so good) but we have started giving him his AM shot at least 15 minutes before he eats and that seems to really help. The rest of the day looked like this:

9a -193
11a - 132
3p - 191
5p -158
7p - 160

Ok, those might not look that great to you but I seriously don't think we have had a day where he doesn't go high or low or both! So, yea for me, yea for us and yea for Nate!!

POST 2:

This week Nate is wearing the OmniPod for a trial run before we make our final pump decision. So far so good. He cried for about 3 minutes when we put it on and kept saying "stuck! stuck! stuck!". But, once I put his shirt on he forgot all about it. Here are some pics of Nate wearing the OmniPod -

Day 1

Yes, he is trying to scale the wall out of the tub!

Day 2

Our local OmniPod rep is wonderful. She has answered all of my questions & put me in touch with another T1 family that has a little girl Nate's age that is pumping with the Pod. They love it.

I am hoping to hear back from the Ping rep tomorrow but plan on meeting with both next week at our Pump It Up class at Children's Dallas.

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