Houston . . . We have a Problem!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas 2010

10:35 PM

We did it. It's done. Over. Finished.

And here is what it looked like for the Houston Family:

12/4/10 - Brunch with Santa

HoHoHo!

12/18/10 - Williams Family Christmas Party

Me, Jeff and Nate

Me and Dad

I chose the 2 pictures above to represent the Williams Family Christmas for 2 reasons -

1) My cousin Jeff and I grew up together. We were super close and I love him like a brother. Before he was dx with Alopecia Universalis he and Nate looked A LOT alike. Jeff lost all of his hair around age 2 or 3 - I honestly do not remember because I don't remember him ever having hair. He had beautiful blond hair just like Nate -- I've seen the pictures and they really do look a lot alike.

When Nate was 1st dx I really thought the autoimmune genes came from Jim's family --- not that I blamed anybody I just needed to find an answer. Some reason why this was happening. Anywho - this year in the Secret Santa gift exchange our family drew Ronda from Autoimmune Island and her daughter Queen Alopecia has Alopecia Universalis and her other daughter The Sugar Princess has type 1. A light bulb went off --- Alopecia - Type 1 - Autoimmune Island. Hey - my family has autoimmune diseases too. I don't know why it matters - it doesn't really - it just made me think that Nate's T1 and Sophie's Crohn's comes from both of us. Silly - I know.

2) That's my dad. No denying that - right? I don't think I've ever posted a picture of him. He's Type 2 and insulin dependent. I won't discuss his D management here but he and Nate both have diabetes and Nate's dx forced me to better understand my dad's disease. Now that I know more about it I want to micromanage his care like I do Nate's --- unfortunately, my dad is pretty set in his ways and it is very hard to teach that old dog new tricks. :)
I don't think he reads my blog so I can say that. :)

12/20/10 - Holiday in the Park

This was 2 days after the Williams Family Christmas party and when I discovered that I had picked up a VICIOUS stomach bug from above mentioned party. Oh yea - I tossed my cookies all over Six Flags of Texas and then went on to keep tossing until Thursday, the 22nd. At least I was in good company -- my cousins, Amanda and Michael also got sick and Jeff's daughter Peyton caught it too. Good times! Yep - that put me a little behind.

12/23/10 - Cookie Decorating with GaGa

Ummm - Yea - he ate a spoonful of blue sugar!

Christmas Eve Day - Nana & Grumpy

WOW!

Nate loves his basketball net!

Tangled!

Grumpy (my dad) and Nana came over and delivered some pretty amazing gifts for the kiddos! We had a great time celebrating but before we knew it -- it was time to depart for church.

Christmas Eve after Church

My grandmother (80-years) playing Christmas carols

The Houston Family

Sophie, Me, Mom, and Nate

Emma, Poppa, Sophie and Nate being Super Silly!

Nate loves his GaGa!!

Getting Ready for Santa

Christmas Day!!

Checking it all out.

Sophie making sure Santa's not up in the chimney.

Blessed!

Always There.

We are so blessed this year! Santa had lots of help from GaGa and Poppa as well as Grandma Pat. Our Christmas would not have been as wonderful as it was without the love and help from our dear family.

We love Christmas!

BG check and Bolus for . . .

CAKE!!!!

Still ready to party!

Merry Christmas to all . . . and to all a good night!

Ok - I know this is the longest post ever! If you are still with me - - - I thank you!

We saved our Secret Santa gift exchange gifts for the day after Christmas. We were beyond blessed this year. Our wonderful friends from Death of a Pancreas drew our family!!

And our favorite gifts . . .

How awesome are these??

If there is one thing that I am thankful for when it comes to diabetes it is the love and support of the DOC. I have been double blessed with DOC love. Joanne and Fred from DOAP not only live near by but have become some of our closest friends and for sure our biggest supporters in this D journey. I absolutely cannot imagine how I would have survived the past year and 3 months without Joanne and Fred. Diabetes brought us together but our friendship goes beyond the diagnosis and I am thankful everyday that they are in our lives.

Thank you, Fred and Joanne --- We love you!!

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Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas from The Houston Family

10:30 PM

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Monday, December 13, 2010

Passport to Health Diabetes Initiative

11:03 AM

Last month was diabetes awareness month and I had hoped to post more than I was able to about all things diabetes. So, this month I am playing a little bit of catch up.

On November 3rd Jim, Sophie, Nate and I attended the Annual Mayor's Passport to Health luncheon at the Meyerson. Nate is an ambassador for the JDRF Dallas Chapter and Jim and I are as active as we possibly can be with a 2-year old, a 4-year old and a 6-year old.. We were excited to attend and participate in the luncheon and also to meet some pretty amazing people living with type 1 diabetes.

Two of the speakers that we got to meet were pretty awesome in our book -

The 1st one was Robyn Cox. Robyn was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 13. She always dreamed of being a dolphin trainer and didn’t let her diabetes prevent her from becoming a leader in the field. We love Robyn and had been wanting to meet her for quite a while! She is a dolphin trainer at Sea World in San Antonio and our children are CrAzY about Sea World and the dolphins there. So cool!!


Robyn with Sophie & Nate

Robyn was such a good sport to take a picture with our 2 wiggly kiddos. After the picture when I picked up Nate I noticed a foul odor. Oh yea - he had a poopie diaper - NICE! Way to make us proud, Nate!!

The keynote speaker for the event was Jay Hewitt, an Ironman triathlete, international motivational speaker and practicing attorney. He was diagnosed with type 1 at age 24 and races to prove that diabetes cannot stop him from achieving his goals. His speech was amazing and so inspirational. He truly does not let his diabetes slow him down and the stories that he shared prove it.

Jay with me and Nate

High-Five

As if these 2 people were not cool enough in our book --- both pump with OmniPod! Oh yea - even at 2-years old Nate understands the concept of "same".

It was a great thrill to meet these 2 and many others during this special day. Oh yea and did I mention that I started it off with a little introduction thanking the Dallas ISD for donating the table centerpieces which were beta fish. I then went on to try and educate those there about type 1 and how with type 1 the beta cells do not produce any insulin . . . blah blah blah. Easy peasy - right? Yea - not so much! As soon as the following words came out of my mouth:

Because my son, Nate has type 1 diabetes, his beta cells don't produce any insulin at all . . .

I was a mess. A big bawling mess. I tried to look out at the audience and visualize them in their underwear (ok, I learned that in high school speech class) but it totally didn't work. Everyone I looked at was crying with me!!

So for the rest of my speech I looked directly down at my notes.

I was going to try and wing it at the advice of my husband but while I was up there I was so glad I had that little piece of paper to hold on to and stare at intently!

After I regained some composure I went on to say that Nate wears the OmniPod insulin pump (if you look closely Jim is holding a pod) . . . this is Nate's life support, but unfortunately it is not a cure.

I don't know why that was so hard for me to say. It's not like I don't know that Nate has type 1 diabetes or that his beta cells don't produce insulin. Good grief - I live with it 24/7 -- why do I still cry? Oh well, that's another post for another day!

The Houston Family would like to thank Mayor Tom Leppert and his wife, Laura along with OmniPod and JDRF for making this day a huge success. We enjoyed it and were thrilled to be able to be part of such a great cause.

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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

A Breakfast Post

9:01 PM

Some would say it is a love - hate relationship but it is really just a hate relationship for me. I hate breakfast. Not because I don't love me some pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon or coffee - - - nope, I love all of the yummy-ness that is breakfast. What I hate is that no matter what Nate eats for breakfast it looks like this:

(Sorry Facebook Friends - I know you have already had to endure this roller coaster ride today)

* Above photos were taken today after Super Bolus, no correction, and 7g of banana uncovered around 10:15 AM.

I am obviously trying to eliminate that AM spike but it seems no matter what I do it's always there. I do believe it has a lot to do with the massive growth spurts that Nate goes through and the increased alkaline phosphatase when he is having these major growing spurts (note to Nate - please stop growing! You are my baby boy!!) I have increased his basal starting at 5:30 AM, reduced his I:C ratio for breakfast and for the past two days tried the Super Bolus trick I learned from Lorraine.

I received a lot of feedback today on Facebook from other D-rents that all said that with the wee ones -- their DexComs look like this is the AM too. I hate to say it but it is so true - - - misery loves company!! Thanks everyone for your words of wisdom and encouragement! Seriously, I am relieved to know that I am not the only one that is riding the roller coaster every morning.

I haven't given up! I increased his basal again so we will see what it looks like tomorrow and I will keep you posted.

Wish us luck!!

*** Adding this information for a good question asked . . .

We always pre-bolus at least 10 minutes before breakfast but prefer 15. Nate wakes up saying 'eat, eat, eat'. And we pump with Apidra.

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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Things I hate about high blood sugars - A Re-Post of a Guest Post from Ninjabetic

7:45 PM

I wanted to re-post this post from Scott Johnson who was guest posting on Ninjabetic's blog (got all that?) for many reasons - - -

The 1st reason being that it was a great guest post on a great blog. George Simmons has a great blog with a kick-butt name and Scott Johnson did an awesome job discussing high blood sugars. The 2nd reason being that my son, Nate is 2 years old (dx @ 14m) has never been able to tell me what a high blood sugar feels like. The 3rd reason is that I want people to understand how Nate and others are feeling when they are experiencing high blood sugars. The 4th and final reason is because I think it is SO very important for EVERYONE to know the damage that high blood sugars are doing inside the body.

So without further ado here is the post I want everyone to read, please!

Things I hate about high blood sugars

The hours. When I find myself with a really high blood sugar I know I am in for hours of fighting. Hours of waiting for my blood sugar to come down, while trying to go on with my day like nothing is wrong. Don’t forget that I’m also trying to figure out why I’m high in the first place.

Slow Motion. I feel like I’m reacting to everything in slow motion. My mind is slow. My reflexes are slow. My body is slow. Everything is slow. It is hard because life itself doesn’t slow down. I think this is most noticeable while I’m playing basketball, but certainly also affects trying to work, think, or write. This brings up an interesting question though – is it possible that driving while high is dangerous too?

Urge to eat. Sometimes my strongest urges to eat are when my blood sugar is high. My theory is that my body feels yucky (and slow?), and my brain is looking for a quick “feel good” boost of carbs. I hate it because the last thing I need when my blood sugar is high is more food.

Sleepy. Wearing a CGM device has helped me see that when my blood sugar is high, or rising quickly, I get very sleepy. It is debilitating. I can’t focus on anything except trying to find a nap. It’s torture when I can’t nap. Torture. This touches on the first couple of points. Life does not slow down just because my blood sugar is high and I want a nap.

Pain. I have been playing a lot of basketball lately. Minimum of three days a week, often four days, sometimes five days. I used to think that my body had trouble coping with all of that vigorous and impact-filled exercise. But then I had a couple of awesome weeks where my blood sugar was right where I wanted it during basketball, and I felt great. I felt great during basketball, but I also felt great after basketball, and the next day too. It is the days where my blood sugar is high during basketball that I hurt afterward.

Damage. We all know that high blood sugars damage us over time, but it has always been a very vague concept for me. I couldn’t visualize what that actually looked like, or how I was being damaged. Visualizations are powerful, and my friend Wil painted a picture for me in his book “The Born-Again Diabetic” (which I highly recommend). The quote may be a bit long, but I hope you’ll bear with me.

“Quick biology lesson: you remember the red blood cell, right? Looks like a Martian flying saucer? Red blood cells are the FedEx trucks of your body, moving oxygen from the lungs to the cells and carrying out the trash. Well, Ok, I guess I’ve never actually seen the FedEx guy taking out the trash, but…

Your blood travels through miles and miles and miles of tubing inside your body: the circulatory system. To be exact, if you took the average human’s circulatory system and stretched it out you’d have 60,000 miles of highway for your blood cells to travel on…well, in. Everyone’s heard of the big players. Aorta. Jugular. Let me introduce you to the pawn on the chessboard. The capillary. Smallest part of this network. Hey, every cell needs food and oxygen, right? So red blood cells need a way to get to all of the trillions of cells that make up you. At the far end of your own personal universe live the distal capillaries. They are the smallest of the small, and logically enough are at the far ends of your body…your toes and fingertips.

There are two, well, four actually, other places where we find lots, and lots, and lots of capillaries. More on that in a minute.

Some of these capillaries are soooo small that they are actually smaller in diameter than the cells that pump through them. Remember our little red Martian flying saucers? Well, now you need to think of them as pancakes. Under normal circumstances they are flexible. They can hunch their little shoulders and wriggle through the capillary.

Unless they are encrusted in sugar. Then the pancakes become Frisbees.

I’ll leave it to your imagination as to what happens when a rigid object forces itself through a slightly too small soft-tissue space. Uh huh. I think you got the visual I wanted you to have.”

Powerful stuff, right? The other two (four) places Wil mentions are the eyes and kidneys. It is a scary thought to imagine your blood slicing and dicing all of these things inside our bodies.

If you live with type 1 diabetes, high blood sugars are impossible to avoid. Impossible. Our pancreas is broken, and the tools we have today are slow, imprecise, dangerous, and sometimes crude and barbaric.

I’m thankful for every single one of them.

_______________________________________________

And I am thankful to both George and Scott for allowing me to re-post this here at HWHAP and helping me understand exactly what is going on with those pancakes when they turn into Frisbees. It is indeed a scary thought to imagine.

For those that do not know George Simmons aka Ninjabetic here is a little information about him taken from his blog:

I am a husband, father, writer, musician, type 1 diabetic, and Ninjabetic.

I was diagnosed with Type 1 when I was 17 years old. It was October 2nd 1990 and my life has never been the same.

After years of neglect and denial I got my act together. After finding "Diabetic Feed," an awesome diabetes podcast, and finding the online community, my health became a priority.

I call myself a Born Again Diabetic because I felt like I was starting over, but I also call myself Ninjabetic because it takes being a ninja to live successfully with diabetes. <--- I love that!

And for those not familiar with Scott Johnson here is a little information taken from his online journal:

Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in April of 1980. I recognize the incredible mental struggle of living with diabetes. I hope to share my struggles, my successes, and everything in between. Please read more about Scott Johnson on his online Diabetes Journal.

And last but not least don't forget to purchase Not By Choice by George Simmons from any of the iTunes stores. 100% of the proceeds from the sales of the song from November 14^th, 2010 until the end of the year go to the International Diabetes Foundation, the founders of World Diabetes Day.

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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Team Super Nate's Pod Project (OmniPod)

4:00 AM

If you remember back in June I posted about the Houston family saving the world one pod at a time. I posted about the OmniPod recycling program and had pictures of the kiddos playing with the pods before we sent them off for recycling. Ringing any bells?

Anywho - - - clearly I've been inspired by Lee Ann over at The Butter Compartment and her diabetes art because the kids and I went POD CRAZY!!

I know that we are not the 1st or only family to decorate their OmniPods or make art from their diabetes supplies but my girls think we are so . . . shhhh! Don't tell them that their idea was not original.

Last weekend we decided to make Christmas ornaments from Nate's old pods instead of sending them in for recycling. We planed on decorating maybe 5 each but before I knew it we were having so much fun we had decorated almost all of them. I haven't counted them all but I am guessing there's are close to 100 decorated pods in my house right now.

They turned out REALLY cute - if I do say so myself.

My little artists decorating pods . . .

A table full of OrnaPods . . .

Some of the final products . . .

I'm so sad that my camera was acting up today - some pictures came out blurry so I tried to retake them tonight and there is just no good light in my house --- they really turned out much cuter than the pictures make them out to be.

And here is our OrnaPod Tree in the playroom . . .

And it all started with a bucket of pods . . .

So, what to do - what to do with 100 +/- OrnaPods . . .

I thought about selling them for $1 each - all proceeds to go to Team Super Nate (JDRF Walk Team) but how many non-d peeps would really want to hang used life-saving medical equipment from their Christmas tree? Pods for the Cure!?!?!

Or offer them for free to my sweet friends in the DOC - anyone want a custom made OrnaPod? No worries - the girls wiped each and every one down with alcohol wipes so even if it was attached to Nate's bum please know the only trace you will find is the faint smell of insulin. :)

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