We Made It!

Well, I survived. 11 days on vacation with his dad, and me having no control over Dylan's diabetes care and I made it. WE made it. Tomorrow they board a flight in Jamaica and return home with photos, memories, and a ton of pump data for me to analyze.

I can't say I haven't been absolutely sick with worry the entire time because I have. I have thought about about Dyl so much of every day, wondering how he's doing, how he's managing highs or lows, and how his carb counting skills are doing with all of the exotic food he's been exposed to. I've worried about the heat, the change in routine, and the extra exercise, not to mention the general worry about safety while he and his brother are in a different country without me.

Before he left, Dyl and I reviewed so many things, including temp basal rates (for heat and extra exercise), square boluses (for the all you can eat buffets), and pump storage while swimming (to prevent theft and to keep insulin cool). I knew he as ready; he went away with his school for 5 days in January and absolutely rocked his diabetes care, but the teacher in me had him review, review, and review again. I asked him to text me if he had ANY questions, and to update me once during the trip so that I didn't go completely crazy with worry.

Last Wednesday morning he called me, around 11:00am my time, or 1:00pm in Jamaica, ready to recite 5 days worth of numbers for me. Wow, what a trooper! At the time he called, I was boarding a tram to go up my local mountain and spend the day snowboarding with my daughter, so I asked him to give me the mini-version.

"Numbers have been good," he said. "A few 12's and 13's (216-234 mg/dl), but otherwise all in range. No lows." Three little sentences and I felt a massive weight lift off my shoulders.

"Are you having fun? What have you guys been doing?" I asked.

"Well, we went horseback riding yesterday, and this morning we went sailing and then jet skiing," he responded.

"Fun!" I said, "Liv and I are just about to board the tram to go skiing for the day, so I can't talk long."

"Aww, lu-cky," he said. That's my guy, always knowing how to warm him mummy's heart.

"Dude, you're the one in Jamaica!" I laughed.

That was the last I heard from him, but no news is good news. I can't wait to see him and his brother tomorrow!

Loosening the Reigns A Little

How do we, as D-parents, let go of the need to be in control of every aspect of our child's diabetes care? Is it even possible? For six and a half years I have attended virtually every medical appointment, A1c test, eye exam, and prescription pickup. I have sat in the IEP meetings, attended the research symposiums, and handled basically all of the day to day diabetes routine. Until this week.

It's no secret that Dylan's dad and I are divorced. We share custody, but Dylan has always resided primarily with me. Over the years he has spent more and more time with his dad, and recently we switched to a 50/50 access schedule, meaning that Dylan spends one week with me, then one week with his dad. But, as mentioned above, I have handled the overwhelming majority of the diabetes care since Dyl's diagnosis and that remains the same today. Until this week.

I have always tried to encourage Dylan to be as independent as he can with his diabetes care so that he can take complete responsibility for it one day. And so far he is well on his way to being able to do that. But planning for his independence far in the future, and actually relinquishing control, are too very different things. Until this week.

This week Dylan is on vacation with his dad and older brother, leaving me completely out of the diabetes loop. It is the first real vacation they've ever had with their dad. Sure, he's taken them on short jaunts here and there, by car, for 3 or 4 days, but they are always within a few hours of home, close to hospitals, and available by cell phone, email, and text. They've never traveled anywhere far away with their dad, especially to an international destination. Until this week.

Last Friday they flew to Jamaica for 11 days. That's 11 days of not knowing how his blood sugar will react to the hot humid weather, increased exercise, or different food. 11 days that I can do nothing but trust another person to look after my baby and keep him safe. For me, putting Dylan's life in the care of another individual, regardless of who it is, is the hardest part of all.

So here I am 4 days into the 11. Full of worry, but staying strong. So far. 7 days until I exhale.

D-Supply Packing Blunder

When prepping to go on a trip, be it a short jaunt or an extended holiday, packing just the right things is an important part of a successful trip. There must be appropriate clothes and footwear, necessary toiletries, and perhaps some entertainment in the form of a book or electronic device. Packing to travel with diabetes requires a additional amount of prep and thought into packing. Insulin, extra infusion sets and reservoirs, syringes in case of a pump malfunction, pump batteries, a spare meter and meter batteries, glucagon, juice boxes, and lots of dextrose tabs, made up our travel kit last weekend before we headed off on a 4 day train trip to Japser and back. (Can you spot the major oversight? I forgot one VERY critical item in my packing...)

Our train left at 8:30pm on Sunday night, and I started packing at 5:30pm that evening (yes, a bit last minute to say the least). The kids each packed their own bags, while I packed my own stuff, and Dyl's D-supplies. Everything went into a big resealable freezer bag (my favorite D-supply travel bag because everything is visible at a glance...very handy in times of lows), which then went into a duffel bag that would remain in the train car with us at all times.

5:45pm and we appeared to be all set. The station was only a 20 minute drive from our house, so we were planning to leave around 7:30pm. (Translation: we were ready early!) I grabbed Dylan's kit to toss into his backpack and did a quick check on its supplies. Lots of lancets, 4 strips. Wow, good thing I checked! I opened the cupboard to grab another bottle of strips, only to discover that there weren't any! (Read: answer to oversight above). Crap. We absolutely NEED strips before we go because there are no stops on the way to Jasper, not to mention Jasper is a tiny little ski-town and its pharmacy (assuming it has one...) may not have Dyl's strips in stock.

A quick call to our pharmacy, which thankfully is located only 3 blocks from our house and always has Dyl's test strips in stock, and more strips were being prepared for us. Then just as I am about to hang up the phone with the pharmacist, she says, "and you know we close at 6:00pm tonight, right?" It's 5:52pm. Another call, this time to my husband, who is out running last minute errands, to beg him to drop whatever he's doing and RACE over to the pharmacy before 6:00pm. Bless his heart for making it on time.

The trip was fabulous, and most of the supplies I packed were totally unneeded, as usual, but when traveling with D, you can never be too prepared.

Blindsided by Highs

Diabetes is anything BUT predictable, meaning what works today may not work tomorrow. Yet we must trust that when we regularly check blood glucose levels, count carbs accurately, change infusion sets every few days, and don't drastically change activity or stress levels, that numbers should be in range, at least MOST of the time, right? Wrong...

Yesterday morning we returned from a 4-day train trip to the Rocky Mountains and back. Just over 500 miles each way, with a lot of sitting and eating. But we kept a close eye on Dyl's sugar level and he was in range almost the entire time. All day yesterday glucose was good, then Dyl tested right before bed and...WHAM! 18.2 mmol/l (327 mg/dl). Um, hello high, where did you come from? We decided to change his infusion set, then bolused for the high. He went to sleep and I rechecked him just over two hours later (yes, I should have checked sooner, but I totally thought the set change and bolus would take care of it...stupid mistake). Rather than having come down quite a bit, as he should have, he was up to 28.8 mmol/l (518 mg/dl)! Holy crap, I don't remember the last time we saw a number anywhere near that high. Another bolus, this time of 7.1 units (which at night is enough insulin to scare the sleep right out of me) and we checked again an hour later. This time 24.5 mmol (441 mg/dl). Finally coming down.

Cut to this morning and his sugar was right back where it should be, and I am left wondering what happened? We did everything just as we always do and yet the result was drastically different. The only major change in our routine was the train trip. Delayed reaction to decreased activity? Perhaps. Just another day of riding the diabetes roller coaster? Definitely.

Wordless Wednesday ~ The Diabetes Mountain

I recently traveled to Jasper, Alberta, a town perched amongst the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The scenery was breathtaking, and I was struck by what a simple metaphor a mountain can be for diabetes. Diabetes can seem life an insurmountable obstacle; a mountain simply too high, or too steep, to conquer, and yet we traverse it by simply going one step at a time.

More pics of our trip to follow soon!

What Happens in Vegas...A Diabetes Tale

December 31st, 2011, marked the 9th anniversary of the day my husband and I started dating. It's not our wedding anniversary (which will be 5 years this coming April), but we celebrate both dates each year. Strangely enough my husband always remembers the New Year's Eve date before I do, yet I always remember the wedding anniversary. Or maybe that isn't so strange? A girl and her wedding share a pretty big memory after all.

Over the course of New Year's Eve last weekend I started thinking about the wedding day itself and as I thought about the events of the day, I suddenly remembered a diabetes story I had completely forgotten about.

My hubby and I got married in Vegas (an hour north of Vegas to be exact), at what used to be an old horse ranch, but is now strictly used for weddings. It was not a spur of the moment, typical Vegas wedding like you see in the movies. We planned it well in advance and chose Vegas for a number of reasons: we wanted a destination wedding, we wanted to keep the guest list small (had we gotten married at home our guest list would have had about 250 people on it because we both come from HUGE families), we could count on the weather, and I loved that Vegas offered these incredible wedding packages that take care of ALL of the planning. All we had to do was show up, dressed, with guests, rings, and a marriage license, and they took care of the rest - flowers (including bouquets and boutonnieres) video, photos, minister, location, decorations, limo, a private bus for guests, even champagne.

Dylan had been diagnosed with diabetes almost a year and a half before the wedding and was still on MDIs (multiple daily injections). It was the first time we had ever traveled more than a couple of hours from home, not to mention internationally, since his diagnosis. I thought I was prepared. I had all of the necessary paperwork to get his supplies through customs, and I had snacks and dex to treat low blood sugars on the plane, if needed. I also left extra fast-acting sugar with my mother and with my maid of honor, to ensure that no matter who he was with, we would be covered. And my immediate family had all been trained on how to test his blood, give him injections if needed, and recognize signs of low blood sugar. After all, he was only 6 at this point and wasn't nearly as independent with his d-care as he is now. Plus, he wouldn't be with me every minute of the trip. 

All three of my children were involved in the wedding itself. They got ready with me, rode in the limo to the site with me, and stood with me during the vows. The wedding itself was beautiful, but for the purposes of this post, it was what happened after the wedding that I remembered a few days ago. Once the on-site photos were done, my hubby and I, along with his best man (and his spouse), and my maid of honor (and her spouse), rode in the limo back to Vegas to take more pictures at the Bellagio. The remaining 40 guests, including my kids, rode together in the tour bus for the hour or so trip back into the city. About halfway back, Dylan got very pale and started to sweat (his typical signs of a low). My mom, who was sitting with him, reached for his tester, only to realize that it was in the limo with me, as was the dex. She could tell from lookig at him that he was low, and he said he felt low, but he thought he'd ok for a bit longer. Did I mention it was about 4:30pm on a Friday afternoon at this point. Traffic crawled along the highway, slowly inching towards the city, as Dylan's low became more and more apparent. My mom asked around the bus - did anyone have any candies in their purse, or anything that might have a few carbs? No one did. It was 99 degrees outside and everyone had brought the absolute minimum to the outdoor ceremony. 

My uncle, who was also to be the wedding MC at the reception later that evening, asked the bus driver to get off the highway at the next exit. But because it was a prearranged pick up and drop off, the driver refused, saying he was on a strict schedule. My uncle Earl, bless his heart, refused to take no for an answer. And luckily for Dylan, Earl has a special way with people. He has a big powerful voice, and is scared of nothing or no one, and as a former professional football player, he's not exactly a small man. So he explained that Dylan had diabetes and needed fast-acting sugar immediately, that Dylan's life, in fact, depended on it, and asked the driver again, to please pull of the highway and stop at the nearest convenience store. Again the driver refused. At this point, Earl stood up, towering over the driver, and told him that either he pull of the highway immediately, or Earl would "make him pull over." Thankfully, for everyone involved, the driver complied, they found a 7-11 at the next exit and Dylan quickly downed a bottle of orange juice. Within minutes, he felt fine and by the time I saw them an hour later at the restaurant downtown, Dylan was laughing about the event. Can't say I was, but we learned a number of valuable lessons that day, one of which being that diabetes never sleeps. And it never takes a vacation. Even when mommy gets married.

My 3 children, then aged 10, 3 and 6. Dylan is on the right

My hubby and I, with the stunning Vegas desert scenery behind