Rest Ministries: Chronic Illness & Pain Support

I recently discovered an excellent online resource for those with Chronic Illness and Pain.  As far as I know, it's the only online support out there with a Christian viewpoint.  I've since recommended it to families, friends, and our Church Staff.  The founder, Lisa Cohen, was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of 24 but was unable to locate the Christian support to help her along the unexpected path of chronic illness.  Rest Ministries, Inc. was founded in 1996 and has grown greatly, reaching over 80,000 people monthly via the website.

There's a tremendous amount of resources available:

• Articles
• Devotionals
• Info on Pain management and illnesses
• Info on Relationships
• Books on how to support loved ones with chronic illness, how to start a chronic illness support group
• Online communities
• and More!!

Check it out here: http://restministries.com

Be encouraged today and love on someone who may need your hug or kind word today.

Jessica

Gymnastic Kinks

I took the girls to their combination Gymnastics/Dance class on our usual Friday.  I gave EA her snack before hand, plus half correction for it, which seems to work pretty well for us.  She came out of the 60 minute gym class with a BG of 300, which is unusual for her.  Hmmm...I gave her a correction and got everyone ready to leave.  We met my husband for dinner at a nearby Japanese restaurant, which was a treat given our recently way-too-busy schedule.  Her Dexcom alarmed that she was spiking quickly and I thought of the applesauce she begged for after gym class and thought I didn't cover it correctly.  I checked her while we ordered our food and she was about 400 BG.  

At this point, big alarms were going off in my mind and I went into emergency mode.  By the time our food came, she was 450 and I told everyone to eat quickly so we could head home and figure things out.  In retrospect, I wish I had just changed out her site, but I thought perhaps her insulin was bad and needed to be replaced.  Everyone else ate their food and seemed to enjoy it, but my stomach was in knots as I planned how to keep her out of the hospital.  By the time we got her home, her BG was 598.  Thankfully, she didn't have ketones.

I did the fastest site change ever and found this...

The only thing I can think of that may have caused this is her hour of gymnastics, especially the High Bars, which require her to press her belly (and site) against the High Bars.  I can't remember the last time we've had trouble with a site and kinking.  All of my corrections were not absorbed into her body due to the kink.

My husband was a great help during the whole process, comforting her while I played nurse.  Recently, she's decided she really likes him to read a story while I do the site change, so that night, she got several books while I changed her, checked for ketones and checked Blood Glucose.  

Thankfully, all's well that ends well.  She came down nicely through the night and seemed to feel fine the next morning.   I've now added a "Gymnastics Kinking" to my ever expanding list of items to troubleshoot for when we have those crazy High BGs.  I'm thankful we don't have them often.

My sweet ballerina with Rufus the JDRF bear.

Have a happy and healthy week!

Jessica

5 years with Diabetes: Counting Blessings~

     Today is EA's 5th Anniversary since her Diabetes Diagnosis.  We grapple with should we celebrate her Diaversary or not.  I want to honor her hard work and courage throughout the year in some way, but my husband points out that she doesn't even remember not having Diabetes and it may be more sad to have to explain that there used to be a time when she didn't have D.  So, I think tonight we will celebrate with her favorite cupcakes.  We will celebrate life, and God's grace and provision to us and the joy of having each other.  

After losing her first baby tooth!

     I honor her for submitting herself to the daily finger and toe pricks and not complaining even when I have to squeeze and squeeze for a big drop of blood.  I admire her for how she lays down for site changes in her belly and how she can express that she's now more afraid of the site change than the Dexcom sensor change.  I admire that even though she is afraid and sometimes wants to count to a very high number until she's "ready", she always squeezes her eyes shut and says that final number, knowing what is coming.  To me, that is big courage in a small body.  I am thankful for how she is thriving in 1st grade, having her own little friends, reading up a storm, and excelling in gymnastics and dance.

Our pretty little ballerina

     I am thankful for big sister who is always ready to grab a juice box, or tissue, or some other D task without complaining.  I am thankful that she usually "gets" what is needed for EA, that she will often hold her question or story while I deal with an emergency BG check or treat a low.  I love that she will read to EA during a site change to distract her mind, and I love the way they snuggle in the early morning in EA's bed.  I hope their sister friendship will continue to grow in love and depth through the years.

Jumping in leaves this past Fall.

     I love the way everyone plays along with Pumpy the Pump Monkey's funny routines and antics, including my dear hubby.   By the way, Pumpy really loves Korean banana milk to treat his Lows. :)

I am thankful for my husband who works tirelessly to support our family and provide us with our health insurance.  I am thankful for how his relationship with EA has grown in the past year as she has become more confident and less overly attached to Mama.  I love listening to them reading the latest "if you give a mouse..." book, and how EA cackles at the funny pictures.  I love that he can make a site change easier for her, and his hug afterwards makes it much better.

EA as teacher, Daddy as student in a children's museum.

Counting my blessings today...

Jessica

Sensor bribery

It's been a very busy week, but I wanted to blog about this in case other D-parents encounter this very strange parenting dilemma.  I never would've imagined I would need to prepare my sweet EA for this situation, which thankfully, turned out well.

EA has a sweet seatmate in her 1st grade class who has become her good friend.  This little girl is always peering over EA's shoulder while I check EA's BG, enter numbers into the sensor and deliver boluses.  For a few days in a row, EA brought home little trinkets as gifts from her seatmate, which made me suspicious.

"EA, are you ASKING for gifts?  I sure hope not!"

"No, Mom.  But my friend says I have to keep letting her touch my sensor if I want to keep getting gifts.  I want to keep getting gifts, so I taught her what to do and she checks it for me."

Say, HUH???  This alarmed me for two reasons:

1.  I don't want other children touching EA's D-equipment because it's expensive and they could possibly give her a Bolus.  EA agreed that other kids probably think her pump and sensor are a toy or video game, so they want to touch it.  Thankfully, no one has yet touched her pump.  I reiterated to EA that no one but she, her Teacher and I should be touching the sensor and the pump.  She agreed and told her little friend, who has complied.

2.  I don't want my children EVER to feel they have to do anything for gifts, money, candy, etc.  I explained very carefully to both girls that they should always do things that are good and right and that they WANT to do.  They should never do anything because someone is giving them a gift, etc.

Thankfully, EA told her seatmate who no longer touches the sensor.  She does look at it and read it when it beeps, but EA is the one to punch buttons.  I wanted to be careful not to make too big of a deal about it, so kids wouldn't back away.  There have been a number of times her friends have heard the sensor beeping, heard EA tell them that she's going low, and then the friend told the Teacher.  I love this and am very thankful for that, so I didn't want to crush that helpful attitude.

May God give us all wisdom for these parenting dilemmas that are complicated by Diabetes! It's worth the extra steps to keep everyone happy, healthy and well-adjusted.

Take care!

Jessica