We Survived Our First Month of Diabetes!

It has been a month since Chance first went to the hospital. I can't tell you how many people ask me - how did you know something was wrong? The answer is that he was peeing and drinking excessively. From what I have been told by other parents of kids out of diapers - it was sudden bed wetting and excessive thirst that led to a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.

Chance is definitely one of the younger ones - diagnosed at 20 months. Although this seems extremely unfair, there are some advantages to this. Chance will never know life without diabetes. We can establish good habits for him that he will hopefully respect and carry with him throughout his lifetime.

We are slowly gaining stride and arriving at our new normal. This involves 4 - 5 insulin shots a day, 5 -6 blood checks, carb counting and always having our diabetic and emergency supplies with us. This is basically a small black case and a few sippy cups of apple juice in case of a "low".

From an emotional perspective, Heath and I have felt the spectrum of emotions over the last month. For me it was: confirmation of what I suspected, strength, worry, compassion, love, grieving, sadness, frustration, acceptance, and gratitude for all the help and support we have had. Heath felt many of these same emotions, but in a different order. It took me a week to cry, but when I did, I think I cried all day. Heath on the other hand cried the first night. It is funny how different people come to terms in different ways.

This past weekend, Heath and I lived a fairly normal life. One similar to our life before Chance's diagnosis:

Friday night, Aunt Ladonna and Uncle Charles came over and watched the boys so we could go see A MidSummer Night's Dream at a local outdoor theater. We met our friend Pat and her new beau for a picnic before the the play - how wonderful! Meanwhile, at home, our boys got to spend time with their beloved Aunt LaLa and Uncle Cha!

Saturday, we did an AM playdate with their classmate Maddie and her Mom Stephanie. Then, we went to the NCSU football game, while our sitter Joanne wanted the boys. Sunday, we took the boys to Pullen Park for an outing, which was lots of fun.

It was definitely some much needed time away from home and with each other while still surrounding the punkins with lots of love. Our biggest feat of the weekend, though, was sleeping through the night. Since it appears that we currently have Chance's Lantus (long acting insulin) dose correct, the nurse said we could take a break from the 3 am check. We decided to take advantage of this. Every time we need to change the dose or have changed the dose, we'll need to do a 3 am check. The fasting checks (10 pm, 3 am and 8 am) give the doc the most information when setting the Lantus dose.

Back to work today for us and daycare for Chance and Tas. We are thankful for the support and acceptance that the folks at daycare have shown us. I am meeting my mentor on Wednesday who has a 4 year-old with diabetes and another Mom who has a 3 year old. The support is fantastic! I am excited to see them and want to talk about moving forward and learning best practices for our family living with this. Yes - I said our family living with this. Type 1 diabetes is a family disease. It effects everyone in the family not just the person who has it.

Nov 7th is the JDRF walk. So far we have raised $1925. I am excited for the research that this will help fund. I am also excited that my Mom is coming down for this.