Welcome to Our D-Life

Type 1 Diabetes. Ugh!  Not what you want to hear following the words "Your son has been diagnosed with..."  But those were the words that we heard on November 30, 2013.  As of today it has been 128 days since we learned that our lives have been altered forever. But here's the catch, Buddy may have Type 1 Diabetes, but it doesn't have him!

 

We were the lucky family. We were the Type 2 diabetic parents who knew the signs of our disease. In October, Buddy dealt with a respiratory virus.  And again the Monday before Thanksgiving. I'd notice a drop in his weight but attributed it to a growth spurt. It's happened before, lose 5-10 pounds and *poof* grow about 3 inches taller. Even our extended family noticed it at our Thanksgiving dessert gathering.  BY that time though, I had begun to notice that my ADD/Anxiety child had become more angry and less tolerant of his younger brother. I noticed that he couldn't get enough water to drink and along with that he couldn't pee it out fast enough.  The puzzle pieces started to fall into place.  After a large post Turkey day lunch, on a whim, using my husband's glucose meter we tested his blood.  the reading came back and knocked me for a loop.... HIGH LEVELS.  The monitor couldn't even give us a number.  It meant that his blood glucose level was ABOVE 600 and was in the danger zone.  Not wanting to panic, we decided to let it go until the next morning and do a fasting test. Knowing the level should have been any where from 90 to 120, I was shattered to see a reading of 268.  Thanksgiving weekend, our doctor away on vacation, and our kid is seriously ill. What do we do? 

 

Walking into our local hospital's ER was the start of a whirlwind weekend that will forever be ingrained in my mind.  And that is coming from a woman who normally has a Swiss-cheese memory. The 572 reading on the blood glucose monitor at the hospital is tattooed on my brain.  I'll never forget the super bumpy ride in the ambulance from one hospital to the Children's Hospital at Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital.  I'll never rid my mind of the tears and reddened face of my baby boy, asking why this had to happen to him.  I can vividly remember every conversation had with EVERY SINGLE medical professional. I remember sitting, wide awake, and completely sleep deprived in the middle of the night, just watching my son sleep in his oversized hospital bed.  Surprising the doctors, nurses, dieticians, nutritionist, diabetic nurse educators all by knowing as much about types 1 & 2 and how to test blood glucose and administer an insulin injection. (we were very quick studies indeed!)Walking the hospital hallways at 2 in the morning with tears and confusion in my eyes, being stopped by the night shift nurses who so lovingly hugged me and assured me that I am strong enough to be the best D Mom I can be. They said this wasn't going to be an easy life, but it could be a manageable one as long as I did my best.

 

And you know what? Those nurses were 100 percent dead on right!  I am a damn good D Mom.  I will take anyone down who tries to get in my way. My son's health and well being come first.  I've jumped head first into Advocacy. I've read more articles about the latest advances than I have done pleasure reading.  And I will continue to educate myself and others along the way. I will raise funds for research for a cure. I will shout from the mountain tops abut our life with T1. I will make life as normal as normal can be while dealing with an incurable disease. And all of it will be done with all of the love that my heart can hold! Why?

 

Because to paraphrase our favorite childhood book, "I'll love him forever, I'll like him for always. AS long as he's living, my D-baby, he'll be!"

 

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Want to make a difference in Robert's life and in the lives of children and adults like him?  Please consider making a donation to the JDRF.  On April 15, 2014, I will be providing the link to our team's Walk for a Cure donor page.  Any donation, no matter how big or how small, can and will make a difference for our D families.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

This post was created in response to a writing prompt by Mama Kat:  "If you were the type to believe in 'signs', descibe a 'sign' you have received from someone."   I'm not sure when I wrote it, but I'm pretty sure it was just prior to returning to my home town just prior to my high school reunion in November, 2011. After seeing these 'signs' to and from my journey tp Philadelphia, I just HAD to share it with all of you. Warning, a few tissues may be required during reading.

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Samantha never walked this Earth, hell she never had the chance!  But that gorgeous little girl really knows how to soar majestically with the regal falcons in our little town and every where that I travel from home.

Back in 2001, I gave birth to a tiny little girl who never really had a chance at life. Born at 25 weeks gestation, her under-developed lungs never took to the medicines the NICU doctors were pumping into her body.  Samantha lived just nine hours but she made an everlasting mark on my heart.

On any given day (especially when I am driving long distances), my magical little girl makes an appearance by way of her on special sign.  She's no longer a tiny infant in my dreams, but a young beauty, sporting glorous, spiraled, auburn pigtails, wearing pink overalls with a pristine white short-sleeved shirt, ruffled white bobby socks with pink trim and snow white sneakers.  Her laugh is pure and her smile endearing. She is a free spirit, a dare devil in her own way!

Early on after "losing" Samantha, she visited me in a dream arriving on the back of a red tail falcon.  Smiling and giggling, holding on to the scruff of its neck, her pigtails flowing in the wind. She hopped off upon landing and rain straight into my arms.  She whispered "I love you Mama. Now just smile for me. I'll always be around you.  My friends here will bring me to you when you need me most. I love you to heaven and back again.  When you see the falcons, I'm there smiling at you and telling you that I love you.  So no more tears Mama, no more tears."

Ever since that day, whenever I see a regal falcon or hawk with its immense wingspan open wide gliding gracefully through the skies, I smile and blow my baby girl a kiss and tell her "I love you more baby girl! I love you more!"

For Smanatha,
With ALL of my never ending love and admiration.
I love you to Heaven and back again, times Infinity!
Love ALWAYS,
Mama
xoxox

P.S.  Thanks for keeping me company on that long drive to and from Gandma & Grandpa's house last week!

Final Farewell -- A blessing during tragic times

In April of 2007, I stumbled across an article in The Catholic Standard & Times regarding the founding of Final Farewell.  It was a pleasure to see that its founder was an old friend from my childhood, a fantastic and caring person with a heart of gold!

Having known Patricia (Trish) most of my life (we attended the same grade school and high school), it doesn't surprise me that she has worked diligently to establish a foundation that cares so much for grieving parents and their families.  Trish knows first hand how hard it is to overcome life's obstacles with hard work, dedication and love.  She and her group are truly dedicated to helping families in the darkest of all the hours in their lives, the death of a child.

I'm pleased that Final Farewell was born and that Trish and her team can help countless families get the help and support they need.  It is my prayer that they continue to grow and receive community (and financial) support for their most worthwhile cause.  To aid a parent and help with the arrangements for a  dignified and compassionate farewell to their child is one of the greatest gifts that anyone person can share.  Small gestures mean so much to a grieving parent.  

As I type this post, Final Farewell is seeking funds to give a family of four who perished in a Philadelphia house fire on January 13, 2011, a proper burial, including a memorial head stone.  Final Farewell's goal, via CrowdRise, is to provide this family with a gravestone marker so that they will be forever remembered.

I wish Final Farewell a huge success with this fundraiser and its  upcoming major fundraiser in April. This is a compassionate ministry that in these times of financial hardship is greatly needed and appreciated by the grieving families.

May God continue to bless Final Farewell and everyone involved in this MOST IMPORTANT mission to give comfort to the grieving.

If you would like to help  the family mentioned above, please click here. Any donation, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated. 


NOW FOR SOME OFFICIAL BUSINESS:
Please note that I  have received absolutely NO compensation  or favors of any sort in exchange for this post.  The opinions/comments in this post are expressly my own and I have no personal stake in the raising of funds for Final Farewell.