Summer is going by too quickly for my kids!! They have been very busy. Hannah survived her diabetes camp. I'm happy to report that this year went  a lot better than last year. On top of not being "given" shots (which she didn't need like last year-she is on a pump-there's a story there...), she came back quite independent. She has pretty much decided that changing her own set on her own time is a lot better than doing it on "mom's time". She has even mastered writing down her bs and making adjustments with just a few tidbits of advice now and then from mom. For a twelve year old... that is wonderful!!! I am so proud of her... and what is amazing to me is how much better her bs seem to be.. I don't know if there is a connection. I'm real interested to see her next A1C.

Sadly, at camp, she met up with a friend that she met two years ago at another camp. They were in the same cabin this year. Her friend is diabetic; suicidal; and has turned to the "gothic" dark, black lifestyle. Hannah was rather upset by all the things going on in her friends life and wanted me to help her. We decided we both needed to pray for her at this point. Little else can be done. From what Hannah knew... it sounded like her separated parents and steps were doing what they could. An awful lot... for a 12 year old to absorb. It was a good teaching/learning conversation about the "pain" people can have in their lives. Hannah has a big heart... that for which I'm thankful!!

I miss my time on the computer this summer but that at this point can't be helped. Appreciate being able to log on now and then and read people's blogs. Will be back.

Maybe I should go away for longer periods of time more often  Hannah seems to learn a lot when i'm gone. The other day I was gone to her brother's district track meet two hours away. I had rode with another couple. Hannah has been struggling with "off the wall" bs. lately. That day, her meter said, "HI" when she came home. Not exactly a great greeting Before calling me about it, she took care of it. I reminded her that she should always check it again when it says that. She did and then it was 256. I was beginning to think it was her meter that had issues. Then her insulin pump alarm came on and said the there was "motor failure". Now that was a new one!!  I told her to take the battery out for three minutes (set a timer) and then put the battery back in..because that seems to be the first thing that I'm often told to do when I call the Medtronic help line. But that didn't seem to help matters.

Her 15 year old sister was home too... so I asked her if she would help Hannah call the Medtronic pump help line with that one. There was absolutely nothing that I could do for her two hours away. After a small issue of getting the help line.. Medtronic help said they would talk to Hannah but not her sister because of the new "privacy laws" (Before people get too upset with that.. I did talk to the "Medtronic" people the next day and they said that there were ways to take care of situations like that... like having a list of people that can be allowed to speak for the patient or getting the parent on the phone and asking permission etc.) There are strict guidelines that they have to follow to avoid costly fines... that is what this world has come too...."sue happy!" The lady was great about it and would make sure  that wouldn't happen again.

Anyway, turns out that her connection cap from the tubing to the insulin tube was on crooked. So the motor couldn't push the insulin up. They got the situation taken care of.

I won't share what bs meter she is using right now... because my conversation with that company did not go well. Hannah's bs using that meter are so far apart when she tests a minute apart. It has to be the meter or the strips. But of course it "could be Hannah" checking her bs "WRONG" after 5 years of checking it anywhere from 8-10 times a day. That lady was pretty much torking me off to no end. I finally told her that it would be much simpler throwing the bs tester away then dealing with her. Her response was, "if that is how you feel". You would think for all the money that we sink into those strips that they would gladly send you another meter, "NO QUESTIONS ASKED".

Does anyone else ever have to deal with these issues?!!!!

In a nutshell, the answer to Hannah's high bs yesterday at her track meet....

High intensity competitive sports can cause a rise in bs in persons with well controlled diabetes.

Running in a race (high intensity exercise) can cause hyperglycemia (550) in a type 1 diabetic. The information says that correcting the sugar is probably not the best thing to do after something like this happens. The correction dose of insulin will take effect at the same time that she has increased insulin sensivity (that means that her body doesn't need as much insulin as usual because of the running) and thus can lead to hypoglycemia. Maybe next time cut the dose in half that the pump says.

So chalk this up to another learning experience in the "day and life" of a diabetic child....

So today Hannah has her annual school track meet. Her bs at breakfast is 156 at 7:55am. She has a granola bar for breakfast. She participates in a jump roping activity and a softball throw activity at the track meet. She doesn't have anything to eat until after the running events which she is running a 200 and a relay. She checks her bs at 10:44am and it is 163. She doesn't want anything to eat.

I'm sitting there worrying about her bs at the track meet because it is getting to be 12pm and then 12:30pm and then 1pm and then 1:15 she is finally running. I get her a hamburger and nachos to eat at 1:20pm finally. Would you believe her bs is 502?!!!! Where in the world did that come from. I had no reason to believe her set wasn't working so I had her take care of the high and eat and then take care of her food. At 2:34 her bs was 195 and "GET THIS" ... at 3:14pm she was down to 48.

SOOOOOOOOOOOO..... if anyone could explain this day to me... I'm all ears....

Dance recital weekend for Hannah. Never know how that will go. Dress rehearsal on Friday nights and it starts at 5pm. They have a fund raiser for supper there but never seems to work to get supper until Hannah is going low 7:30-8pm. This is the part of having a diabetic that I find so lonely and frustrating. Some times. I feel like I'm the only one having to worry about getting food for my child or making sure she doesn't go low. You feel like you are the only one that has that to think about. I try to make the weekend happen so she doesn't feel like a "differant" person or "too differant".  And since I'm "helping"... I don't want to make it look that I'm just "taking care of my daughter"... I try to not make it seem that way.

I help every year with the afternoon matinee and then attend her recital in the evening. But I'm constantly hoping that her bs don't cause her problems. I do have to say that this year went better than the ones in the past because she is getting more independent. It is such a long day with Hannah and her sister getting their hair done at 7:30am and then being at the school by 10am. Then they are in the auditorium until some time after 12pm with preparation. So by the time they are dismissed to go to their rooms until the matinee starts.. you wonder how the bs is doing. The matinee runs 1:30pm until 4:30pm.

Then when she eats lunch, you wonder how much to put in for her food... or should you cut back with the carb totals because you don't want her going low on the stage. The afternoon wasn't so bad this year. It is the evening I worry about. I really wanted her to make it without me having to check on her. But I still worry. At the end they are out in the auditorium for such a long time. The evening recitial begins at 7pm and ends some time after 10pm. I never know if she checks herself when I've asked to to. Or if she goes low when they are sitting out in the auditorium during the senior presentation if she would have enough guts to ask for help or go get juice if she went low. 

I think if she would ever have a problem around people she didn't know... just once... and I could see how she handled herself... maybe then I could feel some "relief" to my worry when I'm not always around in differant settings. You always wonder until then ... is anything sinking in that we have learned together? I guess that is the part that sucks for me... the worry of whether she can actually handle herself if she is someplace and goes low and doesn't have sugar pills, juice or whatever... would she know what she would do. Would she ask for help from some one. When I know that... maybe I would feel better.

Hannah has gained so much independence this past year... I'm proud of her.. but there is still that constant worry that I just can't get past about that.