It's time to gear up for walking season!!

Yesterday I re-upped for JDRF's walk to a cure on Oct. 6th in Elon, NC.  This year our team name will be Alyssa's Army!  I'm so excited about all the response we have already gotten!!  Research is so important, not only for a cure, but to also make the lives of people living with diabetes a little bit easier.  Remember, without research there would not be life saving insulin or meters or pumps...the list goes on and on!  It's very likely that each of us has been touched in some way by this disease; so, each one of us has a reason to support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.....my #1 reason is Alyssa!

I just wanted to add that Advanced Auto, Ford Motor Co., Marshall's and Walgreen's are all huge supporters of JDRF.  (I am not recieving any compensation ;)  So the next time you have a choice of where to shop, support companies that support JDRF!! 

Below: Some pictures from last year's walk!!

Alyssa's Birthday!!

Alyssa celebrated her 9th birthday this past Friday on June 15th.  The first thing she said that morning was that she wished she didn't have to have diabetes on her birthday.  So, it became my goal to keep diabetes from the forefront.  We had a fun day hanging at the pool with friends.  I knew she would be swimming and running, so I let her eat anything she wanted.  (Of course I kept the meter close by :)).  But she had mini cupcakes, Doritos, chocolate pudding; and, crackers, ham, and cheese.  When we left the pool, bg was 112!  So we stopped at McDonalds for a happy meal where she had a burger and fries and an injection.  That evening she had a few friends sleep over so, we went out for pizza.  Bedtime bg was 200 even!  What a great day!

Now, her party was the following day and her bg's were a different story.  They started off well in the morning, but by the time of her party at 3 pm, she was around 80 ( a little low for her in the afternoon).  She had several friends over and I'm sure her low was because she was so active.  They played on the slip 'n slide and in the jacuzzi.  When it was time for cake, Alyssa went in to change out of her swim suite and it seemed to be taking her a long time.  I went in to check on her, and she was incoherent.  She was trying to put her dry clothes on top of her bathing suite and when I asked her if she was ok, she said she was very tired.  She was very pale and her eyes seemed to be in a daze.  After she answered me,  she immediately started crying.  I knew she was low.  I grabbed a juice box, a container of frosting, and her meter.  Luckily when I stuck the straw in her mouth she began to drink the juice and I checked her bg..... 30!!  That's the lowest I've seen it.  She quickly finished the juice and I started taking finger fulls of icing and putting in her mouth.  In just a few minutes I could see the color coming back into her face.  I helped her get dressed and held her....she continued to cry...she was scared and so was I.  Ten minutes later, bg's back up to 90!!  Relief!!


(We had 2 cakes, this one Alyssa and her friend decorated)

We went back out on the porch where our family and friends were waiting for us and I said, "take 2!"

Guest Blog Post from Drugwatch.com: Type 2 Diabetes and Children

My blog is about my daughter's journey with type 1 diabetes; however, type 2 diabetes is also a terrible disease and the amount of children developing the disease is on the rise.  So when Jeff from Drugwatch.com asked if their writers could do a guest post on my blog regarding type 2 diabetes and children, I had to agree.   I thought my readers could get a great deal of information from their post that covers details of the disease as well as the medications that are used to treat type 2.  Thank you for the great information Alanna Ritchies of Drugwatch.com! 

As many as 45 percent of new onset pediatric diabetes cases in the United States are type 2. This is partially due to the growing population of obese children and adolescents.

Type 2 diabetes affects more than 22 million adults in the United States. It used to be primarily diagnosed in people older than 40, but it now affects an alarming number of children.

Over the past 20 years, the prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity has doubled, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee, putting children at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. At diagnosis, 85 percent of these children are obese.

Obesity and a lack of physical activity, as well as exposure to diabetes in utero, are thought to be major contributors to the increase in type 2 diabetes during childhood and adolescence. Generally, the diagnosis applies to those between 10 and 19 years of age with insulin resistance and a strong family history of type 2 diabetes.

The age of development is connected to changes in puberty that affect hormone levels. Doctors often diagnose children exhibiting symptoms like obesity, glucose in the urine or excessive thirst.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Diabetes Translation has been conducting workshops to raise physician awareness about the disease, determine the magnitude of the problem and assess and improve the quality of care among children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes.

In about 10 percent of cases, lifestyle intervention for those diagnosed with diabetes early may be enough. Everyone else will need either insulin, medication or both to control their blood sugar.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved certain insulin products for children and one oral medication, metformin. Metformin increases the body’s sensitivity to insulin and decreases the amount of glucose produced by the liver. It can also promote weight loss.

While many adults with type 2 diabetes may be taking a thiazolidinedione such as Actos, this class of drugs has not been studied for pediatric use.

Adults and children should be aware of the risks, however. Actos, which is the most popular diabetes drug worldwide, has been linked to vision problems, fractures and heart failure. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has placed a black-box warning on Actos, listing restrictions for people with heart conditions.

Actos has also been repeatedly linked to bladder cancer, including by a recent study that showed an 80 percent increase in the risk. Thousands of Actos lawsuits have been filed by patients who have suffered.

Before thiazolidinediones or other type 2 diabetes medications are prescribed to children, more studies are necessary.

A child’s ability to take on medical regimens, exercise plans and diet changes is contingent upon supportive parents and an understanding of the diagnosis.

The American Diabetes Association plans to develop educational strategies for teaching children about managing type 2 diabetes. Children may blame themselves if their condition worsens, but should know that the disease is progressive, meaning it will worsen with time. It is also important that they and their parents understand the risks associated with popular medications like
Actos side effects and with type 2 diabetes in general.

Alanna Ritchie is a writer for
Drugwatch.com. An English major, she is an accomplished technical and creative writer.

Packing for Grandma's

Since Alyssa's diagnosis, the only people she has been left with are her two older brothers and her grandmothers.  On Thursday, my hubby and I will be leaving for the Florida Keys to celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary.  Ahhhh.....4 sun-filled days in paradise!!

Before Lu's DX, all I had to pack were her clothes when she'd spend the night away from home.  Now, packing takes much more preparation.

Alyssa's Packing List

*Diabetes supplies (meter, strips, lancets, alcohol swabs, syringes, & insulin)
*Emergency Kit for lows (Glucagon, smartie candies, and juice boxes)
*4 Breakfasts, 4 lunches, 4 dinners, and 24 snacks
 (I pack snacks and meals that I prepare ahead of time that have the exact amount of carbs that she needs for each meal)
*sugar free drinks & water bottles to mix sugar free Kool Aid in
*Schedule
(I type up her schedule and instructions for what to do in the event of highs or lows and add the emergency endocrinologist's number)
*clothes
*favorite pillow & stuffed animal
*games
*movies
*toiletries

Our car will be loaded down on the way to the airport until we drop her off.  What's funny is that everything that I am taking can fit into 1 rolling carry on bag!

Cheer Camp

Alyssa is on a competitive cheer team and this weekend she took part in her first cheer skills camp. Alyssa’s diabetes is very sensitive to extra physical activity, so this requires careful planning and monitoring as well as timing meals and insulin. This is because muscles use up glucose at almost 20 times the normal rate during intense exercise and can result in low blood sugar levels.

During her normal practices in order to avoid drops in blood glucose levels, we check her bg’s before class starts and if she is below 200 she has a carb/protein snack and she has a low sugar Gatorade on hand that has about 15 g of carbs. This snack and drink will replace the glucose slowly as she burns the glucose she has on board and holds her over through the 1 ½ hour practice. In the case of cheer camp, I knew the activity would be more intense and last longer. We checked her sugar when we arrived on day 1 and it was 212, she had a snack and about an hour in her bg was 200. At the water break re-check, her level was at 147, so she had a few grapes and more low sugar Gatorade. By the end of day 1 practice, her level was at 150. Day 2 started at 12:30p, so she ate lunch at 11:30a. When we got to the gym her bg was 300, but she had just eaten and had a lower level of insulin about 30 minutes prior. At the water break, we checked and her level was down to 200. She ate a few grapes and 2 peanut butter crackers. At the end of camp, her bg was 116. I knew her bg’s would continue to drop after the exercise stopped because her team had worked so much harder on day 2, so I let her have a little of the high carb snacks that were offered like cheese puffs, chips, grapes, and even a donut! I chose not to give her insulin and rechecked her bgs about an hour later…99...perfect... her body was still burning that glucose.  If she hadn't had that snack, she would have went low.

Alyssa is such a trooper. She didn’t complain about having her finger pricked 4 times extra because she was having such a good time… We have a longer choreography camp in a couple of weeks and I'm feeling a little bit better about it.

Mother of the Year

I do not know what has been wrong with me this week.  Maybe my brain fog has been caused by the leftovers of my sinus infection last week or from my new diet I started this week??  Or maybe its because I've been scrambling around getting everything in before the deadline for my new school that I will be attending in the fall.  It's been an interesting week for sure.... I hit my oldest son's truck pulling out of my driveway, I got stung by a bee, I did something to my hand....and then the winner this morning....

My son Jamon rides to school with a friend, so I drop him off on the way to Lu's school.  As I pull out of their driveway, it hits me, Alyssa didn't get her insulin!  Really?  Like she hasn't been getting insulin every morning for the past year and a half? The injections were made, it just totally slipped my mind.... I whipped the car around and headed back towards the house....arguing with my self.  How could you forget?  Remember, you are human.  Alyssa gets two injections in the morning, Lantus (a slow release insulin) and her quick-acting insulin, Novolog.  Normally, she checks her BG and I go ahead and give her the injections before she eats.  This morning though, her bg was 86, and because the Novolog usually drops her sugar pretty quickly,  I decided I would wait until she had eaten her breakfast to give her the injections.  I'm apparently not good with a change in protocol.  Ahh the anxiety...  

Anyway, we rushed home and I quickly gave her injections and we were back on the road to school.  And, we made it on time!  Hopefully there are not too many more mornings like this...not good for my inner control freak!

Math skills needed....

After dinner last night, Alyssa went in her room to work on a puzzle.  About an hour later, I went into check on her because she was too quiet and she was fast asleep in her bed....7:30p and way early for her?  I pricked her finger (she doesn't wake anymore) and the meter read 434...wth!!  recheck....413!  I calculated the carbs, she had eaten something she had eaten many times before and had gotten her insulin.  I woke her up and had her get in the shower while I made another injection.  Here is where math skills come in handy....

Oddly, Alyssa usually drops about 100 pts during the night...I'm not sure what crazy girl does in her sleep....but normally I try to make sure her levels are between 180-200 when she goes to bed.  Alyssa's correction rate is .5 units for every 50 over 150, but since her bedtime goal is around 200 and I wanted her to drop about 200 pts., I gave her 2.0 units.  Another problem, sometimes the insulin brings her down too quickly and she feels the affects of a low even if she is not (and if she doesn't eat as well).  So, I also gave her a 15 g carb snack.  I estimated with the insulin and the snack that she would wake up with a bg of about 150.  This morning....the meter read 136... pretty darn close!!

I'm not sure where this spike came from (I searched for evidence of a secret snack, but didn't find any??) I think its instinct to want to find the culprit, although there may not be a tangible one.  I mean really, there is no known cause for this disease so it's understandable that there is no known cause for occasional spikes or lows.   I try not to stress too much when situations like this happen, but its hard not to when your a control freak like me :-/