Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Being 9

I love age 9!  Seriously, I watch TJ and am absolutely amazed by him.  He has the world by the balls, as my husband would like to say.  I like to compare him to a Weeble Wabble.  Remember those toys, "Weebles Wabble but they don't fall down"?  He would have every reason to fall down, but he takes life's punches and throws some of his own.  Last month, we were at a hockey tournament.  He was playing knee hockey with his buddies and came back to the room stating he didn't feel well.  His blood sugar:  29!  Yep!  We looked at each other and said, "WOW!"  He said, "I just feel 'normal' low.  That's really low."  Thirty minutes later, he was back in an acceptable range and an hour later he was playing a real hockey game.  He scored 2 goals and had 2 assists.  We were not overly shocked when his blood sugar was 425 after the game, but think about that!   I get cranky when my blood sugar gets "low" -probably 80ish (remember, average is roughly 100). His makes a 400 point swing in 3 hours and does it slow him down?  Heck, no, he wants to go swimming!  I honestly don't know if it is his age or his temperament or a mixture of both, but whatever it is I wish I could bottle it.  He does not fear failure and charges into every task he undertakes.  He is currently working on a report on Cory Conacher- a pro hockey player who also has T1.  He firmly believes that he will be playing in the NHL someday.   I have been trying to remember if the girls were this positive at this age.  I know for sure, that one was not.  I can clearly remember chasing her around with a syringe trying to give her a shot while she cried, begging me not to do it.  These are not moments I like to recall.  We were not able to get her a pump until she was 10- on her birthday. That was 6 long years of tears.  The pump was a life changer, in that respect.   Does the technological advance of the pump, give him a leg up?  Maybe, he only had to do shots for a year.   However, the other daughter has given up her pump because she hates being "attached" 24/7.  A person who doesn't know my kids would look at all of them and not see anything wrong.  However, there are days when I have one very angry girl at home.  There are other days, when the other is clearly annoyed.  TJ- well, he hates having to come in from playing his imaginary baseball game because his reservoir is low.  He will stomp and groan and express annoyance when a site falls out.  But, as soon as its changed, he is off and doesn't look back.  He calls me everyday at lunch for help with his carb count.  He hasn't complained once about being the last kid to recess.  He does, however, complain about the school's gluten free chicken nuggets but that is another story!  Don't get me wrong, there are many days we both want to drop kick diabetes in the ass!  But, I can tell you he gets over it long before I do.  I really, really, really want a cure for this disease but until then- I really, really, really want this boy to maintain this self-confidence, this zest for life.  As I type, he is shooting hockey pucks in his room, cheering on his every goal.  Earlier this evening, he played an entire baseball game against himself...of course, he won.