Changes and Chances

 

The sign behind the kids' pumpkin alter egos gave me a bit of a laugh the other morning.  A picture is worth a thousand words, right!

      This fall has brought a great deal of change to our house.  I began a new job, Tylie began college, Tessa got braces, Troy had knee surgery, and we began house hunting just to name a few.  Our busy life just seems to get busier.  Sadly, in the midst of all of this transition, diabetes seems to be the one thing that never goes away and never gets easier.  We struggle to find the time to really manage it.  By that I mean uploading pumps more frequently, analyzing the data, questioning the crazy numbers. It is very comparable to grading papers.  I keep up with the grading (fingerpokes) but fall behind entering the grades in Powerschool (uploading).  I know in both cases, I need to take both steps to get the full picture and make better decisions but before I know it, another day has gone by and we are one day closer to the end of a quarter (A1c test) and I wish I would have done more!  Three kids and three A1c tests completed this month: Two were better, one was not.  I can't think of much worse then sitting through those appointments when the tears fall and we curse the broken pancreas all the way home.
    Today, Tylie went to her first appointment all by herself.  It took three tries to get there as the first time she forgot and the second time she had the time wrong but finally, she made it.  For a year or so now, she has been talking about taking a "vacation" from the pump.  So, today she brought the subject up and decided to take the plunge. (Ha- syringe humor!)  After three years off, the idea of shots is a bit daunting to me.  However, I am not the one constantly "plugged" in, either.  While she has been pretty independent for the last couple of years, I considered the ability to upload as my ace in the hole for keeping her accountable.  The fact that I can't readily see those numbers is more than a little frightening.  It is hard enough for me to shift my thinking as she enters this world of adulthood without throwing in diabetes.  I am proud of her for taking ownership and I hope she is able to find a method that works for her on a daily basis.  It is so ironic that when we first began pumping I had these exact same feelings.  That is the thing about this disease- the only thing you can be 100% sure of is that the pancreas won't be repaired by morning.  That is why we work so hard for a cure- A CURE- not just treatment.
     On that note, November is coming up and there are some things you can do to be more aware and to help find a cure.  This link will allow you to sign up for one days worth of texts designed to give you an idea of what it is like to live with T1D on a daily basis. http://jdrf.org/blog/2013/take-the-t1d-for-a-day-text-challenge/    You can also sign up to be an advocate:  http://advocacy.jdrf.org/get-involved/.  This is particularly helpful as we are working to make JDRF a more active force in North Dakota.  The work that has been done towards a cure is tremendous but there is still much to be done.