Pumped Up!

Today was our BIG (HUGE) day!  Piper is officially on a pump.  We were able to go ahead and get the pump for sweet P...thank goodness for 20% down and monthly payments! 
Our day began last night...
Since we got the pump today we stopped Piper's Levemir (long-lasting, once a day insulin) last night.  So that means we had to check her blood sugar at 2:00am and 5:00am.  Bleh!
2:00am rolls around...
311 BG with 1.8 ketones...corrected that. 
5:00am rolls around...
71...Argh! 
The poor thing was soooo tired, it was super hard to get her to wake up and drink some juice or an applesauce pouch.  Waited 15 minutes like I'm supposed to...68!  Holy Heck! 15 more minutes (which actually was about another 30 minutes) and we made it to 149. 
After a struggle of a sleep, we get up and check morning BG...511...0.8 ketones.  Sweet P misses her Levemir.
Still doing good...we have movies, toys and especially B (blankie) for our appointment, so Piper is entertained and me and Eric can learn. Thankfully Eric's mom was able to come to our "hook up" appointment.  But before we even get back to the room, Piper falls off a chair in the waiting room and is bleeding all over the place from her mouth...in my hair, on my shirt.  Apparently this is has happened before with these chairs.  Piper ripped her frenulum (skin flappy thing that attaches from her front upper lip to her gums) and it was quite attached before this happened.  Everything else seems to be ok and the bleeding finally stops.  Then, later...Piper sits on my lap and then I feel something very warm...yeah the diaper leaked.  Girl is just pumping out the fluids from her night of highs!  Obviously so not a big deal as her busted lip...but just something else to add to the day.
Piper did so well getting hooked up to the pump!  She is my hero...she's just so amazing how she has adapted to this new way of life. 
Me and Eric are feeling confident on being able to take care of Piper on the pump but definitely overwhelmed about everything involved.  Something new to learn, but we'll be pro's before too long. 
Piper loves her "special pocket" that holds her pump...and is very aware when the pump vibrates while delivering her bolus insulin.  Silly girl!
So after 12 hours of horrible sleep, highs, lows, ketones, blood and urine...WE HAVE THE PUMP!!
Pictures to come for sure!!!

Check Your Negativity At The Door

This is something I have to remind myself all the time...and I don't always comply with that mentality.  I definitely feel like I've been a little (a lot) negative lately.  I get myself down and sad or there's outside words or comments that bring me down...or maybe there's absolutely no reason for it.  Is there some kind of 6 month slump?  Friday (the 13th, no less) will be 6 months.  Holy goodness...has it only been that long?!  Some days it seems like years; others, just days. 
I think since our last episode with the ER visit and high fevers, I've felt defeated.  This disease can just suck the life out of you.  But we are slowly getting back to normal around here.  Piper is either still feeling the effects of being sick or the terrible two's have decided to kick in.  Mercy!  I'm so glad my sweet P is feeling better but girl has got some attitude. 


Right...on to the positive! We had a wonderful Easter weekend with family.  A day off is hard to come by with Eric, so we jumped on the chance to go to the zoo on Good Friday.  Piper got to feed the giraffes there.  Her giggles and smiles just warm my heart.  I think they touched everyone that could see/hear her.  What an amazing blessing she is.  She is quite the egg hunter!  I've been staging egg hunts around the house for her...most the time she watches, but doesn't care.  She patiently waits till I'm done to start grabbing up those fabulous plastic eggs.  We also had a lovely lunch with Eric's family (and yes, another egg hunt!)
And what can be more positive than celebrating Christ Is Risen!  A message I look forward to teaching Piper about.  I try to come back to this message whenever I'm feeling down. 
I got Piper's pump belt in the mail the other day.  We're still stuck on actually getting the pump...seeing if we qualify for some financial assistance.  I thought I would let her get acquainted with the belt and practice wearing it. I have an old cell phone that's close to the same shape/size that I put in it.  She loves it!  We call it her special pocket for her medicine.  The only glitch is when we need to change her diaper...it's gonna be right in the middle of her back.  Can't imagine that feels good.  I'm also gonna try my sewing skills to make some camisoles with a pocket for her.  Sounds like that will be great for bedtime.  I must also add that I have been able to meet some more D Mommas that have had some wonderful suggestions on how to handle some of this stuff that is very new territory.  Yay for support! Now that's some positive!
Well, here's to some more positive days and kicking that negativity to the curb! 

BLEH!

So I have nothing witty to put in as the subject because that's all I can think of this past week is "bleh!"

It all started Sunday morning (April Fools Day).  Piper had a mild fever of 99.9 but we were determined to make it to church today.  We haven't been to church in many months.  Plus, I was convinced that Piper was getting her second year molars since she's been acting like a stinker, had some funky poo's and now the low-grade fever.  Well, it didn't stay low-grade for long.  After church and lunch, it was 101...super!  Once bedtime hit it was a little higher.  We, of course, have to check her blood sugar a lot more when she's sick/feverish.  10:45pm check gave us a blood sugar above 300 (not good), ketones of 2.1 (also not good) and a temp 104.  I called the emergency pager and we gave her a correction dose of insulin for the high number.  I mentioned to the diabetes educator that Piper's breathing seemed to be a little weird (I would later find out that this was most likely due to the fever).  She told us that we better go to the emergency room because there is a respiratory problem that can be associated with DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis...definitely not good).  Well, 3 1/2 hours later we get back to the house around 2:45 with normal blood sugar (from the insulin correction we gave), negative ketones (from all the fluids we gave her and bringing sugar down) and a temp below 100 (from the Tylenol we gave her).  Piper checked out just fine.  They had to run all sorts of blood labs to make sure she was not DKA (which she wasn't).  She didn't even have as much as an ear infection...just a virus.

Monday and Tuesday continue with extremely high fevers and wonky blood sugar numbers and high ketone numbers.  I then learn some new rules to diabetes.  If you're not eating well and have a blood sugar reading under 300 but have 1.0 ketones or higher then you're not getting enough carbs in your system and your body starts to produce ketones (all I could think of is people on the Akins diet).  So then you raise your blood sugar (via juice, applesauce, whatever) to get the sugar above 300 then treat the carbs you just ate (or something like that).  I'm so confused!!! 

I was also told by my director at school that one of Piper's teachers tested positive for the flu after showing up feeling a little sick.  So I made an appointment with the pediatrician...swabbed the nose...no flu.  Thank goodness! 

Diabetes just makes everything harder!  I wouldn't have taken Piper to the doctor, and especially the ER for this fever mess.  The funny thing was...she had no other symptoms, not even irritability!  She was the same Piper...the fever didn't even phase her.  Why would I take a child like that to the doctor after 2 days of fever?!  Then, I had a very bitter feeling towards diabetes.  I feel like I have accepted (not quite embraced) but accepted this new way of life quite well.  And, then it hits me...EVERYTHING WILL BE HARDER!  Piper just won't go over to a sleepover like a normal kid...she'll have to be able to take care of her diabetes herself and I'll have to call her friends mom every 15 minutes cause I'm freaking out...she won't just play sports...she'll have to check sugars every 15-30 minutes to make sure she hasn't gotten to low...figuring out Halloween and Easter candy before she eats it...can't graze like her Momma does...hey I feel like a cookie even if it's 20 minutes to dinner.  And, I know that we haven't even come close to these events and that they probably won't happen all at once...it's just hard to swallow. 

Today...I've pulled myself together somewhat...Piper dropped the fever.  Although she's being a little bit more of a stinker without the fever...struggle.  Someone got a little spoiled while they were sick...which is how it should be, but she doesn't know that the spoiling stops when you feel better. 

We do have some good news.  We are currently getting paperwork pushed thru for her insulin pump.  Insurance has approved it but we're waiting to see if we qualify for some additional financial assistance from the pump company.  I'll definitely be giving updates on all of that.  I know the pump will help because it can give doses in smaller increments than her pen can...I just hope I'm not building it up too much in my mind as a "cure all"...everything will be perfect kind of mentality.  I know her numbers will never be perfect all the time.  Heck, I hear it's hard to even get perfect numbers for one week!  What a crappy disease!

Well, I'll take this negativity elsewhere.  Here's hoping for a more upbeat post next time.  I definitely don't want to turn this in to a "I only write posts when something bad happens" kind of blog.