Just Don't Talk to Me

Dropped night time insulin by two units and
mealtime insulin by two units to compensate for the
heavy activity schedule as well as the heat.

Camp bg numbers so far:

dinner    bg 156
bedtime bg 217
bkfst      bg 145
lunch     bg 158


How did I get these figures from camp, you ask?

The health aide (no nurse or medical personnel on staff) texts them to me! I gave her four pages of information related to managing Riley's diabetes yesterday when I dropped him off.

• Page 1 - their meal schedule for the week with my added carb counts from Calorie King and other sources
• Page 2 - log to keep track of each bg test, carb count per meal and insulin unit amount injected
• Page 3 - list of low symptoms and treatment procedure & list of the supplies and where they can be found in the dining hall. (ie back up insulins in the refrigerator, testing supplies/snacks/ketone strips/glucagon in the plastic bin and ice packs (one for each day) for bg meter in the freezer)
• Page 4 - our contact numbers and MUSTS for Riley: kit in his knapsack on his back with fast acting candy & lists of when to contact me - bg over 200 in the morning, bg over 300 anytime, a low under 65 and any insulin injection error

Also left a 1 cup measuring cup for cereal and pasta and a bottle of lite syprup for the breakfast goodies that will sky-rocket his blood sugar. And an old 33oz water bottle for sharps storage.

As I said goodbye, leaving him in the hands of a 19 yr old health aid, I tested the water by saying I would see him Wednesday just to check his numbers and make any insulin changes on my way to a job in a nearby town. I had to say it twice to really get his attention to which he replied, "OK, but just don't talk to me."

Bread Making Wars

Nutella, pb, pretzel loaf - yummm

The title is supposed to sound like some show popular on television today. I was able to hold off the Craft Wars session but gave into and possibly suggested having a bread making war.

assorted chocolate chip loaf

I made fresh dough - buttermilk recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day. Split it in 1/3s, and gave Reid and her two friends each a bowl with their 1/3 of the dough. They had at it. Reid went with Nutella, peanut butter and pretzels. The next child decided on white chocolate chips, mint chocolate chips, marshmallows and brown sugar and the the last girl put tomato sauce, pizza seasoning, mozzerella cheese and pepperoni.

pizza loaf

There was a 2 hour wait for the dough to rise. Then another 40 minutes after forming the dough into a ball. Then baked them all together for about 35 minutes. Fortunately, they were all at a softball game when the baking was done and I got
to dive into a little slice of each with a little slather
of butter. WOW! Fantastic all 3 of them!

I had to give each girl a prize for PRIZE 1: the
best ingredients, PRIZE 2: the best tasting,
PRIZE: 3 the best dessert loaf. I couldn't call
one a winner and the rest losers.

How We Did Kings Dominion Amusement Park

This is how I remember Kings Dominion 25 years
ago as a middle-schooler

Our youth group does an annual 3-day trip to Kings Dominion for Kings Fest. I am a youth leader so fortunately I was able to go and hang out with lots of teens and my own with T1D.

How we did it: Dropped Lantus by 1-2 units and Novolog by 2 units starting on the first night at the park for the Lantus and dinner time for the Novolog since we arrived at 3 pm.

There was at least one meal that Riley didn't use any Novolog.

His days were spent walking to/from the hotel to the park, in 100 degree heat, walking the park, riding rollercoasters, cooling off in the wave pool.

His bg never went above 150, the only low was on the bus ride down right before lunch.

Big relief knowing Amusement-Parking is totally in the realm of possibility. Will use these lessons learned for Camp next week.

Camp Checklist

• worry
• contacted camp via email outlining diabetes procedures-attempting to overwhelm without success
• contacted CDE to outline procedure for lowering evening Lantus, before meal Novolog, review the camp schedule for hot spots for lows
• worry
• purchased single serving snacks of 15 g carbs
• checked schedule for best time to covertly visit camp
• worry
• watched video of daughter's visit to camp and studied games intensely, very sure of low possibility

Going To Camp

Riley has been to the same summer camp for one week every year since he was 8. I should add right now that it took ten years off my life dropping him off that day 6 years ago. Now, even his little sister has put in her third summer camp experience. The camp is about 22 minutes from our house, has a great staff and tons of their school/church friends attend.


At camp, 2 yrs ago-before D

Riley decided he was bored with camp and didn't want to go this summer. I was shocked. But he does tend to say he doesn't want to participate in some activity and then when forced has a great time. 

This time I didn't want to force. This isn't diabetes camp. This is regular camp. There are no licensed medical people. No one hired to watch my kid and be sure his blood glucose is in range, checking bg regularly, calculating carbs properly, dosing mealtime and evening insulin, considering the extensive activity and preventing lows.

We had a talk with Riley and explained he had to do something productive with his summer. Maybe golf camp - three hours each morning for a week. Something. Today, he said he would rather just go to camp - the one he goes to every summer! I am beside myself. It is no good being myself and next to me is so much worse.

Father's Day

We're winning-why is he laying behind the hole?

 I have a great spouse. I adore him. He's an awesome dad.

We enjoyed an afternoon at my brother/sister-in-law's house, picnicking on the back deck, playing corn-hole (why has it become so popular again?) and eating a lot of good food.

Everybody (my in laws and my husband's brother and his wife and us) brought out the best in their own repertoire which means my mother-in-law made chili sauce for the grilled hotdogs, my sister-in-law bought a white cake with white icing and coconut from the local Wegmans.  And I made tomato pie and ordered an almond cookie that's the size of a cake.  All of this made for a fantastic gastronomic experience.

Then my team beat his team in corn hole. My team = Riley & I their team = Tim and Reid

Hottie on the left cutie on the right

My dad died three years ago after not so much of a battle with cancer for 2 years. Battle sounds like he and cancer went back and forth but he actually never had the upper hand. But he always had a great attitude. He was joy to care for in the last 6 months while he lived with me. He was a pleasure to spend time with. We had such fun. When he felt up to it, we would go to Wegmans and stroll around in his wheelchair while he picked out Valentine cards for my mom and I and a bouquet of flowers and a box of candy for her. We went to the movies a couple of times when Regal Theaters had open captioning on one of their films. My Dad has been deaf since birth. He came to a few of Riley's baseball games that spring.

During that time, I began this blog. Most of my parents friends are not local, so blogging/ his video-blogging kept everyone in the loop until the end.

We had tuna salad sandwiches at the cafe and did some shopping

Happy Father's Day to both my kids' father and my Dad. Two very special people.

Summer is here and ...

Everything is different now. Makes me not want to blog at all. I don't even want to read D-blogs except for Bigfoot Child Have Diabetes  I can't get enough of Katy.

I finally upped the evening (long acting insulin) Lantus last night, so the numbers look fantastic today. Which doesn't make me feel better, it worries me that tonight or tomorrow his bg will be too low.

Summer has been tons of fun while trying to get bg numbers under control-or at least under 200. That's a good goal, right?

We already went to visit Gramma at the beach. We were joined there by my neice and nephew, ages 2 and 3 1/2, and their parents. I tried to make it like a real summer vacation - we went to the beach, we went to the pool, we miniature golfed and had a huge Kohr Bros custard cone for $7. a piece at the boardwalk.  And because it is a tradition - Reid and I rode my dad's scooter to the grocery store. We do this every single time we go to my parent's house. My parents both got scooters shortly after retiring and moving to the beach. My dad's is a Vespa.

Vespa - So Cool!

I don't have a motorcycle license so I rarely rode it. Dad would limit my joy rides on his faster-than- mom's-scooter to just in the neighborhood. I ride my mom's Honda scooter all over Bethany Beach, Ocean View and even to Ocean City on occasion. No license necessary since it doesn't even go 30 mph. The scooter is absolutely one my favorite things. I ride it every time I go to the beach -when my dad was alive. Now three years after his death, I have only been to their house a handful of times but I ride the scooter. It takes me back to the fun times of all of piling onto the two scooters and going into town for the July 4th parade or to the beach. My dad would ride the Vespa with Reid in front of him and my mom on the back of him and I would have Riley with me on the yellow (Honda) scooter. Good times.

We also picked strawberries the morning before we headed home. The four of us, my mom, Reid and Riley and I picked almost 18 pounds-I have no idea what that means in the proper strawberry quart measurement. But it was a lot and they were delicious. I froze our bounty so I can learn how to follow a recipe and make jelly with them. That is my goal for one day this summer...eventually.