Yay for Camp Sealth!!

I've been really bad at blogging as I've been suffering from burn out. Diabetes is hard.
Due to some encouragement from another T1D mom we decided to send Bean to diabetes camp at Camp Sealth. It was an incredibly hard and brave thing for me to do. My parents died in a motorcycle accident when I was a teenager and as a result I have huge issues with separation anxiety when it comes to my kid. So camp wasn’t just for her but also for me because I can’t project my issues onto her. I have to let her grow up.
The folks at Camp Sealth and the people from ADA are simply amazing. She loved being there and they did a great job with her diabetes. She made many friends – met a cute boy who also has D and learned some independence. And although we missed her so very much, having a diabetes break was what we needed to help put it all in perspective. We haven’t had a day off since September 6th. And the break allowed me to find myself again. I’ve let being a T1D mom define everything that I am to the point that I’d lost myself to it.
The week off also made me rethink a few things we do and reminded me that I need to slow down and just enjoy the moment I’m in. I also reorganized some things to make it easier for us at home. I did a small purge and cleaned out of the toy room. Reorganized furniture and started to do a purge of my sewing room. I didn’t do any sewing while she was gone as I missed her too much.
And I’m so proud of Bean. She was very compliant and bloused for everything she ate. Some of the other D kids didn’t understand the consequences of sneaking food - which is a normal part of growing up with D. And I’m proud of her for her management.

The boat to camp.

The Captain has been taking the kids to Camp Sealth for 36 years or so. Before boarding the kids will give the Captain boxes of Twinkies and other snacks that the crew will then hand out during the 3 hour boat ride. They also dance, sing songs and play games. Makes me want to be a kid again.

Time heals all...

When we were diagnoised everyone told us it would become normal. At the time that felt impossible. How could anything be normal again? It was all so overwhelming. But now it's so routine, I still end up getting up at 3am 3 days a week. On the nights I don't have to get up I often wake up anyways. It can still be stressful. Like when we can't get her blood sugar down. And her behavior is odd. Or the copays. Thankfully we have insurance because it is all incredibly expensive even the copays. Our once perfect budget is out of control. I know we just got back from a cruise - but that was funded by family. And I live in dread of another hospital visit. Our 3 day hospital stay was over 15K. We only had to pay $1,500 of it. I can't imagine the families who do this with out insurance. This is our normal.

But we have awsome days. For my birthday we did Seattle's Ride the Ducks. And had such a fantastic time. We quacked our duckie whistles and saw the Sleepless in Seattle house. Bean can do all her own shots. And the best news? We start pump training on March 1st.

Kids say the funniest things...

I have a family tradition of watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. A tradition I'm forcing on my daughter. And while she likes the floats and giant balloons she finds the multiple high school bands and singing floats dull. A bored 8 year old equals a naughty 8 year old.

Me: You know if you don't start being good Santa isn't going to give any gifts. You know that right?
Jilly feeling overly saucy: Yeah. Instead he'll stuff my stocking full of chocolate cake with out any insulin.

Another reason why she's amazing...

When Jilly started grade K her teacher had the class make these little school buses out of construction paper for the front board. Each bus was brightly colored and had the child's name and the words 'I can (fill in blank)'. One kid said 'I can say my A, B, C's'. Another said 'I can play with my dog'. All pretty normal 5 year old thoughts.

Jilly's said:

'I can save the world.'

I hope she keeps that belief with her forever.

Injections...

I feel like throwing confetti in the air. Bean has done her last 6 injections by herself. By herself! The only help we gave was encouragement and double checking what she dialed up on the pen. I feel like we can actually handle this - well once we get her blood sugar down. It's still 50% of the time too high. But her doing her own injections is a huge accomplishment.

We're doing an incentive program every time she takes her own blood sugar she gets one sticker for a bookmark, taking her own injections gives her 5. When she gets 30 stickers she can trade her bookmark in for a little present. So far it's been a great motivator.