Ramblings....updates...news.....

My mind has been going non-stop this week. I've thought about so much but haven't had time to write it down into coherent sentences. I'll just try to not confuse anyone with my ramblings and thoughts that shoot in all different directions!! As a side note....right now I'm NOT writing about the spiritual side to all of this....all of the many lessons and truths our good and gracious Lord & Savior has shown us through diabetes.........I know I will....I've written plenty, but I end up in tears(relief tears, thankful tears, blessing tears)....and my sinuses are totally rebelling right now!! So for now you get "surfacey"....oh. I hate surfacey....but here it is......

Pump News

I talked to our nurse educator this week. She says we are doing great with record keeping and learning how to adjust insulin doses on our own. We are now scheduled for the Pump 101 class offered in early March. We can't move forward with the pump until our next Endo visit. We see her at the end of March, so we will be set to request a pump and have an educated discussion with her.

Jason didn't have time to call our insurance about approving the pump. (You ask why I didn't do it?....Jason and the children are on one insurance....I am on another....so he generally needs to call.) I did ask our nurse whether they are typically approved. She said "yes", at first, but then seeing what difficulties we've had with just test strips, she cautioned her response and said it may be a battle. I'll update that as I hear news.

OVERWHELMED.....

.....that seems to be the buzz word I hear from parents with diabetic children. They WERE overwhelmed. Some have even gotten teary eyed as they recount "the beginning". As I listen to them I think 'You KNOW!!!.......you know." I agree with their assessments. Overwhelmed now---but for me the encouragement lies in the fact that they all say----"it gets easier!!!"

Lofty Ideas

For some reason in the morning before I get out of bed I think of some pretty far reaching stuff. First let me say I am just so thankful we live in a country that even has enough insulin to supply my son, and that he is taking it right now!! He is alive because we can get insulin.....BUT.... Just a few weeks ago.....Jason and I laid in bed and talked about being in the "middle class crunch"----not poor enough(or from another country) to receive govt aide and yet not wealthy enough to not have this affect our entire lives. We wondered how we could start something that would help not only us but other people in our position. People and corporations are always looking for organizations to support so they can get tax deductions. Why not set up a Pump Foundation? Yes, diabetes research organizations are important, but sometimes just helping to support what we know works is just as important. Having our lives being hit with the diabetes Mack truck is hard, but to add 'insult to injury" is the financial hit and because of that financial hit, the toll it takes on the family. If there was a privately sponsored organization.....not government sponsored.....where people can see the direct results of their donation money. Donors and kids interacting!! Anyway....I'm sure something like that is already established somewhere...but that's what we talked about.....it was around the end of the year and a few of our friends were talking about their last minute tax-deductible contributions which made us think of it!!

This morning I woke up thinking about getting a lake house....what does that have to do with lofty ideas you ask?.....well I thought....wouldn't it be nice to have a lake house or here in MN we call it "going up north" or "going to the cabin"........a home on a lake where families affected with diabetes could retreat to. Whether it be the whole family, or just the parents or just one parent to get away for a bit. It would be decked out with everything a person here in MN dreams of having......Cabin, secluded woods, yet right on the lake with the ability to fish, water-ski, jet-ski, tube, or canoe......a complete retreat house!! Wouldn't that be cool? Give a family a break, a fun distraction, a time for reflection....whatever they needed it for.(I'd like to focus on diabetes families, but I also think of the families dealing with childhood cancer, or other "biggies" would benefit as well!!) I'm sure something like this is out there.....right?.....there's nothing new under the sun!!!