Back in Business.......

Our internet has had problems for some time. After much stress and a bit of money, we can hopefully say our internet troubles are behind us....for now!! I've had many posts started in my head, but I thought I'd throw out a post.....it may be long and ramble-y....lots in my head!!

Yesterday, I finally got around to calling Medtronic to order supplies for the donated pump. When I called I assumed the clinic had informed them of what J.J. needed, but they didn't. So here I was on the phone looking like an idiot. He has only tried a dummy pump once, so I had no clue what infusion set he used, or reservoirs he needs.....other supplies??? I was clueless. She set me up anyway with what she thought he would need, while I agreed to call my CDE to figure out if the order was correct. Seems like it is....so......

Maybe in a few weeks.....or months.......insurance is involved here people.....J.J. will be on a pump.

I can truly say I have completely mixed feelings about this. My head knows that this is the absolute best for J.J.'s overall health. Control is everything with this disease. The better his numbers, the better his chances are of avoiding heart disease, kidney disease, amputations, nerve damage, blindness.....you get the picture. My heart wants the best for him as well, but I'm tired, my emotions are frayed, and I wonder if my mind can handle more information. Some days I'm all gung-ho.....lets tackle this next hurdle. But other days I know I'll lose it totally. I'm afraid I won't get through the adjustment and end up chucking the thing off the back deck.......or out the car window, or off the dock....depending on where we are at the time of the break down!!

So..... prayers that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!!(We all see Donna smiling here!!)

Also if you could pray for this weekend. We are going camping. We went two weekends ago, and found that camping is crazy on diabetes. We were constantly chasing lows. The extra exercise was really something we hadn't encountered before. He rode his bike non-stop around the campground & on the bike trails, then went swimming, then rode his bike some more.

Of course he exercises all the time, and we thought we were adjusting this weekend, but..... WOW!! The first night we put him to bed then my gut said to check him.....low, correct, low, correct, low, correct......sigh...finally at an acceptable number. Check.....SUPER HIGH!! Nice rebound, Bud!! Oh yeah....try correcting a low on a kid who has totally exhausted himself....he was spitting out everything we tried to give him.....imagine milk/juice/Smarties spewed across sleeping bags!!! Not fun!! Interestingly....he doesn't recall any of this the next morning.....but we'll never forget it!!

So the next night, bound and determined not to repeat the previous night.....we lower his Lantus, then we let him have a Smore......can anyone recall the carbs on a smore? Well it's 25 grams.....or at least that's what his was. 25 grams!!!!! I checked him an hour after he ate it to see if it actually did spike him.....now, keep in mind we let him have this after he was done exercising & we're all telling stories around the fire......so an hour later I check..... 115!!! Lets see.....all that sugar is doing NOTHING!!! But he's in an acceptable range, so we leave him.....no shot, no nothing. Put him to bed.....check.....low!!! This is a kid that can have a piece of gum that has 5 grams in it and it spikes him 75 mg/dl!!! That night my poor hubby was up 3-4 times correcting lows. He was a little more cautious and conservative in his adjustments so J.J. didn't rebound, but still.....ALL NIGHT basically!!!

Oh....one more story.....we went on numerous bike rides with J.J.while camping.... I strapped a meter with Smarties to my belt loop. About halfway through I check....he's low, I correct....as best I could. Normally if he's going low at home I have him sit, but we were still a good 2 miles from camp and he wanted to get back and eat.....yes, lows make him very hungry.

We keep going....he complains that his legs hurt. I get the meter out....CRUD....where are all the test strips? I must've dumped them the last time we stopped. Thankfully we only had 4 in there....but still....how am I going to check him? I gave him more Smarties......assuming he was still low. While he's eating them a "walker" walks by and says, "Oh....stopping to have a treat?"

SIGH.....big 'ol sigh......

I WISH IT WERE JUST A TREAT.....but NO.....this is keeping him from passing out on me thank you very much!!!

O.K....I wasn't that sarcastic with this nice person....I just told her he had diabetes.

So back to my original request......prayer for this weekend. I know each new experience causes us to stretch ourselves and learn more about our son and his needs, but sometimes it's scary. Hopefully we've gained some knowledge from the last camping trip and this one will go much better.....number-wise.

:) Sorry for the long-winded post!!:-)