Thursday, November 25, 2010

I am Thankful for.....

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3:17


What am I thankful for…..
I know a God who loves me no matter what I do!!! I find myself so far from Him right now that I am thankful that he still loves me!! I pray that I get closer and find joy in Him always.
“Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!”  Psalms 66:20

My children know that same God!! I have to strengthen my relationship with Him in order to help my children see it. They need to be closer too.
“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalms 19:14


For Steve, his love and his desire to provided. Steve is an example of the blessings that God has given me. I think every day that Steve was an answered prayer from a 12 year old girl.

For Tyler, his love and his funny personality. I am getting so old, my kids are growing up way to fast. Tyler is old enough to decide when and if he gets his hair cut.

For Samantha, her “not at all like me” attitude and her mothering instincts. She can so be a challenge, but I have to remind myself that she is JUST LIKE ME!! She is so good with the little kids; we call her Evan’s mommy #2!

For Caroline, her sweet spirit and her “just like Daddy” personality. She is a lot like her dad, but she has gotten some of my qualities too. She has some issues that I had at her age and I pray that she can overcome them. I am so sad she has to deal with these things, but at least I can help her through them.

For Jack, his ability to cope when things get hard and his “I love my mom” kiss. Wow, what a sad month it has been. Jack being diagnost with diabetes what not something I ever would have expected. We do know that of all the kids he is probably the one who will handle it the best!! He is doing so well; I just can’t believe that this has happened…

PRAY FOR A CURE!!!! “Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.” Psalms 54:2

For Evan, his I want it now (and you should give it to me) attitude and that he wants to be my baby forever. Why is he so darn cute??? That really causes us trouble. He is very demanding, but he has been able to train his “pet monkey” Tyler well!!  We found out today that he needs his tonsils out (REALLY)!!! I am thankful for reaching our deductable before Jack’s diagnosis and Evan’s operation!!!! (Insurance company may not feel that way)

For parents that are ALWAYS there whenever I need them. It’s true that you worry about your kids even when they are adults, but it is also true that you worry about your parents even when you grow up. Both of my parents have diabetes and I am praying for them to get theirs under control now that Jack is dealing with it. Wish we had done more as a family to help cure diabetes all the years!!

For In-Laws who always want to help out, with time or advice. So thankful that when God blessed me with Steve he also blessed me with in-laws that love my children. I know they do and I know that they only want what is best for them.

For a brother and sister who love me even though I’m not always loveable and for marrying well!! I may not talk to either of them as often as I should, but they both mean the world to me.

For God making me come out of my “cave” and make friends.
“This is what the LORD says— you’re Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go”. Isaiah 48:17

I am thankful for the co-op (sort of), but that is where I have made all my friends (so have the kids). There is nothing like two weekends a year away with your friends!!  Thankful that I can pray for my friends that are hurting and many of them are.
“A psalm of David. LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.” Psalm 143:1

For allowing a disease in our family that we already know a lot about. Honestly, if one of my children had to be diagnosis with a disease diabetes is a good one. IT IS LIFE AULTERING NOT LIFE THREATING!!! We do already know A LOT about it, since my family has been dealing with it for 32 years, but now it is up-close and personal. “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2

For the researchers who are trying to make the lives of those with diabetes better and longer. Thankful that there are clinical trials out there that we can get involved in so that they can learn more about the disease and try to improve the lives of those affected. Jack and I are each trying to get into two different trials.


I am thankful that God has allowed all of these people in my life. I am so richly blessed and often forget that I am.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Diabetes has now Hit Home!! Praying for a Cure!!!

My focus in life has gotten a little tweaked the last couple of weeks. I will start at the beginning for the future’s sake:



Over the last month or so I had noticed Jack seeming more thirsty than normal. When your “sugar lovin’” 7 year old wants water instead of Gatorade you know something is wrong!! His thirst wasn’t excessive just different, but knowing all the true symptoms of diabetes and having it running through mine and Steve’s families I pay close attention. Well, I had been meaning to take him to my mom’s to check his blood sugar and just hadn’t done it, till Halloween. Not the best day to check a kids blood sugar, but if everything with him is normal his blood sugar should be normal. Well, we checked it and it was so high it didn’t register on the meter, it just read HI. Which means over 500mg? I didn’t think a whole lot about it sense he had lots of sweets that day. The next morning Steve took him to his parents and checked it again and it was 72mg, which is low, but the high scared me more. I thought all was fine. So my mom called that afternoon and had talked to her endocrinologist’s office and they thought that we needed to see our pediatrician. So I called them that afternoon and they had me checking his blood sugar the rest of that day. When I checked it after his “dinner” 8 pieces of bread with cinnamon butter, it was 473mg they doctor told us to go to the ER if it got that high again. So off Jack and I go to the Children’s Hospital Emergency Room. Steve and my Mom meet us there. They take us right back check his blood sugar and it was 179 (which was about 2 hours after he had eaten). They ran other test, not sure what, but long story short the doctor came in and said “Good News, everything looks fine! Get a fasting glucose done and follow up with the Endocrinology Clinic.” I had lots of questions, but didn’t feel like the doctor had time for any. We already had the fasting glucose scheduled for the next morning with the pediatrician so we went home (10:30 pm) and went to bed. The next day we went to the pediatrician’s office and did the blood sugar check it was 92mg. But Dr. Rash was really concerned about the high numbers and wanted him seen by the Pediatric Endocrinologist that day. Her office called they told them they were 4 months out on appointments!! What are you kidding me??? The doctor then looked at Jack’s numbers and had the pediatrician write orders for a Glucose tolerance test and anti-body blood tests. When I asked Dr. Rash her opinion of what is going on she said she felt like it was VERY EARLY STAGES OF DIABETES!

Symptoms
Type 1 Diabetes
•Frequent urination
•Unusual thirst
•Extreme hunger
•Unusual weight loss
•Extreme fatigue and Irritability

Type 2 Diabetes*
•Any of the type 1 symptoms
•Frequent infections
•Blurred vision
•Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
•Tingling/numbness in the hands/feet
•Recurring skin, gum, or bladder infections


The next day we went to St. Mary’s (big mistake, they just don’t treat children) early to get the blood test run. When arriving they drew blood and we waited for his glucose level so he could drive the “cola.”

It took so long that he started to have a low blood sugar; lethargic, shakes, cold-sweats, nausea and vomiting. I checked his blood sugar and it was 62mg, very low. When we shared our concerns they thought he was sick and didn’t want to give him the drink. Long story short, they got a hold of Dr. Rash, I got to talk to her and told her he was having a low blood sugar and if he could drink the stuff he would feel better, so they FINALLY gave him the drink. He threw up a little but we didn’t think that would affect anything. Then about 40 minutes after drinking it he threw it all up, he continued to be lethargic, sleepy, nauseated. I then checked his blood sugar and it was 212mg. So we called Dr. Rash’s office and told them our concerns and she told us to take him over to the ER (Kosair) and they would call in Dr. Foster (Pediatric Endocrinologist) and he would be seen. DIDN’T HAPPEN!!!



We go to the ER and they checked his blood sugar once, I don’t remember what it was, I’m thinking it was 132mg. By the time we got to the ER hadn’t eaten in about 15 hours. When we asked if he could eat and I was told they would find out, well an hour later Steve finally asked and was told yes. He scarfed down a hamburger and fries (he doesn’t really even like fries). We really didn’t get any information the whole time we were there. We arrived around 11:45am and left around 4:15pm. They drew blood again, third time that day, for an A1C which measures your high blood sugars over a 30 to 60 day time frame. His was normal 5.4 and the ER doctor came in and said, “It isn’t diabetes, but follow up with the endocrinologist. REALLY!!!! So the next day I called the University Pediatric Endocrinologist of Louisville and spoke with their Nutritionist/ Diabetic Educator. We were to continue to check his blood sugars throughout the day, checking it twice, and cut out all the sugars and watch his diet. Well, we did that (Thursday- Monday). On Monday I called back to give her the numbers and see what we should do next. She said the levels looked great, the diet is working and she would show the doctor the levels and he or she would call me back if we needed to do anything else. Well they never called back, as far as I’m concerned the completely dropped the ball!!! He obviously wasn’t sick enough for them to see. I was still very concerned and call Dr. Rash to express my concern and she said let’s call the other Pediatric Endocrinologist, Dr. Raghavan (there are only two in the city) and see what she says. So the office called and faxed her all of Jack’s paperwork. They told me it would take two weeks once I got Jack’s forms in before they would see him. Just 15 minutes after they faxed his paperwork to them they called me back and wanted to see him right away.

So Thursday we went to see her and she was very concerned with his numbers and scheduled him for the Glucose tolerance test the next morning in her office. She is an awesome doctor who seems to be very pro-active!!!

DIAGNONSIS:
We went in on Friday and they gave Jack an IV which he handled like a trooper, drew blood through the IV, gave him some medicine through the IV so he wouldn’t get sick again and then gave him the “cola” to drink. He only had to drink 45g instead of the 75g St. Mary’s had given him. Then they checked his blood (through the IV) just about every half hour. After about an hour, the whole test took three hours, she knew he was diabetic. His blood sugar went up to over 200mg and stayed there. Something no one else would or could diagnose in a reasonable amount of time she did in an hour.


I cannot even explain how relieved I was that someone would finally look and see what I was seeing. I truly believe that God’s plan was for us to see Dr. Raghavan. This is going to be a long relationship and she seems very interested in helping Jack overcome the cards he has been dealt.

Jack is handling things pretty good. He loves his sugar and it will take awhile for him to get use to eating better. He doesn’t mind getting his blood sugars checked, but he isn’t too sure about getting the shots. Hopefully we won’t have to start doing them for some time. We are in the “honeymoon” stage right now; this is when the pancreas is still producing the insulin he needs as long as he is eating right.

Please just continue to pray that we all learn to live with this life long disease and always try to make things easier for Jack and not harder. We also ask that you pray for a cure…they are closer now then they very have been.
 
 
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